We are given 2 commands in scripture that when obeyed sum up the rest of the commands of scripture. They are as follows:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

How do sinful people, dead in their trespasses obey such commands? We must be born again.

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born againb he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3)

Prepare yourself for a few long run-on sentences! I wrote them as I would speak them. 

When you see God AS HE IS, the Supreme Creator of the Universe, perfect in holiness and justice, and worthy of all praise, when you see THAT God, who had and has every right to destroy you and I, but instead came to earth to bear your sins and mine and received the penalty for those sins so that we could be justly forgiven, and freed from sin to enjoy him forever, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to love him. When you see and savor this wonderful God and you see the world that does not give him the praise due his name, and you know that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, it is impossible not to have compassion on the lost and love them, desiring their joy in God, which is his glory. Here passion for the God’s glory and love for the lost are ONE passion. This is the proper motivation of all missions and evangelism. Everythinng starts and ends with the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

So what should be our greatest prayer? It’s pretty simple actually.

Let us pray to him saying “Lord, would you open the eyes of our hearts to see you as you are; supremely precious, wonderful, beautiful, splendid, holy, awesome, perfect, and worthy of praise!”  

Love for God and for people flows from seeing and savoring our Lord Jesus Christ who makes us righteous through his death and ressurection and gives himself to us freely! 

But first, why is this important? The bible says much about love. In fact the two greatest commandments are commandments to love. We are to love God and to love people. Well, if we are to obey it is important we understand what we have been commanded to do.

If love is not fundamentally a verb than what is it? It seems biblically and philosophically to be rooted in affection.

Those who disagree would argue that God could never make someone love him. This would not be love. Love that is caused by the beloved is not real in their eyes. In order for there to be love, there must be free will. Here, free will means the ability of the will to determine itself and choose good or evil.

I would agree that for there to be love there must be free will, but not in the way previously meant. The bible does show that we have free choices, but it also shows that we have enslaved wills. We are free to choose what we will, but no one chooses contrary to his or her will.

Our will is the desire of our heart, and we, as humans, cannot act against our own wills. The moment we choose to do something, we have willed in our heart that it would be done. This does not mean people do not do things they don’t enjoy. Certainly people act in ways they wish they did not have to, but only because of circumstance and a greater will. That is, we might not desire to do our homework, but we desire to graduate (greater will), and so we endure what we do not enjoy for the sake of future pleasure. So in the end all that that one does, one does willingly. Any experience that was not willed, was not done by the self, but instead is done by another to the recipient or victim.

So in this sense, yes, love is rooted in the will (you could also say the heart or the affections). Love certainly acts lovingly and makes loving choices, but it does so because one loves. That is, it does so as an arrow aimed at the target of one’s affections. All would affirm that God judges the heart. Why not the works? Because you can do good things for the wrong reasons.

Jesus affirms this in chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Matthew with a frightening warning. He says “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

So clearly you can do great things in Jesus name and not be saved. But Romans 8:28 tells us, “All things work together for good to those who love God”. The word know in the bible is important. Often times it is used to denote a great intimacy. Jesus is God and is all knowing so we know he does not mean he does not know they exist. It seems that these who Jesus never “knew” are those who he is not intimately involved with. These perhaps are people who have never experienced and participated in God’s love. That is they have no affections for him nor do they feel his affections.

To be clear, when I say love is rooted in the “affections” I mean not an overwhelming desire to receive from someone. Instead I mean “affections” as delight in someone else’s greatest good. The bible speaks of love in this way. We are told to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 23:39). To love someone is to consider another as an extension of you, so to speak, and thus delight when good is done to him or her. This also includes a sense of shared burden; when they hurt, you hurt. Love, therefore, leads to loving action. When someone you love is in despair, your love leads you to pray for them, encourage them, and to provide for them any care you can (this is not an extensive list, just examples).

My last point before addressing common objections: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

“If I speak in the tonguesa of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,b but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Here we see what appear to be very Christ-like actions and yet separate from love. We see people can make good choices (good in the sense that the action brings about positive external effects) but still be deemed wicked on account of their motives.

