“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” This is the opening line of a well known Christian children’s song, and most of us would agree, they know Jesus loves them for the Bible tells them so. This is why we pray in His name, and we trust He will help us in times of need, not because of something we have done but because of what He did for us at the cross. But what about the love of God? Do you know that God loves you?
There is no doubt about the divinity of Jesus; the Bible clearly says He is God (John 1, 8:58). But at the same time, we have John 3:16, which says God gave Jesus to us, and we have John 14:28, where Jesus Himself says He is not God the Father and God the Father is greater than Himself. In Matt 6:25-34, Jesus (His Hebrew name being Yehoshua) says His and our Father in heaven will provide for us and help us if we obey the Father’s Torah (the written law of Moses). In Mark 10:18, we have Yehoshua rebuking the rich young ruler for calling Him good, telling the young man there is only who is good, and that is God. And then, if that was not enough, we have the most fundamental doctrine of all of Christianity: We believe Yehoshua kept the Torah and never sinned, so He was and is the sinless lamb of God. The Torah forbids idolatry, so at no point could Yehoshua have encouraged His followers to worship Him or to pray to Him.
Scripture can not contradict scripture, and if we have apparent contradictions, it has to do with our interpretation of scripture. How are we to understand this apparent contradiction?
Because scripture can not contradict scripture, we have to come to terms with the fact that Yehoshua is not God the Father. There is no doubt about Yehoshua’s divinity, He is God, but He is not God the Father because God the Father is greater than He. There is also no doubt about the love of Yehoshua (Eph 5:25), He is God, and He loves us, but what about the one who gave us Yehoshua? Do you know that He loves you?
Most Christians read John 3:16 as if it said: “for so has Jesus loved the world that He gave Himself so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” As we all know, this is not what John 3:16 says; it says, “for so has God loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” A few verses down in John 3 Yehoshua shows us what it means to believe in Him, in John 3:36 Yehoshua says those who do not obey His teachings will never see eternal life.
In John 3:16, the emphasis is on the love of God, not on the love of Yehoshua. So it is undeniable John 3:16 is referring to Yehoshua’s Father, whose name is Yehovah. Do you know Yehovah loves you?
The Bible says Yehovah loves you so much that He gave you His one and only Son Yehoshua to die for your sins on the cross, but also to teach you how to live righteously (John 3:36). We dont deserve the gift of the cross, but for some reason, so many Christians today want the cross and the love of Yehoshua, but they dont want anything to do with Yehovah. The Bible clearly says in John 3:36; you can’t have one without the other if you want the love of Yehoshua, you have first to accept the love of Yehovah.
Do you feel loved by someone who takes no interest in you, and what is important to you? The answer is, of course, no, nobody feels loved by someone who has no interest in them and has no respect for their morals and values. In John 14:15, Yehoshua says we show our love for Him and His Father Yehovah by making sure we obey Yehoshua’s commandments. He then goes on to say if we obey His commandments, we will not only show love for Yehovah, but Yehovah and Yehoshua will come and make their home in us. This is what He also says in John 3:36 if we want to inherit eternal life and not be under the wrath of Yehovah, we have to obey Yehoshua’s commandments.
So what are His commandments?
In Matt 5:17, 23:2, 1.John 2:6, 1 Cor 11, we understand that His commandments are the Torah (the written law of Moses). So what Yehoshua is telling us here is this, if we want to enter into a relationship with Him and His Father to have eternal life, we have to repent from disobeying the law of Moses and start obeying it again. Nowhere does He say “only the moral commandment,” Yehoshua clearly says every one of the 613 commandments applicable to your gender living outside Israel without access to a temple. This means you can not be saved and eat pork or any unclean things; you can not be saved and ignore the Shabbat. But it also means you can not be saved and remarried, saved, and take things that do not belong to you, saved and worshiping idols.
Do you feel loved by someone who does not take an interest in you, and what is important to you? The answer is, of course, no, you dont feel loved by them or motivated to do anything for them. So why then should Yehovah feel motivated to help us and answer our prayers when we believe the Torah does not apply to us? Why should He even allow you entrance to heaven and want to share the rest of eternity with you when you dont love Him and respect Him enough to obey His Torah?
The answer is, of course, He does not want to help you and answer your prayers or share eternity with you when you dont love Him and respect Him enough to obey His Torah. (Matt 7:21-23)
Do you feel loved by Yehovah?
Yehoshua says it is possible to feel His love and to walk in His love every day if you are willing to do your part.
What do you need to do?
Repent and change the way you live, start obeying the Torah (the written law of Moses). When you make this change, you will soon see how it is impossible to worship Yehoshua and obey the Torah. Why? Because idolatry is a sin, and the Torah says you are only to worship Yehovah. You will also quickly see how the Torah demands a sacrifice for our unintentional sins; considering how the temple is destroyed, there is only one option left, and that is the cross of Christ. It is impossible to obey the Torah if you dont believe Yehoshua died for your sins on the cross.
The Bible says if you make this choice today, you will pass from death to life, from the wrath of Yehovah to the love of Yehovah (John 3:16, 3:36). You will enter into a relationship with Yehovah having come through the cross (John 14:6), and you can know for sure that Yehovah AND Yehoshua will come and dwell in your life (John 14:15).
What do you do when you love someone, and they love you? Every waking moment of your life, they are on your mind and in your heart, even though you might be physically separated for a time. You feel one with them and as if their spirit is with you at all times.
If you make this change to repent and enter into a relationship with Yehovah through the cross, Yehovah will become the object of your faith. Yehovah will be the name you will meditate on just as you meditate on the name of your loved ones, Yehovah will be the one you are one within the spirit, and you will strive to show your love for Him by obeying His Torah at all times.
Do you need anything today? Healing? Money? Guidance? Wisdom? Strength?
Rom 8:32 and Matt 6:25-34 says that if we have made this change to repent, we can know for sure Yehovah will give us everything we need and more. It does not mean that He will remove every obstacle in our lives, and we will never have to go through a storm again. Instead, it says that in the storms of life, He will be with us and give us everything we need to overcome. There will still be times when you are sick, people around you whom you love will still die, and at times, you will need healing or dont know how to pay your bills and feed your family. But when that happens, you can run to the name of Yehovah in your thoughts and your mind knowing He will provide whatever it is you need to get through this.
There will be times when you will be tempted to doubt, and at times, Yehovah will seem silent and far away. Rom 8:32 says when that happens, we should remind ourselves about the cross and tell ourselves that if He has given us the cross, then He will provide us with what we need right here and now. We might not understand it right away; we might even miss what He is doing right now. But at one point in our lives, we will look back and see that He was the one who helped us when it looked as if there was no way out. We did not understand it then, but He was and is faithful and did it anyway because He loves us.
Do you know that Yehovah loves you?
I hope you do because that is the only way to be saved and to live a blessed life here on earth.