Eternity Ring

Eternal – Forever, continuous, unceasing, timeless, unending, perpetual.

Rom 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (N.I.V.)

We’ve seen in Pt’s 1 & 2 that God’s love is unconditional and unchanging; we must now add to that, that God’s love is also eternal.  Why is this important to know, because some people would have us believe that once we come to know Christ we must live a holy life to have an assurance of God’s eternal love.  This is a complete misunderstanding of the cross. When we come to Christ at salvation the Holy Spirit baptises us into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ so we are now’in Christ’; and because we are in Christ we are perfect, holy and righteous before the Father.

Therefore our salvation and relationship with God are not predicated on what we have done or will do but on what Christ has done for us and will continue to do for us throughout eternity. Our relationship with God is now absolutely secure for all time and eternity. Therefore I can rest in who I am in Christ and allow Him to express His holy life through me; this brings with it peace and joy.   I am not constantly walking around with a holiness checklist to see if my life measures up.  This leads to a joyless, condemning, legalistic and religious form of Christianity.

In John’s Gospel ch 17 Jesus is praying to his Father about what will happen to His disciples prior to Him going to the cross and He says this: John 10:28-30 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone pluck them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.”   (NKJV)

Jesus and the Father are in complete unity regarding the eternal security of all the saints: They shall NEVER PERISH and NON shall PLUCK them out of their hands. We can be at peace knowing we will always receive the Father’s eternal love.

Meditation Point: My eternal security is not reliant on what I have done or will do but on what Christ has done for me.

UNCHANGING

UNCHANGING: Dependable, persistent, stable, unbroken, unfluctuating.

Song 8:7  Many waters cannot quench the flame of love;  and rivers will never wash it away.

The Greek language lists a number of words for love; the three most important for the Christian are Eros, Philio & Agape. Eros is sexual love from which we derive the word erotic. Phileo is friendship love, it means to have affection for. These loves of Eros & Phileo are human kinds of love and are rooted in the feelings, passions and desires. Whereas Agape is God’s love and is rooted in the will. The difference between them is that Eros and Phileo love being rooted in the feelings are subject to change much like the tide on a beach. Sometimes the tide is in and sometimes the tide is out. This makes for an unstable kind of love. Agape love however being rooted in the will is never subject to change and is constant, sacrificial,unwavering, deliberate, unconditional and is therefore a stable love.

Agape is the word Paul the Apostle chose to use in his famous chapter on love 1 Cor 13:4-8. Agape love is: Patient,  kind, does not envy, does not boast,  is not proud,  is not rude, is not self-seeking,  is not easily angered,  keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth,  always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.    (NIV)       This is the kind of love the Father pours out upon us now we are’In Christ’, a love that gives us total assurance and acceptance before Him. Therefore my friends, come just as you are and receive from Him because His love never fails.

Statue of Jesus Christ

Unconditional : Absolute, complete, categorical, perfect, total.

When we become a Christian most of us receive from God our forgiveness and enter into eternal life; but many of us don’t know how to receive His unconditional love.      Why is this.       Its because we haven’t been taught what took place at the cross. So let’s unpack it: under the Old Covenant the law made love conditional, that if we love God with all our heart, mind, will & strength, God would love us in return. This was impossible for man to achieve hence he fell far short. So under the New Covenant Jesus came as our representative man before God: thus when He died on the cross He took the punishment for the sin of all mankind past, present & future.   And because He was a perfect man He fulfilled the law perfectly,He loved the Lord His God with all His heart, mind, will & strength. He fulfilled the conditions of the law and thus God poured upon Him the fulness  of His love.    Jesus has now removed the conditions that held man back from receiving God’s love so now that we are in Christ, whenever God looks upon us He only ever sees us in His Son. Therefore because we are in His Son we now become entitled to receive what the Son receives – the fullness of the Father’s love. And because Christ’s blood has washed away all our sin past, present and future we are now fully accepted by God at all times which means we can receive His unconditional love at all times.              Therefore if we are struggling with sins, weaknesses or problems in our life we can come to God in assurance and confidence knowing we are accepted by Him and can receive His love.    Without this knowledge many Christians remain in the outer court of God’s presence because they feel unless they are totally clean & holy they are not acceptable to God and suffer tremendous guilt and condemnation resulting in much emotional,mental and spiritual anguish: and we run away from God rather than running to God.  Dear fellow Christians, if that is you, read God’s Word and ask God to give you a revelation of His unconditional love that you may experience His tremendous peace.

1 John 4:10, 17 – 19. Eph 1:6