Greater Love

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/16/greater-love

It is indeed true that greater love has no one than one who lays down his life for another. Jesus did this for us at the cross for our sins. Officer Arnaud Beltrame did the same thing when he offered himself to be substituted with the last hostage of a terrorist in France and was killed in a subsequent exchange of gunfire. Some say he did this because of his faith in Jesus. This occurred in 2018, and you may read about it here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43525267

In John 15, Jesus elevated us to the level of friends and not mere servants in describing His relationship with us. Somewhat putting us as believers in the same realm as Abraham, who was regarded as a friend of God. But Abraham is, of course, the father of the nation of Israel, and we through Christ are adopted spiritual children of Abraham. The reason is because, as believers, we will know the business of the Father, which servants will not. God will fulfil His plans and purposes through us, through our lives as we live in the center of His will.

Will we ever be placed in a situation like Officer Arnaud Beltrame? Probably not. But I do know of a real-life father who had donated one of his healthy kidneys for his son nearly 20 years back, and the son is now around 30. Or in the sinking of the Titanic, there were stories of people preaching the Gospel at the last hours and letting others take their place in the lifeboats because they knew where they were going and were thus not afraid of perishing. In John 3:16, it was written that for God so loved the world that He sent His one and only begotten son to us so that whoever believed in Him shall not perish but have life eternal. In John 11:25, Jesus declared that He is the resurrection and the life and that even though we may die, we will live.

As believers, we should be ike Paul, to die is gain, but to live is Christ. We need not be afraid of death as we will be with Christ, but if we live, then we live for Christ.

Have a great Sunday worship today! Praise and worship the Lord with thanksgiving in our hearts, for we have a permanent abode in heaven. We have no fear of death. We are friends of God. Teach us, O Lord, to love another with Your love. We will all have our own individual stories of our love for one another!