December
9, 2003
GOD'S
UNSELFISH LOVE
"My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish"
(John 10:27-28, NKJV).
My sheep
hear My voice. Jesus is speaking of the followers of the "good
shepherd" referred to earlier in John 10, "I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for
the sheep... I know My sheep, and am known by My own.... I
lay down My life for the sheep... My Father loves Me, because
I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes
it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I
have received from My Father" (John 10:11, 14,
15, 17, 18).
Jesus,
by virtue of His sacrifice on our behalf, has the power of
the resurrection to give eternal life to those who listen
to His voice and follow Him. Who are they that follow the
"good Shepherd?" Those who believe in Him, listen
to His voice, believe in His values and follow Him. Those
who do not believe in Him will not listen to His voice, they
do not believe in His values, they will not follow Him, they
are not His sheep and they will not have eternal life.
What
are God's values? The fundamental value that is the basis
of all God's commands is His unselfish love. It is the fundamental
value of the ten commandments. A lawyer asked Jesus a question
testing Him, "saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment
in the law?' Jesus said to him, 'You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang
all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:35-40).
To His disciples, Jesus said, "A
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;
as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this
all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love
for one another" (John 13:34, 35). Paul
testified, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word,
even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' "
(Galatians 5:14).
God and
Jesus demonstrated their unselfish love for us. "God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life" (John 3:16).
When
we "hear" and "follow" Jesus, we accept
His values, and His values are all about learning to love
our neighbor as Jesus has loved and accepted us. It's not
something that we can do naturally. It is something that He
does for us by His Holy Spirit. It is something that will
happen naturally as we "walk" with Jesus and "follow"
Him. He is the "good Shepherd", our Shepherd and
our Friend.
"My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish."
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