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Love: A New Command – Part 1

Love: A New Command – Part 1

Jesus said:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34, 35 NIV84).

When Jesus told His disciples that He was giving them a new command to love one another, He did not mean it was a new teaching, principle, directive, instruction, or idea that God had not previously given—but that it was new to them. For God had already instructed His people to:

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV84).

And to …

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18 NIV84).

Despite God having previously taught the people to love Him and each other, the followers of Jesus somehow didn’t know it, didn’t understand it, and were not living in love. Therefore, Jesus said His command to love was something new to them.

What about us today? Surely, we Christians have all heard that God is love and that we are to love Him with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. And even more, we know that Jesus told us to love not just our neighbors but also our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Yet, could we also need Jesus’ “new” command to love? Could we be struggling with a similar problem that the disciples had?

From where does this love that Jesus said we are to have for each other originate? Are we, as sinful humans, able to produce this love because God has told us to do so? Is this love something that we have within ourselves and we only need to look inward, to have a better psychological attitude, or to simply choose to love? Or is this love something that only comes from outside of us and we must receive it, be transformed by it, and then choose to act in harmony with it?

Jesus gives us additional insight in John 15:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other (vv. 9–17 NIV84, emphasis mine).

Jesus tells us that love originates in God, that love’s source is God, for God is love (1 John 4:8). This love exists among the Godhead and, thus, God loves Jesus the Son—and this eternal love flows from the Father through Jesus to us. We do not possess this love in and of ourselves, but we receive it in a similar way that we receive the sunshine—it constantly shines down upon us from heaven above.

Yet, just as sunshine, which never stops streaming from the sun, can sometimes be hidden behind storm clouds, so too God’s love, despite never ceasing, can sometimes feel hidden to us as we experience intense emotional storms. It is during those times, when our emotions are raging, when we feel unloved, cut off, abandoned, that we must, like Jesus did, turn to reality as revealed in Scripture and know that God’s love for us never fails and never ceases, just as surely as we know on the stormiest day that the sun continues to shine!

We receive love just as we receive sunshine—by placing ourselves in its rays. On the sunniest day, we can choose to go out in the sunlight, or we can choose to stay in the dark, to cover the windows with blinds, refusing to go outside and cutting ourselves off from the sun. Likewise, despite God’s love constantly flowing from heaven, we can choose to cut ourselves off from it, to stay in the darkness of bitterness, resentment, hatred, bigotry, selfishness, fear, doubt, idolatry, legalistic religious beliefs, entertainment, or various forms of substance-induced stupors.

And when we cut ourselves off from sunlight, we necessarily suffer various forms of physical and mental breakdowns. Likewise, when we cut ourselves off from God’s love and fill our hearts with fear, selfishness, and the numbing but false comforts of this world, we invariably suffer various physical and mental breakdowns.

Thus, our first responsibility to experience the infinite love of God that constantly flows from His throne is to choose to place ourselves in His presence, to abide in His love, to embrace Him as Creator and Savior. We do this by daily spending time with Him, by meditating on Scripture, on God’s revelations of Himself in nature, on reflecting upon, appreciating, and giving thanks for God’s providences and leadings in our own life’s journey, and thanking Him for the many blessings we have received from Him, for it is “from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1:16 NIV84).

In Part 2, we will finish our exploration of Jesus’ new command to love and its application to our lives.

 

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Testimony 66

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact you’ve had on my life, and words cannot fully express my appreciation. Over the years, I have been an avid listener and follower of C&R and extend my heartfelt thanks for creating the C&R mobile app. It has allowed me to immerse myself in your lessons repeatedly, enabling me to grasp the profound significance about the Character of God, Design Law, the protocols for life, the reasons behind the current chaos, and Christ’s mission to restore everything. They have deeply touched me. Having studied with various churches, I came away with the perception that God is no different from the deities of ancient Greek or Roman mythology—demanding sacrifices and taking pleasure in bloodshed. Thanks to your transformative teachings, I have experienced a profound awakening to the true nature of God and the immense power of His love. It is truly a remarkable and liberating sensation to finally grasp the truth and embrace the empowering nature of God’s laws. My self-perception has become brighter and more infused with love. My journey of growth continues on a daily basis.

Chris P., Lake Mary, FL, USA

 

Testimony 58

I have been watching your videos in The Power of Love seminar and I must say these have liberated me and have improved my relationship with the Lord. I am no longer terrified of him as I was before following your teachings.

Thando N., South Africa

 

Testimony 47

I can’t even begin to thank you and your ministry enough for introducing me to the Truth about a loving and merciful God! I have my daughter and her in-laws to thank for sharing with me “The God-Shaped Brain” as well as your website. I listen to the Bible study class lessons on my daily walk. May God continue to bless your thirst-quenching ministry!