Some objections addressed

Objection 1: Jesus calls us to love our enemies. How shall we do this if love is rooted in affection?

That is a great question and the answer is to go to the source. The source of love is God who is love. That is God is love and has always been love. He is the center of all love and there is no true love that does not involve God. If God is not involved, your love is a counterfeit.

Love of others is rooted in a love of Jesus.

We were sinners when Christ died for us (humanity). On an individual level it is true that all of our sins were future sins at the cross. God was not surprised that you would sin even after he died for you. And yet his love for us seeks not to receive our worship in the sense that he needs us to satisfy himself. His love for us leads us to worship him because to worship him is to be satisfied in him. God is the only being in existence, for whom loving others means to desire others to find security and satisfaction in his love. Why? Because only he can satisfy us.

God was both perfect and love before he created humanity. He did not make us out of loneliness. He made us in his perfect love for himself. Man is the image and glory of God (1 Cor. 11:7) in that we are the expression and display of his love. He made us in enjoyment of himself. More like art than anything else. As a musician composes a song simply because he loves to make use of his musical gift, so God enjoys his own abilities through creating us, ruling us, and displaying his greatness to us so that we can join him in his absolute satisfaction in his own beauty, worth, and presence.

Thus, satisfaction is found in loving God, and receiving God’s enabling love. If we are then satisfied in this great love and mercy, it is quite easy to love our enemies. For they are our enemies in that they oppose us, but we do not oppose them. We may oppose their message but only because we desire God’s glory and their joy. We can forgive quite easily when our joy is God’s presence purchased by Christ. Joy by nature seeks to share itself. Thus, what greater joy is there than to share the gospel with someone? And what better way is there to share the message of God’s grace than by doing good to those who seek to harm you? When you forgive you display that your hope is not on earth, but in Christ. You display that one can be truly satisfied. This is why there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. To die for someone is to display a love that is satisfied in Christ and seeking to lead others into such life. You display that you’re not afraid of death, for death died in Christ, and eternal life is your in Christ.

So forgiving others when the bible says to forgive others as God has forgiven you, this is not an attempt to guilt you into holiness. There is no such thing as being guilty and holy. Sure those who don’t forgive are guilty of that sin, and thus we should remember the gospel, receive it with joy, and share that joy with other guilty people through forgiving them, and telling them the message that enabled us to do so.

If our greatest joy is in God then we will desire him glorified completely and therefore desire to complete the Great Commission. We will desire Christ’s return and be motivated to love even our enemies in order to get to that day. In Christ we are made one with our fellow man, because acting for their greatest benefit is our greatest benefit. This is not selfish, it is beautiful.

Objection 2: How then can one love Christ if not by choice?

In John 8:34 Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who sins a slave to sin”.  If we are slaves we must be set free by the grace of God. We must be “born again”. Jesus seems to say everything very purposefully. Whoever decided to be born? Why should we think our second birth should occur differently in this sense? As it is the parents’ love that brings forth a child, it is because of his love that God chooses to save us (John 3:16).

People have children together because they love each other, but to not have children does not mean they do not love one another. God does not become unloving by not making me his child. He is loving as he always has been even if that love does not include me. He is not bound by any law to save me because I am guilty of sin. And yet he does. And in his affection for himself, he chooses (choice rooted in affection) to include me in that love. In fact, he delights in doing good to me and in so doing delights in himself.

This God centered love should not disappoint us. We should be grateful, for it is the source of all life. All this to say, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Is it not loving for God to change my hard heart and free me from my slavery to sin so that I can have eternal life and joy in him? Am I a puppet? No, puppets do not feel. I am more like a drowning felon, fighting my savior, who gets punched unconscious so he can swim me to safety. What makes it more crazy is my savior was the judge in the highest court of the land and he pulled me out of the water to forgive me my crimes. Heck, if we want to carry this metaphor further, he took my punishment.

