#revelation #endtimes

Rev 3:14-22 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

There is a certain kind of going through the motions that makes us think we are loving God. In fact everyone around us may think we love God. This going through the motions then convinces us we are acceptable, even worthy. We feel good about ourselves because we have done what we think we are suppose to do, but when alone it is empty and if honest meaningless.

John Piper talks of this; "Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth. It is not a mere act of willpower by which we perform outward acts. Without the engagement of the heart, we do not really worship. The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of the feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead.
True worship must include inward feelings that reflect the worth of God's glory. If this were not so, the word hypocrite would have no meaning. But there is such a thing as hypocrisy- going through the motions (like singing, praying, giving, reciting) that signify affections of the heart are not there. 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me'". John Piper
Desiring God  Twenty Fifth Anniversary Reference Edition  p 87, 88 Multnomah Books 2011.

This engagement of the heart is both a duty and a gift, reveived by grace and vigorously sought after.

John Piper in quoting Jonathan Edwards writes, "To be sure, we Christian Hedonists endeavor to pursue our interest and our happiness with all our migh. We endorse the resolution of the young Jonathan Edwards: 'Resolved: To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all power, might, vigor and vehemence yes violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.'". Ibid p 159

Everyday in whatever means possible make every effort to open the door to Absolute Love, he is knocking open up and feel the love come pouring in. Come buy food without money and wealth with no price, freely given, gladly received.

#Revelation #Endtimes

Rev 3:7-13 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. "'I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

The church that is not reprimanded has held on to the Absolute love in the midst of  error and  trial. The two anchors of truth and grace remain. Holding on to the absolute and the love, enduring in both ways is the narrow path. You can have all truth and be nothing before God and you can hold a kind of love "eros faith" and be completely in error, walking the wrong pathway. A pathway to destruction.

David F. Wells says; "Modernity's God is not nearly so morally angular as the God of the Bible. His sharp edges have all been ground down to make him less threatening, more comfortable, more tame. He is rarely perceived as the God of the outside who, in his awesome greatness, summond his people to worship, to hear the Word of truth that they cannot find within themselves or their world, to become agents of righteousness in a world that scorns this righteousness as alien and contrary. Robbed of such a God, worship loses its awe, the truth of his Word loses its ability to compel, obedience loses its virtue, and the church loses its moral authority. What has happened? Because it is the easiest route to take. The habits and appetites of modernity are more attractive than the sacrifice and discipline of orthodox faith. God's love seems less burdensome than his holiness. The church has succumbed to the seductions of therapeutic culture, and in that context it seems quite natural to favor the relational dimension over the moral dimension, mysticism over cognitive conviction, self-fulfillment over personal surrender, self image over character, pluralistic religious equality over the uniqueness of the Christian faith."
David H Wells
God in the Wasteland p 136  Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing 1994

"Hold fast what you have so that no one may come and seize your crown"

#Revelation #endtimes

Rev 3:1-6 "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. "'I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

Pursuing gifts and the pleasure of having and gaining can look a lot like being alive, but it is spiritual death. The more we pursue our own pleasure in what God has given the more we are drawn away from the giver of the gifts. He is the only true lasting joy and treasure worth our focus.

J. I. Packer writes; "That joy is deeper than and not dependent on pleasure is the first thing that needs to be said. Until this has been established, discussion about pleasure in Christian life is premature. But once it is established that joy does not depend on pleasure, then a positive theology of pleasure becomes possible....p 73
Pleasure, like joy, is God's gift, but whereas joy is active (one rejoices), pleasure is passive (one is pleased). ... pg 74
As God made us for pleasure, so he redeems us for pleasure- ours, as well as his. ... p 74
Pleasure (conscious enjoyment) has no intrinsic moral quality. What makes pleasure right, good, and valuable or wrong, bad,and sinful is what goes with them. ... p 74
In the order of creation, pleasures are meant to serve as pointers to God. Pleasure seeking, as such, sooner or later brings boredom and disgust. ...p 75
Hot Tub Religion  Tyndale House Publishers 1987

Are you tired of pursuing pleasures, but dying of lack of satisfaction. Come back to the joy of Absolute love.

#revelation # endtimes

Rev 2:18-29 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. "'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

The movement from "it's your choice" to tolerance and then to acceptance is a gradual slope, you don't go all at once, you slide down into accepting and then warming to the "once thought perversion".

