Love, grace - and demands?

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. - Matthew 6:33

How does this work out, combining God's grace, love and his commandments and demands?

Let's try and have a look at it. What do people strive for? Fame, wealth, family... I think everyone is searching for happiness in the end, only trying to achieve it through different ways.

So now people say that God created us for the sake of spending time with him, to have someone who loves him back. Which would mean that God is needy – which he isn't. So that can't be it. Why did God create us? I think it was to glorify him.

The whole creation is made to glorify God. Now this doesn't really sound like something I'd want to be striving for – glorifying someone else.

But let's dig a little deeper. 

People often say “live for yourself” or “don't waste your life living for someone else”. Yet, we tend to live for others – for our children, for wealth, for our friends, family... bluntly said: for what we love. It makes us happy to see them happy. While living for yourself will satisfy your own desires for a while, it will never give you back what sharing your life with other people gives you. Still, it doesn't fill you up completely. There is still something lacking – and that is God.

Initially we were designed to live for God, to love him. This is why we yearn for something, this is why a lot often isn't enough. But it's our free decision to love God or not. 

 

So God has given us a set of rules, or rather: God showed us what he deems good and bad. He himself is completely good, there is no evil in him. God is holy. And because he is holy he despises sin, the things he finds bad. In fact, he thinks of sin as terrible as that anyone committing a sin has to die.

But now we have a problem – people sin. We cannot fulfill God's commandments through our own will. Just look at history, many people have tried it. And failed.

So God thought of a plan of how to make a possibility that not everyone of those people, that he loves after all, would get lost forever.

John 3:16: God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

So what counts for God is believing in him. “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11/Romans 1:17)

Now what happened at the cross was this:

God himself fulfilled the law. He took on flesh, our flesh, he witnessed the same temptations as we do on daily basis; yet never sinned. He endured persecution. And in the end he took our sins upon himself and died in our stead.

But why did he do that?

So we could have a way to come to him? Because he loves us so much? He did it for his glory. 

Because now, through his mercy, we have this possibility to die in Jesus, to become one in him. As Jesus prayed – the son glorifies the father and the father glorifies the son. Why do they glorify each other? Because of their love.

We believe in a triune God – father, son and Holy Spirit. It is a mystery that I cannot explain. It goes as deep as eternity but becomes more and more natural the more time you spend with God. So when it says “God is love”, there is love in himself. He doesn't need us to love him. But he wants to love us. And when I love someone, I'd like them to love me back. That's natural. And it hurts me deeply when the other rejects me.

I believe it's just the same with God. Why else would he go this far as to lower himself from God to a human?

But back to bringing God's demands and love together.

Through Jesus' death and resurrection, the ones who believe in him as their savior have died and been given a new life in him. Which means we are dead for the sin. But we still live in our flesh and the “flesh” is full of problems against God. Our spirit is new but our body and soul are the “old self”.

Everyone who tried it can confirm: I cannot change myself for real through my own willpower. I will fail at one time or another. So we are stuck with our old flesh.

It's not like God wouldn't know this. And he doesn't want us to change ourselves through our own power. But he also doesn't want us to continue living a sinful life – he wants us holy as he is. So how should this be possible?

This is the point where many Christians struggle.

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)

We are not supposed to change ourselves. We are supposed to let God do the changing. Our only part is to allow him to work inside us, even in the parts we'd like to hide, even in the parts that might hurt. He doesn't go against our will, so the only thing we have to do is to decide and give him our whole life. The rest is his responsibility.

 

So God loves us, told us what is okay for him and what not and gave us the opportunity to live a holy life for and through him – which leads to us glorifying him. 

It's a deep topic and glorifying is really about love. Just think about a special person, celebrities, how people glorify them because of their admiration and love for them. Just that with God it is that he loved us first.

Now let's assume I'm living a life for God, I love him and live for his glory – what good does it bring for me?

Well, besides eternal life and love? It will fulfill me. It will bring me to places I had never dared to dream of. It will give me joy, happiness and peace. Even in hard times.

Put the kingdom first and everything else will be given to you.

It's true. Love God and your inner desire will be stilled.