These affections are real, but it was the Spirit’s work in me that brought me to church, convicted me of my sins, led someone to preach the gospel to me, and freed me through faith. I am grateful for such a divine intervention.

It is obvious that no one ever chose to feel a certain way. One might use reason to arrive at a conclusion that draws out emotion, but no one decides how he or she is going to feel given a various circumstance. One can only seek to see things from a light that would elicit a more positive emotion.

So in order to love God, of whom we are guilty of disobeying, we must see and believe the gospel is true, good, and applies to us. And in order to believe, God must do a work in our darkened and hardened hearts, opening our eyes to our own sin that we would hate it more than we hate his justice that condemns us, and only then will we receive the gospel of redemption as glorious news. God opens the eyes of our hearts to see that him as Isaiah did, as glorious, and so that we know we have no right to stand in his presence. Then just as the seraphim came and cleansed Isaiah, God shall speak through a messenger delivering his gospel and bringing us into eternal life and joy. If this is not love then I do not know what is.

The Truth Is Better

This truth is glorious! I do not have to force myself into loving people. I can simply meditate on the truth and love will well up in me for others, even my enemies. I can be set free from this idea of love that seeks its own. I need not receive love from my brothers in order to keep on loving them because that is not love. I can actually enjoy doing good to people. It is not a burdensome task, but a joyful opportunity. Their good is my good! In Christ we are one, so let us labor to bring everyone we can into the kingdom for the glory of Christ who is the source of love and joy! An enemy becomes a beautiful opportunity to display Christ to the world as we walk in love toward them and perhaps even die for them.

Obejection 3: If love is rooted in the affections how can God command us to feel a certain way?

It does seem a hopeless cause doesn’t it? Here is what we know. We were guilty of sin before God gave the law. Adam and Eve were not given the Ten Commandments in the Garden of Eden and they were punished. The people in Noah’s day did not have the Ten Commandments and yet God poured out his wrath on them. Wickedness was wickedness before we were given the law. Why? Because wickedness is rooted in opposition to the very heart of God, which esteems himself most glorious and is the source of all life. You do not have to read very much of the bible to see that wickedness is a heart issue. We are guilty of disobedience but we are also guilty of being evil. Evil is defined as a heart in opposition to God who is good. The law was given to reveal our need for a savior.

Indeed, it was hopeless. God revealed through the Ten Commandments that we were hopeless apart from divine intervention. So if this is you, if you desire to be right with God, but feel no love for him or for others, I would encourage you not to try and obey his commandments by choice. No one is justified to God through the law. Instead look to Christ. Yes you are guilty of sin, but he died for your sins, not to make you feel guiltier. No, in fact he gave his life to give you life and rose and conquered death. Trust in his sacrifice. Trust that he is pure enough to atone for your sins! Trust that if the one who you offended has cleaned your slate then you need not condemn yourself! Salvation is here. Trust/follow Christ, and rest in his unwavering love! His sacrifice is enough to cover all your sins past, present, and future! “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Don’t try to love in order to earn God’s favor. Come to Christ who loved you while you were a sinner, receive love, and you shall love. Christ is favor. Rest in him.

In conclusion, love is rooted in the affections or heart and will, therefore, always sprout forth from the affections. A tree is known by its fruit (Luke 6:44). Those who love may fail in doing good to others because we are not perfect in knowledge about what is best in every situation, but if we fail we will do so with good intentions, seeking to benefit our beloved. Jesus is clearly the source of love (unwavering glorious love), but he works from our heart outward.

Christian, why are you exhausted? Why soul are you so cast down? Does Jesus not call himself the truth? He DOES! Then how, if his above promise is true, did you end up so exhausted?

Key words: “Come to me”.

Rest is with Jesus, so the true question is where have you been?

Have you ever stayed the night at a friend’s house or at a hotel and woken up confused? At first you lie in bed with your eyes closed thinking you are in your own room and then you open your eyes to see you are in a new and unfamiliar place.

Today I had one of these experiences at work. No, I was not sleeping on the job.