Francis Schaeffer says: Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong. Just as what we may call holiness without love is not God's kind of holiness, so also what we may call love without holiness, including when necessary confrontation, is not God's kind of love. God is holy, and God is love."
The Great Evangelical Disaster  p 64 Crossway Books 1984

Absolute Love confronts us constantly with that which is absolute love, not tolerance, not whatever floats your boat, but a challenge to the narrow path of Agape faith.

#revelation #endtimes

Rev 2:12-17 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. "'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'"

When Agape faith is replaced by Eros faith, when it becomes more important to have the gifts of Absolute Love than to have Absolute Love alone then our choice and need becomes foremost. "We cannot really love others until we learn to love ourselves" Which really means putting self first and foremost before loving God and before loving others.

Os Guinness writes; "The processes of pluralization are fascinating and the possibilities they open up kaleidoscopic. But don't miss the wood for the trees. Our true concern is only with consequences.
What happens when choice becomes a state of mind? Obligation melts into option, giveness into choice, form into freedom. Facts of life dissolve into fashions of the moment. But the consequences we care about most is this: The increase in choice and change leads to a decrease in commitment and continuity."
The Gravedigger File p 96 Intervarsity Press 1983

Absolutes diminish when we slip away from loving focus on the Absolute Love. Faith and love becomes a "do your own thing, whatever floats your boat" eros faith.

#revelation #endtimes 

Rev 2:8-11 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life."'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'"

Jesus Christ, Yeshua Messiah, Isa Al Masih said that in the last days many people's love will grow cold. That coldness begins with a sense of personal loss. Jesus promised that those who really loved Him they would find opposition, persecution. Part of having love diminish is a focus on the temporal. A preoccupation and love of cosmetic and the facade of temporary wealth.

Os Guinness explains that sense in the present day culture.
"Substance is unimportant, style is what counts. Permanence is obsolescent, ceaseless change alone endures. Creation and creators are beside the point, consumption is its own purpose, Essences are ignored, only surfaces matter. Faces are seen by the millions, voices are rarely heard- and then only with words that are accessories to images. The tried and true are of no interest, only the novel and the new have allure. The meameaning of things does not count, the style's concern is for the mining of surfaces- for their look, touch, sound, scent. Intrinsic character is nothing, exterior personality is everything. Who we are takes second place to who we can become and who we appear to be." Os Guinness
Fit Bodies Fat Minds  p 92 Baker Books 1994.

Is your mind and focus on the eternal? Have you become enamoured with the temporal? Even though you are rich in Absolute love do you find yourself feeling poor because you don't have all the "things" you want?

#Revelation #EndTimes

Rev 2:1-7 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

The progression of drifting away from Absolute Love is subtle and often gradual. We go from loving God first and foremost, to loving the benefits of walking in the path of God as a means of self exaltation, to feeling sorry for ourselves in being misunderstood and all the way to being lukewarm, complacent, faith having not even an inkling of vibrancy.

David Wells calls this progression, in part, a movement from Agape faith to Eros faith!

" By contrast in Agape faith, God is not loved simply for the benefits that flow from that loving such as forgiveness of sins. He is loved for what he is in himself. If Eros loves the sacred because it is worth doing, Agape, by contrast, loves God without ulterior motives, Agape surrenders, Eros grasps, Agape loves simply and only because it should, because God is most lovable. This Agape faith loves God because it is the consequence of His Agape and in his love there is no calculation." David Wells
Above All Earthly Pow'rs   Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing p 160  2005

There may be a sense of love of God left. Is it the first sense of love? Loving because God is intimately lovable in a sense that God is above all earthly treasures and powers.

#revelation #endtimes
apocalypse- removed from the covering, out of the veil. the revealing.
eschaton- last things, end times.

Exo 26:33 "And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy."

Exo 33:20-23 "But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."

Mat 27:50-54 "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God.

He is the promised son in Isaiah 9 to be called Mighty God.
He is the "Son of Man" in Daniel; Dan 7:13-14 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
He is the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.
Col 1:15-17 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Rev 22:12-21 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."

"Indeed, he is himself the last One, the end, and even the goal of creation." p. 32
"Faith ony derives its value from its object" p. 159 Adrio Konig
The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology:Towards a Christ-Centered Approach  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 1989

The only valuable person in existence is Absolute Love, all others derive their value from Him!

How do you do you gain the love overflowing from the Absolute Love? Same as always, from Abraham until the culmination of this world, by faith.

Rom 4:13-22 "For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."

