The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 4
Loving our neighbor is really important. It is the second most important commandment in the bible. It is so important that we need to comply with it if we want to inherit eternal life (see part 3 of this series).
Love defines Jesus’ ministry:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life – John 3:16
Notice the word ‘whoever’. That is any person. It includes your spouse, your kids, your parents, your friends, and all the nice people you know. But it also includes those who are not so nice with you. How come?
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost – Matthew 18:11
Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t only for nice people. It includes all those who are still lost (and no matter how ‘good’ we think we were, at some point we were part of the ‘lost’ group). Think of anyone that is not so nice. Make a list.
Done with the list? You could think that the people in this list are already discarded from heaven. But…
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. – Matthew 18:12-14
It wasn’t our blood shed in the cross, it was Jesus’ blood, and His will is that every human being could be saved through faith in Him. He cares about those who are already saved, but He won’t stop seeking for those who aren’t. He cares for them as well. His love covers them. They are also our neighbors. They are like the man who was robbed and left for death. He was hurt and dying in need; They are lost and dying in need. There are people that will pass by them and do nothing for them. But we are called to be the samaritans for these people. We are called to be the shepherd that seek for those who are straying. We are not call to shed our blood. Jesus already did. But we are called to share His love.
As christians we are going to be ‘evaluated’ by love:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35
Love is the only way other people will identify us as christians.
Just think of a world in which everybody follows this commandment. Everything would be different. That shall be our goal. Sounds like a tough task. Let’s do it one life at a time. By doing so, we will help in the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven here in earth.
In the next part of this series we will continue discussing some of the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven.
If you would like to begin a discussion on this teaching please do so by accesing the topic about the Kingdom of Heaven our forum site http://forum.forachangeonline.org/
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