Thoughts From 1John 4 - Part 3

  This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1John 4:13-16,19-21

           At 70 years old, my clock is ticking. I figure I have maybe 15-20 years. It's funny as a kid and sometimes even now I would think about living forever and it would freak me out. No end to life, everlasting life, is hard to fathom because in this world we are born into, there is an expiration date on everything, even life. Now that I get to this point, I think about wishing life would never end and I understand everlasting life - it's an infinite series of one more days. Although no one wants to die, we don't have to fear it if we know Christ. He showed His love to us by dying on the cross and He wouldn't have done it unless He wanted to spend eternity with us. And we know that He can deliver us from death otherwise His death was futile and He was just an unfortunate victim.

       Therefore, as Christians, we don't have to live with the fear of death looming over us. Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians were grieving over the death of their loved ones in the same manner that the unsaved do who have no hope. He had to instruct them that our thinking of death is different. The writer of Hebrews says that Christ came to free all those who all their lives were enslaved to the fear of death. Thank You Lord for loving us so much that you would die to deliver us from that bondage and fear.

        Now if we know that the whole world is scared of dying and we have the remedy for that fear, shouldn't we share that good news? Wouldn't it be unloving not to share it? This is where people misunderstand evangelism. We don't share to get to Heaven like JW's. We don't share to grow our church like the Mormons or to prove we're devout like most guilted works driven Christians. We share because He loved us first and has put this love in our hearts and sharing comes from that love for others. Knowing that they live in a constant fear of death, the loving thing is to tell them how they can be freed from that burden they carry. Paul expressed his motivation for evangelism this way;

" If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. " 2Cor.5:13-15