"How radically this faith involves our whole life is shown by the New Testament's equation of faith with obedience. So it is clear that, because of the nature of faith, no tension can exist between 'Christ alone' and the 'addition' of faith. Faith lives solely from Christ, and is filled by what He has done. Stated in eschatological terms, Christ's attainment of the goal for us (but without us) and his attainment of the goal in us are not concurrent.
Yet it is this very emptiness of faith in itself which leads to its decisive character. Because it is directed solely to Christ and his work for us, faith is necessary-and its lack excludes one from salvation. Without faith, God's goal in us is not reached. Precisely because faith is neither a human accomplishment nor a human contribution, but rather a confession that everything has been done for us by Christ, we have no Christ without faith. This is why Scripture speaks so strongly about the necessity, value and power of faith. Faith receives value only from its object. And because of faiths necessity we are bound to speak of the mortal peril of unbelief. 9Rom. 9:30-33; 11:20-23; Heb. 3:18,19; 4:1-11)" Adrio Konig
The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology: Towards a Christ-Centered Approach p 159
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 1989.

#Revelation #EndTimes 

Rev 1:12 "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."

"Even Jesus' sermons of woe and judgment are intended to save people. This does not mean that his wrath is less than real or that his warnings about hell are not to be taken seriously (Mark 3:5; 9:42ff; Matt. 23; Luke 16:19ff; John 5:28-29). But it does mean that he preaches thus in order to rescue people, to warn them, and to call them to repentance. Even when at his most emphatic in preaching judgment, he is still the Savior of the world. His wrath and judgment are in fact expressions of his love and mercy." Adrio Konig
The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology: Towards a Christ-Centered Approach P. 49 Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing 1989

Who else would you want to hold the keys? He is Absolute Love, come to Him and live.

#Revelation #EndTimes

Rev 1:7, 8 "Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

"Our world, earth, and its inhabitants have, from creation, been racing toward a beginning. I AM, the three in one, has planned from before the creation of the world a perfect world, a world of fullness and fulfillment. God plans world where absolute love will transform those who love I AM here and now by His overflowing, steadfast, loving kindness because they will keep their eyes on him and not look away. We will love Him and He will transform us by His love. 1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” When He returns, we will become like Him in His love. 1 John 3:2– 3: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” R. I Willroth

Get the book Absolute Love Westbow Press

p. 157 Chapter 12 "Love Never Fails"

#Revelation #EndTimes Started going through the book of Revelation today, what an awesome picture of Jesus Christ - Yeshua Messiah- Isa Al Masih, His love, power, justice and lordship over all history, over all creation.

Rev 1:3-6 "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

"The beginning and end of creation is a person. Beginning and end are not in the first instance indications of time. And the same applies to first and last, alpha and omega. The meaning of these concepts amounts to the following: That Christ is the alpha and omega means that there is a special relationship between Christ and the entire history of the world. That Christ is called 'the beginning' is not a reference only to a temporal relationship between Jesus and creation, but also includes the idea that Jesus is Lord of creation. As Lord he takes his creation along with him and sustains it. The same meaning is contained in the concept 'first' which indicates rank rather than sequence. Christ as the 'end' (telos) involves the idea of terminus and goal and amounts to the same thing as pronouncements (particularly of Paul) which depict Christ as the goal of creation. Christ as the 'last' emphasizes his decisive meaning for creation. There is no one whose significance can in any way be compared with his decisive meaning for creation. In brief then Christ is both Lord of the whole of the history of created reality and the destination toward which all creation is moving- the destination which will be reached through him, the decisive One." Adrio Konig
The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology: Toward a Christ-Centered Approach  p 30,31
Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing 1989.

Absolute Love is- First and Last- Beginning and End- the goal, as in unfolding purpose of creation the goal of history. Absolute Love is a being.

Get the book. Absolute Love by R. I. Willroth 2011 Westbow Press.

Gal 5:13-18 "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

"God in redemption finds us all more or less disintegrated personalities. Disintegration and loss of rational control are aspects of our sinful fallen state. Trying to play God to ourselves, we are largely out of control of ourselves and out of touch with ourselves, or at least with the great deal of ourselves, including most of what is central to our real selves. But God's gracious purpose is to bring us into reconciled relationship with himself, through Christ, and through the outworking of that relationship to reintegrate us and make us whole beings again.
The relationship itself is restored once for all  through what Luther called the "wonderful exchange" whereby Christ was made sin for us and we in consequence are made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Justified and adopted into God's family through faith in Christ, Christians are immediately and eternally secure: nothing can sever them from the love of the Father and the Son. (Romans 8:32-39) But the work of recreating us as psychophysical beings on whom Christ's image is stamped... is not the work of a moment. Rather it is a lifelong process of growth and transformation." J. I. Packer
Keep in Step with the Spirit   p. 222,223 Fleming H. Revell Company 1984

