The Defense
Why did Paul single out love as the greatest thing to have? Because it lasts. It will never go away. It is permanent. "Love never fails."
Humanity values certain things. And these things they believe will last forever however Paul tells us they are temporary. Juxtaposed to eternity they will pass away.
"Where there are prophecies, they will cease. Where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." People were elevating the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the expense of love. As a result of this elevating of gifts the people that had these gifts became elevated. It was in this elevating of people that love took a backseat. Love begins to be diminished when one person is lifted up over another. When Jesus came it was told long ago that he would create a level playing field for all of humanity so that everyone would be able to see God and no one would be above another.
"Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation.'” If we consider the Scripture when the Valley is filled and the mountain is brought down low you have a plain. When the crooked roads are made straight and the obstacles removed you have a smooth level plain. It is on this plain that all humanity stands and sees God. No one is standing on a mountain above someone in the Valley. No one is elevated above another in the eyes of God. When love is diminished or removed one person begins to stand above another or one person is below another. If someone wants to see God and they are in a lower position, when they look up they have to see God through the person above them. Therefore God is now filtered through fallen man. God's love becomes diminished. If the gifts are elevated with the person who has the gift then the love which Jesus wants us to have for one another will not be able to fulfill what Jesus said, "Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,"
Paul didn't mention many other things. He did not mention money, fame or power. He just picked out things that he needed to address with a group of believers at a certain time in a certain place. Paul was not diminishing these gifts in and of themselves. He was just pointing out that they were temporary and they were not the greatest thing to have. He wanted them to comprehend that these gifts were a means to an end, love. Specifically God's love revealed. What we are as citizens of God's kingdom is much more than what we do. It goes beyond what gifts we might have. We have a tendency to create sin where there is no sin and these so-called sins are temporary. John said, "the world and its desires pass away." There are many things in the world that are desirable and beautiful. There are many things in the world that consume us. However, none of it will last. "For everything in the world-the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the father but from the world." All of these things are temporary therefore we should not love the world. There is nothing in the world that is worth your immortal soul. What the immortal soul gives itself today will be with it for all eternity. The only thing that is immoral other than the soul apart from God is love: "now these things remain faith, hope, love and the greatest of these is love."
There will be a time when faith turns into sight and hope turns into fruition. Then love will reign supreme in the hearts of all who have entered into God's kingdom. Since God is love desire this everlasting gift because it is not temporary it is permanent. We will give ourselves to many things in this life however the first thing we should give ourselves to is love. Keep all things in perspective to this love. We must remember that this love is built into our character and our character should be that of Jesus.
In the Gospel of John we see John talking about faith and love with eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."If we trust in God we will have peace with him, we will have rest for our souls, we will have true joy and we will find security in him. However, there is more. When we trust in him we begin to love him because trust is the avenue to love therefore to eternal life. The gospel of the kingdom of God offers people a new nation to be a part of. A new life. Jesus came to give people an abundant life. A life that the kingdoms of man cannot offer. A life full of love. A life of salvation from our broken condition. A life that is restored. It is in the gospel of the kingdom of God that the whole person is taken hold of body, soul, and spirit. Far too many have slipped away because they've only been given a diminished message of the gospel of the kingdom of God. They come to the Master's table for all the delights that are on the table instead of coming to the Master's table for the Master. Because if they came for the Master then they would come for love. The world may offer love but it is a synthetic love. The world may offer a life but it is a synthetic life. Jesus came to give us true love and true life. You may search the world over, look into every philosophy and religion that the world has to offer but you will never find the love of God except in the person of Jesus Christ.
If we love abundantly we will live abundantly. If we love forever we will live forever. The gift of eternal life is bonded with love. We want to live forever for the same reason that we want to live for tomorrow. We want to live to see another day if we know that someone loves us. We want to see that person tomorrow. We want to be with them and love them back. If a person has no one to love or if they believe no one loves them they lose hope. And when hope is gone they give up on life even commit suicide. As long as we have friends that love us and we love them we will live because to live is to love. Even if it is the love of a dog it will keep a person alive. However if these things are gone and there is no contact with life there becomes no reason to live.
We received the gift of eternal life to know God and God is love. Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." True love must be eternal. It comes from God and since God is eternal true love is eternal. "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself." God is the author of life. Love is life. Love never fails and life never fails as long as there is love. This is what the Scriptures teach us. The reason why love should be the supreme thing is because it is essential to life and it will last forever. We are to live it now not in some distant future. There is nothing worse for a person in this world than to live and grow old alone, unloving and unloved. The lost live in an un-regenerated condition therefore they are truly loveless and unloved. To be rescued is to loved. Consider the woman of Luke 7:36-50. Jesus rescued her and she loved much. If we live in love we live in God because God is love.
In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus paints a picture of Judgment Day. God is sitting on the throne and before him are two groups of people. They are divided like sheep and goats. The test before them is not how they believe but how they loved. You see even the devil believes however he's part of the goats that go off into eternal punishment. Not because they didn't believe that because they didn't love. It's not about what you have done or what you have believed but who you have loved. "Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" The who is Jesus because if you love Jesus you will love God and if you love God you will love others and if you love others you will fulfill God's will. When we withhold the love of God we are quenching the spirit of Jesus. This is evidence that we never knew him. If we never knew him he never knew us.
All of humanity will stand before the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. And in the presence of all we will be judged. We will see those who have come across our path that we have helped or we neglected or despised. Let's be honest with ourselves when we stand before Jesus it will be about our theology and how we lived our life. It won't be about how much we gave to the church or if we went to church every week but what did we do with the love that God gave us towards the disenfranchised, the lost. It will be about how we love our brothers and sisters who were in need. It will be about did we use the things that we possessed in this world to open doors to share the good news of the kingdom of God.
We must remember that it's just not about meeting people's needs, which is an important part of love in action, we must also share the good news of the kingdom of God. When Jesus walked this earth he loved people by meeting their needs and sharing the message of the gospel of the kingdom of God. He did not do one without the other. If you want to feed the hungry share the gospel also. If you want to cloth the naked share the gospel also. If you want to give a cold cup of water to the thirsty share the gospel also. If you want to shelter the homeless share the gospel also. "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jesus spoke the truth as he dispensed God's grace.
Henry Drummond
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