Over All These Things -- Love

Oh, Love of God, be real in me.
Be seen in actions, words and thoughts that come
From your heart, oh, Lord, streaming out through mine.
Be the Lord of every partition of my life,
All my kingdoms now yours.
Show yourself strong, fountains of joy, floods of peace,
Flowing through me in Love.
Oh, Love of God, be my foundation.
Be the walls of my living and the ceiling of my existence
Yet traveling infinitely in every direction.
Burst through into every circumstance as I lift belly-born praise to You!

In this was manifested the love of God toward us: God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we dwell in him, and he in us: He has given us his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has toward us. God is love; and he that lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear involves punishment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. – 1 John 4:9-19

His love has made us “unpunishable,” if we receive it. It was the love of God that caused Jesus to receive all the punishment for all of our sin.

And because He has put His Spirit within us, we can love one another:

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:5

Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, “Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously”: So will we render the calves of our lips. – Hosea 14:2

Instead of bringing blood sacrifices, we now bring to God the praises of our lips, thanking Him forever for His perfect Sacrifice that took away the sin of the world.

The Great Divide

Cleft of a Rock

The Cross of Jesus Christ is the Great Divide, a line in time and eternity that splits apart two eras: Law and Grace. In the Old Covenant from God, the Law was given, but in the New Covenant, Grace came - in the Person of Jesus Christ. Now we can be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We could never keep the Law and be righteous. But now, in Christ, we are the righteousness of God -- a free gift from the Only Righteous One (2 Corinthians 5:21). Believe and receive, and you will be forever a new creation!

Now we see that all Scripture must be filtered through the Cross of Jesus.  From the Law of Moses to Jesus' death and resurrection, people lived under the Old Covenant, B.C., otherwise known as the Law, the Ministry of Death.  But now, those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, have been transferred from the Old into the New, the Covenant of Grace, the Law of the Spirit and life, the Covenant of Promise.  Like our spiritual father, Abraham, we become righteous, through faith, by the power of God's saving grace.  It has always been by faith in His grace, and the Law showed us how much we needed it.  For there is none righteous, no not one, and there never will be -- except Jesus.  It is His righteousness that we receive when we believe.  We still cannot ever be righteous in ourselves, but we are no longer tied to the Law; we are captured by His Grace.