 Gal 5:19-25 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

Joh 16:7-15 "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;  concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer, concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

"The Spirit makes us see the love of Christ towards us, as measured by the cross,and to see along with Christ's love the love of the Father who gave his Son up for us(Romans 8:32).  ...
Then, together with that, the Spirit also makes us see that through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ we are now God's children; and hereby he leads us, spontaneously and instintively-for there are spiritual instincts as well as natural ones- to think of God as Father(Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). ...
To know God as your Father and that He loves you his adopted child, no less than he loves his only begotten Son and to know that enjoyment of God's love and glory for all eternity are pledged to you brings inward delight that is sometimes overwhelming and this also is the Spirit's doing." J. I. Packer
Keep in Step with the Spirit   p. 77  Feming H. Revell Company 1984

Gen 1:1-2 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

Rom 8:22-28 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Absolute Love is completely set apart, no one can attain it or earn it. Absolute Love is given and received with much humility and gratitude.                       Isa 6:1-8 "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."'

"So the God who is love is first and foremost light, and sentimental ideas of His love as an indulgent, benevolent softness, divorced from moral standards and concerns, must therefore be ruled out from the start. God's love is holy love. ... God's love is stern, for it expresses holiness in the lover and seeks holiness in the beloved. Scripture does not allow us to suppose because God is love we may look to Him to confer happiness on people who will not seek holiness, or to shield His loved ones from trouble when He knows they need trouble to further their sanctification."
J. I. Packer
Knowing God  p. 110 Intervarsity Press 1973

Rev 4:2-11 'At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,  and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

Absolute Love is eternally beyond us, holy, holy, holy. Absolute Love overflows in lovingkindness towards us, will you receive from The Three in One?

Why not Unconditional Love?

The following is an e-mail conversation between a Christian Friend that I respect and myself about unconditional love. 

 My e-mail

One question: Is God’s love really unconditional?

I heard you say that, and it is a very overused phrase I hear, but I do not see it anywhere in the Bible. In fact I see lots of conditions that put us in the position to experience the love of God.

For instance, Deu 5:9-10  You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Even in John 3:16 there seems to be the condition of “belief” ; also see John 3:18 unbelief is basis of condemnation not of receiving God’s love.

I know that we cannot earn God’s love, or become worthy of God’s love. I only believe that saying God’s love is unconditional is counter to Scripture, a way to let us off the hook from fearing God “the beginning of wisdom”.

I think we can talk about God’s faithful love, unfailing love, steadfast love or even absolute love, but isn’t it a mistake to talk of unconditional love? I believe this sends a message counter to Scripture.

Friends e-mail response

Hmmm, good question, I have to say that I am not certain.  It might be semantics, but I think maybe you are talking about God’s favor instead of God’s love.  Certainly, there are many things that Israel did…and we can do…to get out of God’s favor.  However, his love seems to be pretty steady.

John 3:16 does say that Because God loved the world – in its current fallen state of sin – He sent His Son...then our ‘favorable position’ with God is dependent on our belief.

Romans 8 says “nothing” can separate us from the love of God.

I hear you loud and clear.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe God’s love to be unconditional to the humanity that He created.  His favor, on the other hand, is completely conditioned on our response to Him.

My e-mail response
Yes, I see your point. However I am still uncomfortable with the sense that unconditional love portends. It may be only semantics, I would be more comfortable with God's unceasing love, eternal love or never ending love.
>
> Unconditional love, I believe, sends the wrong message and may be often misused and misunderstood. (Jacob I have loved, But Esau I have hated)
>
> Pro 6:16-19 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
>
> Who are the people who cannot be separated from God's love? (Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.) Is this a conditional statement?
>
> Php 3:8-11 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

My friends e-mail response
I'll go with "eternal love".  :-)
 

How does learning to number our days lead to becoming wise?
Psa 90:11-17 "Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!"

"What does the Bible mean when it calls God wise? In Scripture wisdom is a moral as well as an intellectual quality, more than mere intelligence.or knowledge, just as it is more than mere cleverness or cunning. To be truly wise, in the Bible sense, one's intelligence and cleverness must be harnessed to a right end. Wisdom is the power to see, the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. 
Wisdom is in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such it is found in its fulness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariably wise." J. I. Packer
Knowing God  p. 80 Intervarsity Press 1973

Jas 3:13 "Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

Absolute Love is eternal love, He gives eternal life.                                 Joh 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."    

