Yahweh's Universal Love

Shalom,

Please begin by reading 1 Tim 2:1-6.

Around the celebration of Valentine's Day we see many representations of flying little babies. Call them Cupids or cherubs, they're an interesting and unusual symbol of love. Yahweh's universal love for mankind was clearly expressed in the birth of a little baby in an obscure place. But this baby certainly wasn't obscure, he was worshiped and adored by angels and shepherds, later by wise men, end eventually by people like us. This little baby had been sent on a mission of great and profound love. The end product of his life was salvation for every human being in the world willing to seek and reach out to him to receive the great love he offers.

Those who have accepted this great love into their lives now have the responsibility of sharing what they've received with the whole world. There's no person who's supposed to remain untouched by this universal love. It doesn't matter what their skin color is. It doesn't matter what religion they've grown up with. It doesn't matter whether they believe in creation or evolution. It doesn't matter what level of education they're attained. It doesn't matter if they've been our enemies in the past. It doesn't matter how sincerely they believe something else. Yahweh has called those who've been touched and blessed by the love of Jesus to proclaim this Good News to the whole world.

The words found in Paul's letter to Timothy encourage us to pray for all people, especially those in authority. There are many billions of people living on our world right now, that means we have a huge task in front of us. Are we praying for people to respond to the Gospel? Are we praying for our leaders so we can have true peace and quiet? They tell us Jesus died for all sin, and that he's the only mediator between Yahweh and mankind. Are we sharing this powerful word with everyone we can? Are we failing to share it because people believe other things? Do we really believe that Jesus is "the Way and the Truth and the Life," the only way to the Father? They tell us Yahweh wants everyone to get saved. Jesus is the ransom for all men. All means all! Jesus paid the ransom, the purchase price to liberate us from our bondage to sin and the oppression of the devil.

Love is Yahweh, and because of that it's our duty to love others. In loving all other people we have the opportunity of fellowship and blessing. We must overcome the bigotry of my way is better than your way, especially when it's found inside our churches. Yahweh calls us to a mutual, universal love that should be the natural reaction of receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Letting the labels we put on our churches keep us separated is a hindrance to sharing the Love of Jesus with the whole world.

The love Yahweh has shared with us isn't to be confined to a particular denomination, church, fellowship, doctrine, style of worship, or any other human limitation. Yahweh's love seeks no advantage for itself, it embraces neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies, and even the evil and ungrateful. This doesn't mean we accept everything that other people "believe," but that we reach out to them in love. It's not our job to correct other people, but to share the truth we know. If we spend more time sharing truth instead of debating positions, we might even help draw more people into the Kingdom.

Sometimes loving people means telling them that something they're doing is wrong according to Yahweh's standards. If someone is clearly breaking one of the Ten Commandments, we should be able to point this out and attempt to help them move away from this sin. Sometimes love compels us to speak out against harmful things. We know how harmful sin can be, the damage it can do in our lives. So we should be willing to share the truth of Yahweh's Word in an attempt to help people turn to Jesus and away from their sin. This can be tough, and too many times we're told we have to be gentle. How can we be gentle when they have a life-threatening disease. Sin is a cancer that kills everyone who fails to find redemption through Jesus.

Think about John 3:16. "For Yahweh so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The word SO is a small but powerful word. It says that the limitless love of the Most High God is lavished upon this sinful world. The great love of the Creator is poured out on the world system of selfishness, greed, and corruption. The holy love of the Most Holy One is directed toward the most unholy world. His love is amazing. Our heavenly Father isn't waiting for us to love him so he can love us in return. He loves us even when we ignore and reject him.

"That he gave" means Yahweh felt the need to act on our behalf. True love is never content to simply stand by and watch. Agape is a word of action. True love will act on behalf of the one loved no matter what we think or believe. Yahweh's love is proved to us by his action. And again, he didn't give this love because the world was worthy, but because the world was needy. Yahweh's motivation to help us is his love.

None of us can love more than Yahweh does. People are arrogant enough to claim they can love more because they wouldn't send anyone to Hell. When any of us makes that claim, we're being pious and foolish. We're not seeing things clearly or understanding the depth of our holy and righteous God. Yahweh has given us a standard to live by and we're accountable to him whether or not we choose to follow it. He's the Creator, the one who established the operating instructions for our world. We can't understand that it's his great love for all of mankind that makes it necessary to allow people to go to Hell. Heaven, the place of reward and blessing for those who trusted and obeyed his standards, would be less than a Paradise if the people who rejected Yahweh were allowed to live there for an eternity.

The answer for us is that we have a requirement to pray for everyone. That means we're seeking Yahweh's best for them. So we can't deny them their heavenly Father's great love. Praying for people frees us from our human bigotry and prejudice. Praying for others to receive Jesus into their lives should help us overcome our human limitations. We should begin to see others with eyes of love and grace. And spending a lot of time in communication with the Father, Son,and Spirit should also help us think more like they do. We'll love people more and also gain a better understanding of how sin can't be allowed in the presence of our Most Holy God.

If Jesus is the "only mediator" between Yahweh and man, then we must love people enough to tell them this. If their religion or belief system allows them other paths to God, we must tell them that their Creator himself said there's no other path to heaven than the one provided through Jesus. You're not being disrespectful to them, you're trying to help them understand their Creator's Truth. We have to disagree with those believe there are other ways to Heaven. Don't be disagreeable in making your stand for Jesus, but do ensure that they know that the Bible does say it matters what they believe.

Eph 2:8-9 clearly tells us that salvation is a "gift of Yahweh, not by works." It's Yahweh who sets forth the rules for entry into Heaven, not us. In Yahweh's great love he gave us one way to enter Heaven. There's no need for confusion, our heavenly Father has made things simple. If we'll trust in him and his great love, we'll find true and everlasting peace. This isn't saying that the way to Heaven is exclusive, but that those who choose to believe other things exclude themselves. Yahweh says "whoever believes in him."

1 Tim 2:4 says Yahweh "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." Key on the two words: The Truth! There aren't many truths out there. There aren't any deeper truths than we find in the Bible. The Amplified Bible phrases it "so we can perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and accurately the divine Truth." Yahweh wants people to understand his Truth. He's made it possible for all of us to understand his Truth! Yahweh's Truth, and therefore his will, is recognizable to every human being who truly seeks after him. The limitation is that it can only be understand spiritually, so we'll never grasp it with our limited human intelligence.

The forgiveness found through the death and resurrection of Jesus is for all who will choose to believe. At the same time, we should all be aware of the fact that mankind without the Holy Spirit's influence is totally depraved. So how can totally depraved humans choose to follow Yahweh's righteous path of salvation? The answer is by the divine grace offered to us through Yahweh's great universal love. No one is left out or ignored or excluded. Every single individual on this earth has the same opportunity to receive this amazing grace.

"Whoever" includes the happy and the sad, the weak and the strong, the wise and the foolish, the educated and the simple, the nice and the nasty. No matter where any of us has been or what we've done, Yahweh's love gift is available. That's why we need to be praying for everyone, so that they'll have an ample opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel.

Is it loving to allow people to go their merry way denying Yahweh's Truth? Is it loving to not speak against the philosophies and religions which deny the divinity of Jesus? Pray for the Holy Spirit's help in speaking to the people you meet. Yahweh wants us to be bold and forthright in proclaiming salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Remember what we're told about praying for all these people: "This is good, and pleases God our Savior." If you're not pleasing your Father, why would you continue to do what you're doing?

Blessings & Peace, Mike