WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE Part 2

WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE…Part 2

“It’s All In WHO You Know”

Last time we met…we DEFINED what God said “love” is verses what our dictionary says love is…we found that the two are COMPLETELY OPPOSITE…

God created all things…and by His very nature…He IS love…so God says that the definition for LOVE is… something that is UNCONDITIONAL and it’s SACRIFICIAL (it’s about GIVING), it’s ETERNAL, COMFORTING, and LIFE-CHANGING …God’s definition for LOVE is completely opposite of what our dictionary and our culture says that LOVE is: our definition says that LOVE is based on FEELINGS…and that it is an “intense affection” based on familial or personal ties…our definition says that love can change based on how the other person makes you FEEL….that is NOT how God defines it

To really understand what TRUE LOVE is…we HAVE to KNOW God!

DID YOU KNOW: that deep inside of you, if you were perfectly honest with yourself… there exists a strong desire to be known and to know others. ..In other words…you WANT people to know who you are and you WANT to KNOW other people…but even more than that desire and even more importantly: all people desire to KNOW their Creator, even if they are not professed believers in God.…Today we are bombarded with advertising that promises many ways to satisfy our cravings to “know more”, have more, be more. …However, the empty promises that come from the world will never satisfy in the way that KNOWING God will satisfy.

John 17:3 Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent"

The definition of KNOW is…to perceive DIRECTLY…to have DIRECT cognition of…to have UNDERSTANDING of…to RECOGNIZE the NATURE of…to DISCERN…to recognize as being the same as something previously…to have EXPERIENCE of…to be AWARE of the TRUTH of…to be CONVINCED or CERTAIN of

I’m afraid that a lot of people “know of” God…but they really don’t KNOW Him…just like in Joshua, the folks who currently occupied the Promised Land were totally freaked out by what they “knew” about the Israelites God and so they claimed that they were coming to Joshua in “the name of the Lord”….but these people didn’t really KNOW God…they just knew OF Him and His great power

Joshua 9:9 “And they said unto him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the name of the LORD your God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt”

The Bible not only tells us that we CAN KNOW GOD in the way He wants us to…the Bible even ENCOURAGES us and URGES us to get to know our Creator, our Lord, our Savior, our BELOVED in a very intimate and personal way…

It seems like today there are so many people that are completely indifferent to Him…we were listening to Bishop Tudor Bismark last week and he said that in America 40 years ago the majority of the people went to church and at least claimed they were Christians…but now that number is declining so rapidly…America was FOUNDED on “IN God WE TRUST”…but now Americans are trying to figure out if “God” even exists…..it’s been a HUGE change and shift in our culture…one that, to me, just is another sign that we are living in the end-times…

People now-days are wanting to “do what they want, when and how they want”…God has no place in their lives or even in any decisions they make

But then there is another blob of people that claim that they KNOW God and that they are seeking Him…but if you look at their lives and their behavior…they are totally filled with offense and bitterness and judgments and hatred for people…it is all so void of LOVE…there is NO WAY that they are really seeking Him….because the Word says that “if you seek Me, you will find Me”…and there is just no way that once you find Him and then you claim that you KNOW HIM, there is no way you could ever stay the same and live in bitterness, hatred, and all that mess…..we actually are MISREPRESENTING God when we claim we know Him, but we are “mean” to other people…it just doesn’t add up

For those few people that genuinely desire to KNOW HIM…they find that they are never disappointed

In one sense it is very easy to KNOW GOD…we try to complicate it all up…it’s as simple as DRAWING, ASKING, SEEKING, KNOCKING, COMING, TAKING and LEARNING of Him…like the Word says in James 4:8 “DRAW NEAR to God and He will draw near to you” and again the Word says in Matthew 7:7 “ASK and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you”….then in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and My burdens light.”

In another sense…KNOWING and loving God is a LIFELONG process that begins with salvation….there are many difficulties in following God on a long term basis…lots of “once-enthusiastic seekers” drop like flies as time goes on…lots of people make incredibly retarded decisions when it comes to things in their lives and then they write God off as being unable to save them or put their lives back together again because they don’t KNOW the incredible depths of His MERCY….but MY GOD IS THE SAME yesterday, today , and forever…He said to Israel…

Romans 10:21 “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people”

If He stretched out His hand to them….He is doing the same to US disobedient and contrary people!

Think back on what one of the definitions of KNOW was: to RECOGNIZE the NATURE of…to DISCERN…to recognize as being the same as something previously…..WE GOTTA KNOW THAT If our God did it for them, He will do it for us!....which means that if you think that God can’t save you or put your life back together again because of choices that you have made…then you obviously don’t really KNOW the incrediblness and the nature of GOD!!!

He IS love!!!!!

SO…………….if the only way to KNOW what love is, is to KNOW GOD…then we need to know how to know….  We need to KNOW how to build a FIRM FOUNDATION for a life of intimacy with Him…

The good news is that Peter shows us how to do this in the second book named after him…in the day we live in where we want things INSTANTLY…ex: fast food, fast internet, phones that have everything on them in an instant….he gives us a way to live KNOWING God in a way that we ENUDRE to the end and FINISH the race set before us

First, check out what Hebrews says…

Hebrews 12:1-4, 12-15 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God"

Now lets look at what 2 Peter tells us about KNOWING God…

2 Peter 1:1-11 “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdomof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

This whole passage places a big importance on KNOWLEDGE…which we will get to (because we have already talked about the fact that to KNOW what love is, we have to KNOW God)

In the first verse, Peter is talking to ordinary Christians…telling us that we have faith of “equal standing”…the NIV says “faith as precious as ours”…the Greek word used here is “isotimos” which means EQUALLY PRIVILEGED….he is saying that there is no one that is denied this relationship with God or the KNOWLEDGE of God if we are truly born again, then we have access to having a DIRECT relationship with God…it’s not just for Pastors and Elders and people like that…it’s for EVERYONE

We are able to KNOW God because of knowledge that God imparts to us in His mercy (because of His kindness and compassion)

In the second verse…Peter says “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord”….the cool thing is, that he is not using the ordinary Greek word for knowledge here…but in the Greek it says EPIGNOSIS (epi-naw-sis)…which means FULL-KNOWLEDGE

Paul uses the same Greek word in Colossians 1:9

Colossians 1:9 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”

They are both saying that the knowledge that God gives us is so much more incredible and vast and complete than any knowledge we get from any other source…

EPI in the word “epignosis” means TOWARD….so it’s knowledge that points TOWARD GOD

So what Peter is saying in verse 2 is that he is asking God to give peace and grace to us in EVEN GREATER MEASURE!

