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Christians, we mustn’t let the resurrection be to us a mere fact of the past, but a force shaping our present and our future. And non-Christians, unless the resurrection becomes a fact of your past and present by putting your faith in Christ, you mustn’t assume that you have any future—at least not a desirable future in any way graced by the loving presence of a forgiving God.
If God took the initiative to love you in your sinfulness you can imitate Him by being a loving, initiative-taking wife, husband, fellow church member, Christian co-worker, parent, son or daughter, friend, or fiancée. Whatever the relationship, whatever the situation, it’s possible to imitate and initiate God’s personal and sacrificial love if and only if the Spirit of this same God inhabits you.
The universe wasn’t created by a feeling. You and I weren’t saved by a feeling. Our Creator and Savior is not a feeling; He’s a Person! Actually, He’s three Persons in one with a plan and a shared will to carry out that plan. His will toward us is grace, and that sin-forgiving grace is set in motion by His redeeming love for us.
Very few of us will be called upon to literally lay down our lives for the faith. But Jesus calls all of us to lay down our lives for the faithful.
Jesus is not concerned primarily with you and I being able to persuade other people into the Christian faith through arguments and eloquence, though we should be passionate witnesses and able to speak articulately about our faith. And He’s not concerned primarily that others see us as kind, generous, patient or peace-loving people. As important as these and other traits are, of all the good impressions we might make on non-Christian people, the impression He most wants others to have when they encounter a Christian is, ‘Man, this person really loves Jesus.’
If John’s gospel were a symphony, John 16 would be in the middle of the great crescendo, the building of events in volume and intensity from His triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey colt to carrying on His back a Roman cross. As the God-man fully knowing and controlling every event and eventuality leading to His bearing…
God doesn’t look at you and I and see imperfect obedience; He sees the perfect obedience of His Son and counts it as our obedience. Don’t fear, dear children of God, being cut off and cast out by our loving God and Father. Let your joy be full in knowing that you’re loved. And prove you love Him by dwelling in His love for you and working to improve your obedience to Christ every day.