WHO ARE WE - PART 1

WBS.256

WHO ARE WE? – PART 1

Luke 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love IAUE thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Today, we begin a new series.  I want to ask a simple question…one that has a complex answer.  As disciples of Yahushua, we are born again (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23).  We have become a new creature in Yahushua Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We have already done a series of posts on the New Man. That was an analysis of the “new creature,” an examination of WHAT we became when we were born of the Spirit.  This series intends to examine WHO we are to become as new creatures in Messiah.  WHO we became speaks to our identity.  It is an active participation in the life to which we have been called as servants of Messiah. Unlike being the New Man, we do not assume the identity to which we have been called by default. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of those who profess to be believers have never become what they were called to be.  In truth, that is the purpose of contemporary Christianity…to prevent the disciples of Messiah from realizing their true identity.

We became a part of the New Man when we were born again. We may not live up to the dignity or the power of the New Man; but we have become an intrinsic part of the New Man. [If a carpenter makes a shovel, it is a shovel whether or not it is ever used as one.] Being the New Man is an inescapable reality.  It is WHAT we became. [if you have not been born again and are one who attends church, even if you are a member of a church, you are no different than the Gentiles who sat in the Court of the Gentiles outside of the Jewish synagogues, watching and listening to the proceedings within the synagogue and desiring what the Jews had---covenant with IAUE---but you have absolutely no part in it. You are just window dressing. You must be born again; which means you must forsake the life you currently have to become alive in a new paradigm…in the New Man.]

WHO ARE WE?   WE ARE THE LOVERS OF IAUE.

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Yahushua said unto him, Thou shalt love IAUE thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Messiah did not hesitate.  He said it was to love IAUE with every part of our being.  This is the first and most important call of the disciple of Yahushua.  We are to be known as the lovers of IAUE. 

This word “love” (agape) means to consider and to prefer the well-being and interests of its object.  It isn’t a word that defines an emotional feeling; but rather an honoring of the one so loved that it brings out the purest and most selfless life in the one who loves in this manner. As a result, it can produce within the one who so loves the deepest emotions of devotion for the one loved because of the connection it makes within him/her to the nature of the Creator; for such love can only come from Him.  In other words, our choice to consider, prefer and honor IAUE with all our being infuses us with His own love, enabling us to love others with His selfless care for their well-being.  It begins with our loving IAUE.  It ends with us loving others as He would love them through us.

We see the reverse of this demonstrated in the words of the apostle John.

1 John 2:15 Love (agape) not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love (agape) the world, the love (agape) of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  

Loving the world only brings out the worst in man. It evokes selfishness and every evil associated with it.  In fact, in the light of the nature of agape, we may conclude that loving something reproduces the nature of the “god” of that something within us. John tells us that the whole world lies in the wicked one (1 John 5:19).  What good can possibly come from loving any element of that which is within the hold of the enemy of our souls?  Yahushua said the same thing to the Jews.

John 5:42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of Elohim in you.

43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from Elohim only?

Again, the aposle John restates this later in his first epistle.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of IAUE, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of IAUE in him?

If we love IAUE, His nature is reproduced with us and enables and empowers us to love others (who are in the world, and of the world, and bound by the god of this world), thus bringing them into contact with the nature of the One who is their Creator, who only desires their well-being. If we prefer ourselves over others, how can we expect the love of IAUE to be manifest in our lives?  Our very self-preferring lifestyle chokes out the possibility that we can love others as IAUE loves them.

As a disciple of Messiah, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that knows us, meets us, sees us from a distance, etc., that we love IAUE.  This is what IAUE expects of those whom He has chosen to bless.

In the Old Testament, Moses reminds the Hebrews of the laws that were enjoined upon them by their agreement to serve IAUE.  The first and greatest of these was to love IAUE with all their heart and soul and might.  As a result, IAUE said they would be blessed in everything they do, in all the works of their hands, in all the produce of their farming, in all the yield of their livestock, etc.  In fact, IAUE declares that His blessings would overtake them.  They could not escape them.  His blessing would be a direct consequence of their choice to love Him. This cycle of love and blessing would make the Hebrews a light in the world that would demonstrate to those around them the goodness of IAUE.  However, because of their disobedience to this greatest of all commandments of IAUE, there was a laundry list of curses that would befall them because they refused to remain within this cycle of love and blessing.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Because thou servedst not IAUE thy Elohim with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

Had they loved IAUE, they would have been a people filled with joy; but instead, they loved the world, and the world reproduced its nature within them.

Our Master, Yahushua Messiah, says that we would be known to the world because of our love for each other.

John 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

This can only originate in our response to the greatest commandment to love IAUE with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and might. The second commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” can only be obeyed if we are obedient to the first commandment.  The first commandment, however, cannot be obeyed if we prefer ourself…if we are in love with ourself. This takes us right back to one of the very first posts in this blog (5/19/13), The First Lesson in Discipleship:

Matthew 16:24 Then said Yahushua unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Our life must lose its preferential importance to us.  We must lay it down. The Scriptures say:

2 Corinthians 5:14  For the love of Messiah constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

So many have read the Scriptures and thought that Elohim was an egotistical, prideful being because He seems to constantly demand that His people love Him, praise Him, worship Him, etc., not understanding that IAUE knows that in so doing, He would be able to give them a taste of what a life of righteousness is like…to know what purity and goodness is like…to know what it is to love others as IAUE loves His own creation.

Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of IAUE, as dear children;

2 And walk in love, as Messiah also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to IAUE for a sweetsmelling savour.

The apostle Paul goes on in this chapter to list all the acts of wickedness that should not be found in our lives as the children of Elohim. They are things that will not be reproduced in our lives if we are wholly given to the love of IAUE.

Who are we?  We are the lovers of IAUE.