January 6, 2022 -- John 14:21-24 -- God's Love Demonstrated

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.
John 14:21-24 ESV

The disciple’s question helps the reader to understand this passage. How is it Jesus manifests Himself to His followers—the word manifest means: makes Himself clearly understood, reveals Who He Is—but does not reveal Himself to the world in the same way?

The promise of Jeremiah looks to the day of Jesus, when God will write His law on the hearts of His followers (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The prophecy explains that the Father in heaven will make Himself known to His people and He will forgive them. Jesus noted His true disciples have His commandments (written on their hearts and in their minds)—the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31. As those who are forgiven they respond in love to God their Father by keeping the commandments of Jesus. There is a clear sense of, in view of all the blessings Jesus has given them, they respond by saying let me serve You with thanksgiving—and the shape of this thanksgiving is obedience to the commandments. This is the role of the commandments for believers, it has become their rule of thankful living.

The world does not have the commandments of God written on their hearts. They do not have the magnificent forgiveness of Jesus Christ covering all of their lives. In that sense God’s glory has not been made manifest to them. Know Christians, the things you do and the things you choose not to do, all are evidences of the love of God which show the people around you God is real, He is good.

Notice the intensification Jesus makes in verse 23. The one who has the commandments and obeys them to that person the Father loves, approaches even closer to that person, and both Jesus and the Father make their home in Him. The more one obeys the closer God the Father comes to him. The Spirit of God, living in the believer, makes the nearness of God the loving Father so much more obvious—when the bible is read, at times of prayer, in worship, in acts of obedience. The activities do not save a man, but the acts of obedience are evidence sin is being thrown out so that there is a greater capacity to receive the love of the Father. This is what will make the people around you marvel and wonder what it is that you’ve got. The love of the Father, given because of the work of Jesus Christ, magnified in us by the Spirit will make others, who have been appointed for eternal life, see you and then long for Him.

GRACIOUS GOD,
My heart praises thee for the wonder
of thy love in Jesus;
He is heaven’s darling, but is for me
   the incarnate, despised, rejected,
   crucified sin-bearer;
In him thy grace has almost out-graced itself,
In him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!
My heart is stone, melt it with thy love,
My heart is locked, let thy love be the master key
   to open it;
O Father, I adore thee for thy great love
   in the gift of Jesus,
O Jesus, I bless thee for resigning thy life for me,
O Holy Spirit, I thank thee for revealing to me
   this mystery;
Great God, let thy Son see in me the travail
   of his soul!
Bring me away from my false trusts to rest in him,
   and him only.
Let me not be so callous to his merit
   as not to love him,
so indifferent to his blood
   as not to desire cleansing.
Lord Jesus, Master, Redeemer, Saviour,
   come and take entire possession of me;
   this is thy right by purchase.
In the arms of love enfold and subdue
   my wilful spirit.
Take, sanctify, use my every faculty.
I am not ashamed of my hope,
   nor has my confidence led me into confusion.
I trusted in thee regarding my innumerable sins,
   and thou hast cast them behind thy back.
I trusted in thee when evils encompassed me,
   and thou broughtest me out into a wealthy place.
I trusted in thee in an hour of distress,
   and thou didst not fail me, though faith trembled.
O God of the eternal choice,
O God of the restored possession purchased
   on the tree,
O God of the effectual call,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
I adore thy glory, honour, majesty, power,
dominion for ever.
"LOVE SHED ABROAD" The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Ed. Arthur Bennett; Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 2020 reprint page 252

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