Liz H., Port Angeles, WA, USA

 

 

Testimony 25

I just want to say thank you so much for your conversations via YouTube. I regularly tune in to your lectures, “Let’s Talk” sessions, and many others. Through these I’ve found greater depth and meaning to God’s word. Thanks for all that you do and please continue. I’m currently working in the middle of Silicon Valley at Stanford University. I feel like God really has me in the right place right now and I’m sensing that your teachings might be part of it.

B. F., Silicon Valley, CA, USA

 

Testimony 46

Over the past couple of years God has been expanding my view of Himself and His character. Along my approximately 40-year journey, I have often had questions, but was hesitant to voice these and step outside the traditionally accepted thinking, for fear of admitting that I may in fact be eternally lost. In the recesses of my thinking has been the thought – if one blindly accepts (which is widely regarded as “real faith”) and does not question, is this really ‘truth?’ I often find it challenging to grapple with very theological ‘speak,’ but Dr. Jennings has a real gift of explaining spiritual concepts with clear practical examples. The weekly discussions are growing my Christian experience and slowly changing my view of how to live as a child of God in today’s complex world. Finally the whole Old Testament sanctuary teaching moved in my mind from fantasy to reality!

Beverly S., South Africa

 

Testimony 52

Your unique way in spreading the truth is what we all need today. Most of us don’t recognize the contamination coming from all the lies and selfishness in the world. Because of our fear of death, we forgot how to live. Lies left and right. I was losing hope and faith, because of so many ideas that are always contradicting each other – so many questions answered by other, more complicated, questions – until I found your channel on YouTube.

You did not just give me answers, you also taught me how to answer new questions that arise in my mind. Now I see things differently. I see God’s mercy, grace, and Love everywhere, in spite of all the chaos that we all have done as humans. I don’t fear death anymore. Accepting the Truth and Love about God is truly a genuine Freedom from all the confusions, sufferings, selfishness, pain, and death.

I just wanted to say, thank you, sooooo much for revealing the real Remedy for our infected life. I have a new hope and now see the world in a different perspective!

Wheinny P., University Place, WA, USA

 

Testimony 48

I just want to tell you how blessed I have been reading “The Remedy!” It has become a daily part of my devotional relationship with God. In it I have found a God of love and a God that loves me! The bible has come alive for me! It is the first time that I can say that I have felt hope fill my heart as I have read God’s word. This is good news I can share! Thank you, Dr Jennings! Thank you for your heart for others. I can’t put into words how this has set me free! It has strengthened my trust and love for God.

Jason H.

 

Testimony 67

I was introduced to Come And Reason by a friend of my mother-in-law, who gave me several CD’s of Dr. Jennings. The clarity of the message and recognition that God’s is a God of love was so clear, advancing beyond Dr. Maxwell’s message. However, grappled with Maxwell saying God used emergency measures for the fallen world. Now after several years of being a regular listener of the Come And Reasoning bible study class and attending Jennings’ meetings in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, things are becoming clearer for me. Design law versus imposed law has added so much to my personal understanding of theology. This message has really impacted my work in counseling so many people miserable because they are searching for and trusting human governments to create order and peace or believing in a God who says love Me or I will kill you. I am grateful that I have an alternative view to offer my clients that makes sense. I teach a bible study class on a semi-regular basis and I value the materials that Come And Reason so freely offers to aid me in presenting this vital message. Thank you for continuing to provide advancement in our very limited understanding of a Infinite God that is rational and believable.

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Testimony 29

Thank you for all of your work to correct misconceptions about God’s character. So many people that my husband and I have talked to seem to be against the natural law construct and view it as “errant” and “dangerous.” Having learned more about it through your blogs and lessons, I don’t really understand why they view it that way, except that it means they have to relearn theology they have known for their entire lives. But I’m so excited to relearn this. For the past few years I have been questioning how I could trust a God who punishes arbitrarily and is full of wrath for those who don’t obey His commands. That view made me afraid to “mess up” or “not be good enough,” even within my relationship with God. I really appreciated the point you bring out about God not wanting us to serve Him because we are afraid, but because we love Him.

Melissa H., IN, USA

 

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Laura P., United Kingdom

 

Testimony 56

I cannot thank you enough for opening my understanding to the beautiful truth of God’s Law of Love and how it applies to everything. I have been a Christian for over forty years, but I feel like I am only now seeing with my eyes open. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

Tammy Cinzio, Australia

 

Testimony 18

The Healing the Mind DVD set tarted me on a journey that has changed my relationship with our loving God more significantly than any other study, and brought me to your book and Bible study podcasts, which I now listen to daily, thanks to the availability of archived content on your site and on iTunes.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 72

I am blown away by the truth that you present. God’s Design Law makes so much sense! You have validated my impression that, if God is love, He would not kill those who don’t want to know him. If God gives us choice, then how can He destroy us if our choice is not to follow him. Thank you for opening my eyes and heart to the pure love of God seen through Jesus. The love I now have for Jesus is deeper and free from condemnation. My heart has been opened to love others as Jesus loves me. May God continue to bless your God-given insight into His word and your ministry. The truth has set me free!

H. Miller, Centereach, NY