One Love

For some reason my heart was fixed on the very first time the Lord expressed who and what He is to Israel.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

I asked the Lord, “What is love? What is its true meaning?” “I just told you,” He replied. “There is only one way to love me; and that is to be as I am. To truly love me means, to lay aside all that you are and become what I am.” Humanity is not capable of comprehending the love of God. Nor is mankind capable of producing and delivering that kind of love. The love of God requires every aspect of our being. It leaves nothing for self. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mark 8:34). This word deny means to utterly disown or lay no claim to. (Right here is a good place to say, “The body belongs to God”). To yield to the will of the Father, is to acknowledge that we are unprofitable servants in this dispensation during our time of sojourning on the earth.

Romans 13:14

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

There is to be no thought in our heart, soul or mind that will feed the vanity of the flesh. All our might or strength is to be given to the desire of the Father. This is what it means to love the Father. John gives us even more insight on what it is to love God.

1 John 2:15-17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Again, as He is, so are we. This is the testimony of true sons. We are as the Father. We lay no claim to the flesh, nor do we make provisions in our soul to create lust in our body. We cannot love the world and the Father. That is impossible. The things of the world are not of the Father. We are to love and cleave only to those things that pertain to godliness.

1 John 4:17

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

To live this commandment is to be one with God. It is to remain hidden with Christ in God; never usurping authority over the flesh or spirit. This is more than what the sons of God do. This is who we are. We are a visible presentation of the Father and the Son. We are not practicing to be like Him, we are as He is.

1 John 2:3-6

3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Unless the love of God is perfected in us, we are not in Him. What is the meaning of this?

1 John 2:4

He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

The above scripture is defining the position of a rebellious son. He is no longer in the Father. It has been established that the only way to love the Father is to become as He is. We must lay aside or deny ourselves and become servants of His will and way. This is what makes one of the attributes of love, consideration. It considers God, His desires, His will, His ways and His purpose. It considers all things pertaining to God, leaving no provision for self. This is the essence of the great love Jesus had for us. It is also the love the disciples had for the church. They suffered so that others might know Christ. This is the same love we must have for one another.

1 John 3:14

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

This verse does not suggest that you tolerate your brother; but rather you see him not after the flesh, but after the spirit. We are all members of the same Body. Therefore, we are a part of each other. It is then that I am able to compare spiritual things with spiritual things. It is vital that we understand this principle, for it too does not suggest that everything we will discover in our comparison will be of God or in the boundaries of the faith. Nevertheless, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted (Galatians 6:1). True love is compassionate and puts oneself in the position of his brother. This gives us the ability to be merciful and unwilling to execute judgment.

1 John 4:20

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

If we are all of the same Body, how is it possible to hate one another? This spirit of hatred can only be accomplished when there is no regard for the Body of Christ. It is able to flourish when there is no regard for the oneness of the Spirit. Hatred is murder. It literally kills or destroys the union of the Spirit that bound us together. To hate your brother is to hate the Father and the Son.

MAKE THEM ONE . . .

“Father, make them one, even as we are one.” That is the prayer Jesus prayed. In this prayer, Jesus revealed the plan of redemption. This plan involved more than His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world; it also included the regeneration of all who believed. The word one used here is the Greek word heis, which simply means only. To be one with God is to be an expression of God; to think as He thinks, to feel as He feels, to say and do as He does. God is love and He expressed that love the same way He demands us to express it. He laid aside all that He was and became as we were.