Everyone remembers the Transitive Law of Equality from Algebra, right? “If a=b and b=c, then a=c.” So if Jesus is God and God is Love, then Jesus is Love.
We read verses like: “God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” but do we really believe it? “All you need is Love” (or God or Jesus) sounds a bit simplistic but if, as a child, I trust the Father so much that I really believe He is all I need, then I am finally understanding Jesus’ teachings. “Look at the birds and the grass… Are you not more valuable than they? The Father knows what you need! If you ‘evil’ parents know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (See Matt 6 & 7)
Our problem comes when the storm rises or sickness lingers or death enters the picture. Mary and Martha thought, “All we need is Jesus,” but their Friend didn’t arrive on time and their brother died. “If You had been here, Lazarus would not have died.” But God’s Love transcends our thinking. Through the death of a friend Jesus revealed himself in a deeper way: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” And after He made this profound declaration He asked Martha the same question He asks us, “Do you believe this?”
Our friend Fred Grapes passed away last Friday. Fred was my age and died of liver disease. He’s not been raised from the dead as Lazarus, but he is alive. “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (Jn 11:25-26) This truth is a source of comfort for his family and friends. I witnessed Saturday, in a small memorial gathering, how Love is really what we need. The Love of God… and the Love of God’s children engulfed Fred’s family in a powerful way. “God has poured out his Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Rom 5:5)
Why does He do this? Because He knows Love is what we need. When we bear one another’s burdens and unselfishly serve one another, we are being Jesus on the earth. He is Love and Love is God.
“All you need is Me,” the Father said to a lost world. So He sent Jesus to save us and asks, “Do you believe this?”
“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemns already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16-18