Perhaps the most self satisfying feeling a person may have is when he achieves a seemingly impossible goal. With the exhortations and guidance of the apostle Peter, we are within arm’s length of reaching the peak of this spiritual Everest we have been steadily climbing for several weeks. The apostle has skillfully trained us in the method of maturing in our Christian lives. He has well prepared us through his instructions so we could be here at the top of this mountain in awe of the regal beauty of God. We now stand before the very goal we have set for ourselves since we first learned that it all began with faith. Yet, it cannot be ignored that we are still required to complete our mission since we have only seen the top and have not yet reached it. However, let us take a moment to gasp in admiration at the glorious and breathtaking view the peak of this mountain offers. Its peak is engulfed in glorious regal beauty like none other because as John describes it, “God is love” (1st John 4:8). Recalling our last article, the apostle Peter has set love as the peak of our spiritual growth. The apostle John, known as the beloved disciple, has shed some light on why this is true. Every time we have spoken about the summit of this mountain, we have also always made it clear that our God is there waiting for us. This is the main reason why. Love is not simply a part of His nature; it is His essence. The apostle John learned from the Master that love was the main reason His Father sent Him to this earth in the first place (John 3:16). As the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the Pharisee Nicodemus, our Master illuminated this man’s understanding with the following revelation: “For God so loved the world.” With these words from the Son of God, the essence of the Father is manifested. Our Savior was sent from heaven because God the Father loved all of humanity. For a man such as Nicodemus, this was a difficult concept to accept. We must remember that Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1). As a ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus was under the impression that the Messiah (or Christ) was sent to save their nation exclusively. Biblical history teaches us that the Jews belief concerning the Messiah was deeply rooted in patriotic exclusiveism. They expected God’s salvation to come only to them because they were Jehovah’s chosen nation. Therefore, Jesus teaching this Pharisee that God’s plan of salvation involved everyone and not only the Jews magnifies love as God’s essence. The apostle Paul taught the Corinthians that love is “a more excellent way” (1st Corinthians 12:31). The apostle illustrates how each one of the traits Peter has taught us rely on love in order for them to please God. In his prelude to his ode to love (1st Corinthians 13), Paul establishes the supremacy of love to all other spiritual gifts. By referring to it as “a more excellent way,” the apostle sets the premise that the Master set for Nicodemus and Peter for his readers of his second letter. It not only is superior to all the other gifts we may have as servants of God, but love is the catalyst to all of them. Observe how Paul points out the same traits Peter did, only to prove that without love they are insignificant:
“1Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1st Corinthians 13:1-3).
The apostle Paul highlights each trait the apostle Peter has presented to us in action. We can see faith illustrated by the moving of the mountain, virtue in allowing his body to be burned, knowledge in the understanding of all the mysteries, temperance in being able to publicly speak in tongues, patience in the gift of prophecy, godliness in his ability to speak in the tongue of angels, and brotherly love in giving all his goods away to feed the poor. Every one of these marvelous traits, clarifies the apostle Paul, are vain if love is not the center of it all. It is very interesting to see that even brotherly love is insignificant and incomplete without God’s love. Once again, the words of our Master to the Pharisee shines its spotlight on the difference between the two. Nicodemus and his contemporaries understood brotherly love, for they loved one another as fellow countrymen; however, they only knew how to love those who loved them. They did not care for the gentiles (all non-Jewish people) and despised the Samaritans (John 4:9). The Lord revealed to Nicodemus that God loved all the world. Our God does not only love those who love Him, but all those who oppose Him as well. This is why John states “He first loved us” (1st John 4:19). Jehovah God being righteous could have destroyed His enemies with His almighty power and create a new generation that would faithfully obey His will; but instead He chose to send His Son to rescue those who abandoned Him from eternal damnation (1st John 4:17-18, 2nd Peter 3:9). John also teaches us that this is how “the children of God” are distinguished from the rest of the world (1st John 3:10-12). There is no complexity in loving those who love us. In actuality, it is natural for man to reciprocate the actions that are shown toward him. The apostle Peter, however, is teaching us that it is supernatural to be able to love those who hate us. In our war against sin, our weapon of choice must be love. The Lord emphasized this point by asking, “if you love those who love you, what reward have you” (Matthew 5:46)? Peter received this lesson directly from the Master; hence why he is sure that love is the peak of the mountain. It surpasses brotherly love because we are challenged to love those who do not love us. Peter, John, and Paul all agree that love is truly the greatest of them all because it illustrates the essence of God. It was because of love that God created this world. It was because of love He sent His Son to die for mankind. It is because of love that He has promised eternal life to those who faithfully love Him. Our God, inspiring Peter with His Spirit, once more opens our eyes as to how we were created in His image and His likeness. Undoubtedly something Peter had fresh in his memory was when the Master thrice spoke to him asking, “do you love Me” (John 21:15-19). Peter answered the Master’s question, but in return the Lord showed him what it truly meant to love Him. Understanding this is how we will know we have reached our summit. To be continued…