Tag: 1 John 4

WHY DOES GOD LOVE US?

As Christians we’re very acquainted with the gospel message that God loves us, and that God loves us so much that he gave to the world his Divine Son, our Lord Jesus the Messiah (Mashiach), to atone for our sinfulness and to redeem us from sin, death and the devil. But have you ever wondered why God loves us?

So, why is it that God loves us in the first place?

Thankfully, we find the beautiful and powerful answer to this question from the Word of God within the Holy Scriptures. In many passages throughout the Holy Bible, the twofold biblical reason why God loves us so much is simply because we are [1] his cherished creations and [2] his beloved children. As God’s cherished creations, we are his artwork, his building, his craftsmanship. We are God’s painting, God’s musical composition, God’s architectural design, God’s masterwork. And, of course, as we are Almighty God’s offspring (children of our Heavenly Father), we are loved with a fully parental, self-giving and self-sacrificing kind of love.

(Psalm 139:13-14a) – “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works…”

(Isaiah 64:8) – “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

(Matthew 6:9) – “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’…”

We are indeed cherished creations and beloved children of God, first and foremost. Humankind is created in the image of God (imago Dei) as a complementary balance of female and male (yin/yang), and, although women and men are very different, we are equal in our God-given value and dignity. In addition, humanity is a beautiful kaleidoscope of ethnicities and cultures, but we are one human race that is endowed with inalienable human rights and responsibilities.

(Genesis 1:27) – “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

(Acts 17:26-29) – “From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God, and perhaps grope for him and find him — though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals…”

Consequently, our core identity is not centered on any sociological ideology or theory of conflict that’s obsessed with group identities, differences and partialities. Rather, as beloved children of God, our core identity is purely based upon the universal truth of the Word of God and upon the all-encompassing love and grace of God revealed in Jesus the Christ (Christos).

(John 17:17) – “Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth.”

(Ephesians 5:1-2) – “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Knowing why God loves us, we can live our daily lives in this wonderful awareness “as beloved children.” Although our human condition is fallen and sinful, our human nature is divine as offspring of Almighty God. So, we must always uplift and rejoice in our true identity and heavenly heritage as human beings.

Therefore, we praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom God created us and the countless worlds of our universe (see John 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-17 and Hebrews 1:1-2). With deep gratitude and thanksgiving, we can live every single day in the awareness that we are cherished creations and beloved children of our Heavenly Father, and that God loves us so much that he gave us his Holy Son, Jesus (Yeshua), to be the once-and-for-all sacrificial offering of atonement for the sins of humanity (see John 3:16-17 and Hebrews 10:10-14 and First John 4:9-11). Glory to God in the highest!!!

Happy Thanksgiving & Good Advent! Pastor Tim

“HOLY ADMIRATION, BATMAN!”

As most of you probably know by now, I’m quite the nerd when it comes to sci-fi and superheroes and the like. So the title of my article plays around with this interest of mine, borrowing from the comic book character Robin’s many sayings from the Batman & Robin comic series. I Googled it, and the character Robin exclaimed everything from “Holy Alphabet, Batman!” to “Holy Love Birds, Batman!” to “Holy Zorro, Batman!” But let’s talk about why this article is entitled “Holy Admiration, Batman!”

I was recently driving by the St. Leon Armenian Cathedral in Glendale, and I decided to stop there and walk around the church grounds a bit. And I have to say that the beauty of that church structure was very uplifting. As I often do when visiting worship sites of other spiritual groups (Christian or otherwise), I felt a sense of “holy admiration” for their religious faith and spirituality, and I believe that a healthy sense of holy admiration for communities of God other than our own is a very good thing.

As Christians we follow the Ten Commandments, and among these seminal commandments of God is to “not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) which also means that we try to “interpret everything they do in the best possible light” (Martin Luther’s Small Catechism). So according to this, whenever we take part in interchurch relations or interfaith relations we are to have holy admiration for the highest aspects (the better angels) of other faith traditions, even if it is a non-Christian religion.

Of course it is much easier to do this with Christian groups, as is the case with the Armenian Orthodox Church, but this also goes for non-Christian faith expressions. However, it is important for the followers of Jesus to be spiritually discerning about harmful religious manifestations, and even to be critical of anything that might be directly opposed to the core principles of the Faith, Hope and Love of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we should always leave room in our hearts for reverent appreciation — even a kind of sacred envy — concerning anything good and Divine within other religions.