In verse 3, Peter gives us the big key to living the Christian life…it’s all about GOD’S POWER…”His DIVINE POWER has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”

In the Greek, the word GODLINESS is from a word “eusebeia” which means “well” and “to be devout”….THAT’S the kind of life God is looking for us to live…WELL AND DEVOUT…not a flaky person who SEEMS to know Him and love Him…but one who loves Him with the whole heart…not someone who “goes to church” just cause it’s the right thing to do, not someone who attends the outreaches cause it’s the right thing to do, not someone who goes through all the religious motions cause it’s the right things to do…NOPE…He even warns us about stuff like this, using Israel as an example…

If you read all of Isaiah 58…it talks about how they “look good” on the outside…they are fasting like they are supposed to…but their heart is not in it…it’s just a religious exercise to them…check out verse 2

Isaiah 58:2-4 “For day after day they seek Me out; they SEEM eager to KNOW My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right, and has not forsaken the commands of its God…yet on the day of your fasting, you DO AS YOU PLEASE…you cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high…”

Go back to verse 2 in 2 Peter where he tells us that God’s DIVINE POWER has given us everything we need to live life with GODLINESS through our FULL knowledge of Him: GODLINESS…”well and devout lives”…if we are living well and devout lives because of the knowledge He has given us of Himself…then there shouldn’t be room for “flakiness” and “life that is just a show”

Through this FULL KNOWELDGE that God has given us…it enables us to (verse 4) “PARTICIPATE in the DIVINE NATURE and ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION in the world caused by evil desires (or passions)”

TO ESCAPE…(apophugontes)…to escape COMPLETELY, to flee as a fugitive

CORRUPTION (phtora)…rottennesss, decay from WITHIN, as in a corpse

EVIL DESIRES or PASSION (epithumia)…strong desires, sexual lust, selfish desire, covetousness, love of the world, lust for power or control

So…………this FULL KNOWELDGE from God is much needed in order to help us LOVE as HE LOVES….because without this FULL KNOWELDGE…we are SELFISH (which is the very opposite of love)

Check out what James says about this…

James 4:1-4 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God”

SO…ONCE AGAIN…The KNOWLEDGE of God…causes us to not be like the “world”…it causes us not to be selfish and bent on fulfilling our own pleasures…the KNOWLEDGE of GOD causes us to LOVE

BECAUSE OF THIS…Peter tells us what we need to do next…

2 Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to add (supplement) to your faith goodness (virtue); and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance (stead-fastness); and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness (affection); and to brotherly kindness, LOVE…”

When he says “make every effort”…in the Greek, the word is “spoudh” (spoo-day) which means WITH SPEED…WITH HASTE…WITH EARNESTNESS…WITH ALL THAT YOU HAVE

How many of us are REALLY making every speedy, earnest, haste with everything we have to add this list of virtues to our lives?????

SUPPLEMENT (epichoregein)…to equip the soul with all the necessary virtues for life

FAITH (pistis)…to lean one’s ENTIRE WEIGHT upon Jesus…as opposed to merely acknowledging

VIRTUE (arête) ar-et-tay…excellence, an expert in the technique of living well, courage

KNOWLEDGE (gnwsij)…gno-sis…the knowledge of God…the deeper more perfect knowledge of God that belongs to the more advanced…moral wisdom such as seen in right living

SELF-CONTROL (egkrateia)eng-krat'-i-ah…to get a grip on oneself

STEADFASTNESS (hupomene)hoop-om-on-ay'…a remaining under, standing firm under pressure, patient enduring, the daily suffering of difficult things for the sake of honor and usefulness, HUPOMENE does not simply accept and endure, there is always a FORWARD LOOK in it…it is the courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us and the transmuting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way…WOAH…wow….HUPOMENE is CHEERFUL endurance

GODLINESS (eusebia)…a sincere devotion to God, worship and dedication to God and at the same time service to one’s fellow man…EUSEBIA is the nearest Greek word for RELIGION…and when you define it, we wee the intensely practical character of a Christian, when one becomes a Christian, he acknowledges a DOUBLE DUTY, to God and to his fellow-man…

BROTHERLY AFFECTION (filadelphia)…tender love and affection for the brethren

LOVE (agape)…self-giving, self-denying love that seeks the best for the beloved no matter the cost to the giver….a “feast of charity/a love feast

DO you see it….?.....it’s the 8-step program…it starts with FAITH and ends with LOVE…

STEP ONE: FAITH….In order to truly KNOW GOD… we first have to receive Him into our lives… we trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord

John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God even to those who believe in His name.”…FAITH….nothing is greater than understanding this truth when it comes to KNOWING God…Jesus makes is clear that He alone is the way to heaven and to a personal LNKWLEDGE of God…

John 14:6 “ I AM THE WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE, no once comes to the Father, but through Me.”

There is no requirement to begin this journey (up the ladder) besides accepting and receiving the promises mentioned above.