"Our aim in studying the Godhead must be to know God Himself the better. Our concern must be to enlarge our acquaintance, not simply with the doctrine of God's attributes, but with the living God whose attributes they are. As He is the object of our study, and our helper in it, so He must Himself be the end of it." J. I. Packer
Knowing God p. 18 Intervarsity Press 1973

Are you getting to know God, or only about Him? Knowing Him is eternal life, He is Absolute Love.

Rom 11:32-36 "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on al. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."               Is that the end? No just the beginning!                Rom 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."             God doesn't want dead animals, those were just pointers to a deeper reality and a heart attitude.             Psa 51:16-17 "For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."            Actions shout and are a result of the hearts attitude.              Pro 21:3 "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."               Absolute Love cannot be satisfied with lifeless acts of works that are mistakenly thought to bring about forgiveness.             Isa 1:11 "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats."            The sacrifice has been made for those who are experiencing cleansing. For those who are living sacrifices, giving reasonable worship to Him.                 Heb 10:4-14 "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"  When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."            What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? Who are those who are being sanctified?                       1Jn 3:2-3 "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."

Absolute Love consigns all people to disobedience, what do you make of that?              Rom 11:32 "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all."                  God has made a way that through His eternal plan He is righteous to show mercy to anyone?  Even me? Even you?             Rom 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"           Isn't that only something that we accept by faith, who can know the absolute intricacies of His eternal plan?             Rom 11:34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"              As for me I couldn't even think of trying to tell God how to run His world. No one can. He is the only absolute.         Rom 11:35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"           I could never earn His mercy only lay myself at His feet for mercy. That is what I need to do everyday. Because everything (contemplate this "everything") is from Him. Everything is through Him. Everything is to Him.         Rom 11:36 "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."                Are you prostrated, full out face to the ground in worship yet?  Or are you still holding out a little rebellion against the Absolute love? 

Absolute love created all things and owns all things, there is nothing you can give to Him only receive.            Gen 1:29-31 "And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."                   Absolute love controls all things yet He has you in mind                          Psa 8:3-9 "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"           Are you singing yet? Are you filled with praise yet? Are you in awe of Absolute Love?  

                Isa 44:23-24 "Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,"              There is nothing you can give, just receive.                  Joh 1:1-13 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."                              Rom 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

Psa 36:5-10 "Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!"                   Have you taken the time to contemplate the eternal depth of the ways, the wisdom, knowledge, the love of God?                        Rom 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."                 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened today!                           Eph 1:16-23 "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."             Absolute love overflows and fills all in all. 

Absolute Love is absolute in judgment. Don't take judgment upon yourself. You cannot absolutely love or judge apart from Him.                 Rom 1:32 "Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Rom 2:1-4 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"                                  Don't take judgment upon yourself. You cannot absolutely love or judge apart from Him. He is absolute love absolutely just in judgment.                     Heb 12:14-29 "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

Absolute Love interferes with normal life. Joh 11:23-26 "Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

"... the laws tell you how a billiard ball will travel on a smooth surface if you hit it in a particular way- but only if no one interferes. If, after it's already in motion, somene snatches up a cue and gives it a biff on one side-why, then you won't get what science predicted. ...

in the same way, if there was anything outside Nature, and it interfered- then the events the scientist expected wouldn't follow.  ... The laws tell you what will happen if nothing interferes. They can't tell you whether something is going to interfere. ... it isn't the scientist who can tell you how likely Nature is to be interfered with from outside, You must go to the metaphysician. ...

Don't you think that all you athiests are strangely unsuspicious people?" C. S. Lewis

Essay "Religion and Science" in God in the Dock:Essays on Theology and Ethics ed. Walter Hooper pgs 73-75 1970 Wm. B, Eerdmans Publishing Company

Joh 11:38-44 "Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Mat 21:8-14 "Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers." And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them."

"On a more fundamental level the priesthood, the tabernacle, and the sacrifices together express three aspects of God's dwelling with human beings. God's relation to human beings always involves His personal presence, His order, and His power exerted to bless or curse.  ...The tabernacle structure itself represents the divinely imposed order. ... The sacrifices embody preeminently the aspect of God's power exerted for people's benefit. ... The personal presence of God is symbolized by the ark." Vern Poythress

The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses p 59-61 1991 Wolgemuth and Hyatt, Publishers, Inc.

Heb 9:19-28 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you." And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Mat 17:1-6 "And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified."

