We continue our study of the Gospel of John. Picking up at verse 21, of chapter 14, John records the words of Jesus as He tells His Apostles of what is to come. He says:
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. Then Judas (not Iscariot) said, ‘But Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus replied, ‘ Anyone who loves Me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey my Teaching. These words you hear are not my own, they belong to the Father who sent Me.” John 14: 21-24
The Disciples still thought Jesus was going to allow His followers to overthrow Rome, and set Him up as King. They believed and knew Him to be the Messiah, and thought this was what was to happen at this time. So they did not understand why He would only show Himself to them, and not to the world. But Jesus was not talking about being with them in a physical kingdom at this time, He was talking about a spiritual kingdom that is found in a one on one within. A kingdom of Love, where He Is King, and His command to Love one another is followed by those who love Him.
When we love Jesus, we love each other because that is what flows within. That is where He is. He brings Love into our DNA as we are born again. That is who we become. In the Apostle John’s later years, 70 or 80 years after the time Jesus walked on earth, He wrote this to His Friends. He said, “Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love. This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4: 8-12. John was an eyewitness of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. He lived with Him, and knew His message to be true. John continued to proclaim it until He died. The message is: “God is Love. He lives in us, and shows HImself to us so that we can show His love to the world.”
We show the world His love in and with the same power that Jesus told His disciples they would have. The Love they would have, and the love that we have is because God is Love, and He makes His Home with us and in us when we love and accept Jesus as the Christ. The Spirit of Christ, and Spirit of the Father, and the Holy Spirit Himself lives in us. We become One with them as we are born again. We show Jesus to the World by our words and deeds. The World sees the love of the life changing Christ in us as we demonstrate a commitment to Him, and conduct ourselves in a way that clearly says we obey His teaching. We love who we are in Him. We love one another. We love all those in our life with the Love that comes from within.
God is Love.? Let us show Him to the world.