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From the Pastor...
December, 1999
THE LOVE THAT BROUGHT HIM
Revelation 1: 4 - 6:
The apostle John, in his later years lived in exile on the Island of
Patmos. He wrote back to his friends and to his fellow Christians on the
mainland. And he told them all that Christ had meant to him and all the
things he had experienced and was experiencing of Christ. And as he began
to write down what Christ had meant to him, the words gushed from his heart
like an anthem of joy: "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins
by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God
and Father, to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."
Now, the phrase that leaps out at us is "to Him who loves us," and that's
what Christ is about. It is about love, the love of God. It was love that
made Christmas. It was love that brought Christ. As we prepare for, and
celebrate Christ, it would be helpful if we remembered the following three
things about the love of Jesus Christ.
First, remember that the love of Christ never ends. It is eternal. One
of the most touching stories concerning Pope John 23rd is about the day
after Christmas many years ago when he visited one of the worst prisons in
Rome. It was the first time in ninety years that a pope had gone to a
prison, and in greeting the prisoners, the pope said, "you could not come to
me, so I have come to you." And that is the spirit of Christ's love. He
came to rescue us because He loved us, and His love never ends.
Secondly, His love is always personal. His love is forever, but it is
personal. While the love of Christ is for the world, it's also for you and
for me. Now it is a comforting thought to realize that 'God loves me'.
Karl Barth the great theologian, was invited to deliver one of the
distinguished lectureships at a theological seminary in the West, and while
he was there a group of ministers and theologians and dignitaries of one
kind or another sat down with him in a kind of question-and-answer period.
Someone asked the question, "What is the most profound thought that you
know, Dr. Barth". This is what he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for
the Bible tells me so." God's love is very personal, and His love for US
personally is greater than anything that can happen to us. It is greater
than our sin. It is stronger than our sorrow. It is mightier than death.
It undergirds all of life in all of its ups and downs. John Greenleaf
Whittier said it this way, "I know not what the future hath, of marvel or
surprise, assured along that life and death God's mercy underlies. I know
not where His islands lift, their fronded palms in air. I only know I
cannot drift, beyond His love and care". His love is personal.
Then, lastly, His love frees us. Our text says he loosed us from our
sins. His love liberates us. I read a story about a little girl who
arrived home from Sunday School, where she had been taught the verse, "Let
your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give
glory to our Father who is in heaven." She asked her mother, when she
repeated the verse, what it meant. Her mom said, "Well, it means that when
you are good and kind and thoughtful and obedient, you are letting Christ's
light shine in your life before all who know you." The very next Sunday in
Sunday School the little girl got into a bit of a disagreement and her
mother had to go to the classroom and get her settled down. Her mother was
concerned when she got to the classroom and said, "Don't you remember about
letting your light shine for the Lord before men?" The girl blurted out,
"Mom, I have blowed myself out." Many of us have done just that. In our
relationship to Christ, our light has gone out. Yet we need not live in the
darkness of our own wrongdoing, because Christ has set us free from our
sins. His love is liberating.
It was love that brought Him, and His love is eternal. It never ends.
His love is personal. It's for you; it's for me. He knows His sheep by
name; He is a good shepherd. His love brings us freedom. "To Him who loves
us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a
kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father, to Him be Glory and Power
for ever and ever! Amen".
In Christ's love,
Floyd McPhee 
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