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| Christian Suffering and The Faithfulness Of God |
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Virtue-Love of the Lord Carried Over to the Church-age As undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person, our Lord possesses two categories of perfect virtue-love. Jesus Christ, as God, has perfect virtue-love, and Jesus Christ as impeccable humanity has perfect virtue-love. At the time of His virgin birth, Jesus, as true humanity, was given His own uniquely designed plan from God the Father. Functioning inside this plan, our Lord rapidly advanced spiritually, first learning personal love for God the Father, then developing impersonal love for all mankind. As He grew to spiritual maturity, He had acquired all that was necessary to pass every test required of Him. Never wavering in the Father’s plan, He remained impeccable, and was qualified to go to the Cross, as the last Adam, to be judged for the sins of all mankind. From the doctrine in His soul, our Lord derived perfect spiritual self-esteem. He never lost His poise or His focus. His motivational virtue in carrying out His Father’s plan is expressed in “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion” (MAT 26:2). It pleased our Lord to do all that the Father had commanded Him, and He did it for three reasons: His personal love for the Father. His personal love for all believers. His impersonal love for all mankind. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (Jo 13:34) Many times in the New Testament, our Lord introduced something new. He spoke of a new teaching, a new covenant, and a new love. This new love was to become the great power of the Church-age; God’s perfect and eternal impersonal love became the pattern for us to emulate in this present dispensation. God has given Church-age believers two great patterns to follow in solving their own problems. First, as the believer grows in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, he will be developing personal love for God, and learning to concentrate on Him, instead of his problems. Secondly, through spiritual growth, the believer’s impersonal love toward all mankind will develop to the point where all problems and situations will naturally be handled with grace and wisdom. There will never be a problem that does not have a solution and blessing attached to it. Every time we use God’s love and power to solve a problem, we bring glory to Him, and His justice can then give us greater blessings. The Church-age believer has access to God’s love at the moment of salvation, but he must diligently take in Bible doctrine in order to fully utilize it. The function of God’s perfect love in the believer’s life is the monopoly of those who operate within the Pre-designed Plan of God for the Church-age. Apart from the divine power given to us in this divine plan, one has no capacity for divine love. From His perfect essence, God has provided for us so that we can live far above and beyond anything the world has to offer. Life in the plan of God means an active relationship with God; we too can live with virtue, honor, integrity, morality, and love, sharing His love with all who cross our paths. Based on the pattern of His own divine love, God has designed for us a virtue that breaks the shackles of slavery to the cosmic system. Satan has enslaved the people of this world, and those chains can only be broken through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and life inside the Pre-designed Plan of God. |
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