Now let me be clear, this does not mean we profess that all beliefs are equal. In fact, because all things are not equal in philosophy or science or any other discipline, therefore not all things are equal in theology and spirituality. So while we reverently appreciate and even admire aspects of various non-Christian groups, we also believe and trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who is the fullest revelation of God’s Heart and the fullness of salvation for the whole world.

As the Apostles Paul and John write…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith…”

St. Paul in Romans 1:16-17a

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.”

St. John in First John 4:9-11

So let us engage in interchurch and interfaith conversations and relations, with admiration and lovingkindness, but let us also hold fast to the universal good news of God the Son. And let us never be ashamed or hesitant to share the good news that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have everlasting life” (Jesus speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:16).

Together in Christ,  Pastor Tim

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE

Saint Valentine is a Christian saint of the Third Century AD who is widely celebrated on February 14th and commonly associated with romantic love. Although not much of St. Valentine’s life is reliably known, it is highly agreed that St. Valentine was martyred and then buried on the Via Flaminia to the north of Rome around 273 AD.

The story goes that St. Valentine (a former Bishop) was arrested late in his life for continuing to convert Pagans to the Christian Faith. He was sent to Rome and was martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II). In addition to converting people to Christ, St. Valentine was imprisoned for marrying Christian couples and aiding Christians being persecuted by Emperor Claudius II. All three of these acts were considered serious crimes.

While in prison, a relationship between St. Valentine and the Emperor began to grow, until Valentine attempted to convert him. Then Emperor Claudius became enraged and sentenced Valentine to death, commanding him to publically renounce his Christian Faith and reject his Lord Jesus or be beaten with clubs and beheaded. St. Valentine refused to do this and was executed outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14th (c. 273 AD). Furthermore, legend says that on the day of his execution he left a note behind to his flock signed “Your Valentine.”

The romantic nature of St. Valentine’s Day may have derived from the fact that he illegally officiated at the marriages of Christians while under Roman Pagan persecution. However, this romantic connection also may have derived from later Christian Church attempts to Christianize the Pagan holiday called Lupercalia on February 15th, which was a holiday celebrating Lupercus (a Roman god sometimes identified with the Roman god Faunus, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan). Lupercus was a Roman god of shepherds and flocks, and of nature and the wilderness, and the Pagan holiday of Lupercalia was widely recognized as a day for romantic love and devotion.

Today, archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine, and he is widely accepted as the Christian Saint associated with romantic courtship, engaged couples and happy marriages. He is represented in Christian art with birds, bees and roses.

St. Valentine’s Day also gives us an opportunity to contemplate the New Testament concept of love. In the Greek language (the language of the New Testament) there are six words for love: Agape, Eros, Ludus, Philia, Philautia, and Pragma. While eros (romantic love) is mostly associated with St. Valentine, and while pragma (longstanding love) and philia (deep friendship love) are very important, the New Testament of Christ emphasizes the Divine love of agape for us.

Agape is the compassionate, charitable and sacrificial love of God that extends to everyone. It is a love that transcends all of our differences of worldview and philosophy. While we might disagree as to what loving in this way might specifically look like within various situations, we are all nevertheless called to abide in an agape-love and servant-heart for the sake of the world. It is even a love that Christian law enforcement personnel and Christian military personnel participate in as they honorably serve and work to uphold good order in our world. Theirs is a kind of tough love, and it is a necessary kind of sacrificial love for the sake of an orderly and peaceable society.

Agape-love is used throughout the New Testament, but here are some very good examples of this from First John:

We know love (agape) by this, that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

First John 3:16

Beloved, let us love (agape) one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

First John 4:7-11

So as we look to celebrate eros-love on St. Valentine’s Day again this year, let us remember how St. Valentine lived the agape-love of Christ, and let us contemplate this agape-love for our own faith and life as Christians. Beloved, as we are “Valentines” of Christ whom God has agape-loved so much, we also ought to agape-love one another and all people in Jesus’ name.

Your Fellow Valentine in Christ, Pastor Tim