"When Jesus, praying on a mountaintop, was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James and John, they saw Moses and Elijah with Him. Moses had heard the voice of God on the top of Sanai; later, Elijah had been brought to the same mountain to hear God speak, not in the fire and tempest, but in the quiet whisper of God's sovereign word. The cloud of glory that had srrounded Moses on Sanai again enveloped Jesus and His disciples. God's voice again spoke from the cloud. But God did not proclaim another ten commandments to be added to the words of His covenant of old. Rather, the voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I have chosen listen to him'(LK. 9:35)" 

Edmund P. Clowney The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament 

1988 P & R Publishing p. 101

Heb 3:1-6 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses--as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Joh 17:23-26 "I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

The Absolute Love Father, Son, Spirit: Three in One!

"John 12, 13, and 17 lay the groundwork for the cross to be understood as the moment when God and Christ are glorified and glorify one another, for at the cross love and truth meet, righteousness and peace kiss each other (cf. Ps. 85:11, ET 10). In the Upper Room Discourse Jesus teaches his disciples to love one another as he has loved them, and he is so lovingly committed to the truth that he sacrificed himself to make mercy possible for others. Jesus prays in John 17 that the Father will glorify him, that his disciples will see his glory and thereby unite in loving one another the way he has loved them. This is a love that shows forth God’s glory in justice and in mercy. The love of Jesus upholds justice and extends mercy. Through the judgment that falls on Jesus, salvation comes."
Hamilton Jr., James M. (2010-11-30). God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (Kindle Locations 9588-9593). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Jon 2:7-10 "When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!" And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land."

"Idolatry is a provocation because it gives what is due to Yahweh, worship, to those who are not worthy of worship. Not only does it deny Yahweh the glory due his name, but idolatry also corrupts and destroys those who engage in it. Yahweh is thus provoked because of his supreme love for himself and because of his concern for what is good for his people. Idolatry corrupts and destroys lives and Yahweh is too righteous to be unconcerned that he does not discipline. The discipline is meant to lead to salvation." James M. Hamilton Jr.     God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment Crossway 2010

*Yahweh the personal name or God in the Tanakh (Old Testament) usually translated Lord.

Joh 14:1-3 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

"Ah, that will be love indeed which will overflow our souls forever in our Father's house above! Who can tell the transports, the rapures, the amazement of delight which love shall beget in us? and who can guess the sweetness of the song, or the swiftness of the obedience which the heavenly expressions of love made perfect? No heart can conceive the surpassing bliss which the saints shall enjoy when the sea of their love to Christ, and the ocean of Christ's love to them, shall meet each other, and raise a tempest of delight." C. H Spurgeon Complete in Christ & Loves Logic Baker Book House 1978

Psa 92:4-5 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!

1Co 16:14 "Let all that you do be done in love."

"Personal intercourse with Jesus is pre-eminently a cause of love, and it so infallibly quickens the affections that it is impossible to live in the society of Jesus without loving Him. Nearness of life towards the Lamb will necessarily involve greatness of love to Him. As nearness to the sun increases the temperature of the various planets, so close communion with Jesus raises the heat of the affections towards Him." C. H. Spurgeon
Complete in Christ & Love's Logic Baker Book House 1978

 Mat 24:12-13 "And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

Php 2:5-8 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

"....nothing can be our redemption, but the restoration of the lost humility, the original and only true relation of the creature to its God. And so Jesus came to bring humility back to earth, to make us partakers of it, and by it save us."  Andrew Murray

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness     2005 Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Php 2:3-4 "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

"The life God bestows is imparted not once for all, but each moment continuously, by the unceasing operation of his mighty power. Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is,from the very nature of things, the first duty and highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue."  Andrew Murray

Humility: the Beauty of Holiness    2005   Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Absolute Love begins in us by looking outside ourselves and knowing to drink only from the true fountain of love.

Don't follow a religion, the only way to be transformed is through relationship with the Absolute Love. Yeshua, Isa, Jesus.

https://www.crescentproject.org/index.cfm/pageid/1579/postid/348/index.html

Mat 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

2Co 13:14 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

"One of the old Church Fathers said that we cannot better understand the Trinity than as a revelation of divine love-- the Father, the loving One, the Fountain of love; the Son, the beloved one, the Reservoir of love, in whom love was poured out; and the Spirit, the living love that united both and then overflowed into the world." Andrew Murray    

2005 Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Absolute Surrender and Other Addresses

The three in One, Absolute Love.