Actually, I was putting ice into a bucket when this happened.

I work at a fast food restaurant. The restaurant I work at is a great place with great people, but the job itself can sometimes take a toll on me. I have a hard time doing customer service jobs joyfully, because I like people. That might sound strange, but I have found in fast food that you have to work extra hard to remind the customer that you are indeed a person. Working fast food requires mastery of the 30 second conversation. I have no problem digging in deep with people and getting to know them, but to be genuine and upbeat while having the same thirty second conversation with hundreds of people a day is not my strong suit. Its certainly a humbling job, as I see my own prideful desire to be known war against my ability to love people for 30 seconds.

All that to say, today I worked a double. And during my shift I went to get ice.

As I filled up the buckets of ice I prayed for God to give me rest an energy and this is when I had my great awakening.

I thought about my purpose there at at work and why I even sought rest and energy. Up until this point of exhaustion I hadn’t even been thinking about God. And what would it profit me I were to go home early and rest all day. Is life simply about surviving and is my work day simply a dutiful drag for no greater purpose than to acquire gas money.

This is not my purpose at all. I was created to glorify God. That’s my purpose!

And yet there I was exhausted in my attempts to merely survive. Here I thought that I was walking in Christ’s footsteps to find I had wandered into a bush (and not a burning one). While I thought I was walking in the way of Christ, I was marching to the beat of my own drummer.

As I thought about my sovereign, powerful, loving, and faithful God who created me for to glorify Him, I found rest in Him. I found rest in the fact that He will accomplish what he created me to accomplish. That He will be glorified, and His glory, His renown, His name exalted, is my greatest joy when my eyes are open. Because of Christ His glory in me is mercy and not wrath, and I am invited in to the mercy of exalting His name through the spreading of the gospel through both my words and my actions, and I can trust that He will accomplish His plan with my life no matter what.

This truth, became rest, and that rest became passion, and the passion became energy, and with in 20 seconds my whole attitude about the work day changed .

I get exhausted when I forget that God has a plan for me each day, and I minimize my day’s purpose to breathing, eating, drinking, fun, and sleeping (and doing all of these with the least amount of conflict possible). How easily we stray from Him without even realizing it!

One last thought: If my WHOLE heart truly desired God glorified in all the Earth, and Ryan Bussiere glorified, I would share the gospel much much more.

I am seeking to allign my heart with His purpose and it is becoming much more easy as I see the superiority of His purpose, but I’ve still got a long way to go.

If you would pray for me and yourself that we would desire His glory and not our own.

May His name be hallowed!

- In Christ Alone

1. to honor men who God has used to reveal himself to me

and

2. in hope that you might download there sermons and join me in benefiting from their preaching.

These are the preachers who have most positively effected my life:

1. Brian McCormack: Brian was my youth pastor, and remains a mentor to me. It was from his lips that I first heard and believed the gospel. My favorite thing about his preaching is his cross focused Christ-centeredness. He constantly brings everything back to Jesus and his centrality in all things. He taught me that Christianity isn’t about learning knew truths, but about coming to believe and understand this one truth more deeply. That is, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cam and died for my sins, and then rose on the third day conquering sin and death, and that the only rational response to such radical love is to love radically. He is a great man of God that I am happy to follow.

2. Matt Chandler: Matt is the preaching and lead pastor of the Village Church in Highland Village, TX. He preaches fearlessly and with passion. His sermon, “Are There Two Wills In God?” has had a great effect on my life and my passion for God’s word. God has used his preaching to reveal much of my idolatry and yet always pointing to the hope that is in Christ.

3. Dr. John Piper: Dr. Piper is the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He preaches with more passion and visible joy than anyone I have ever seen when speaking of the glory of God. His book Desiring God revealed to me the importance of joy in Christianity and his book, “When I Don’t Desire God” ministered to me when I saw that my joy was not in the Lord as much as the world. “Don’t Waste Your Life” is another one of his books that has had a profound impact on me and countless other Christians.

4. Francis Chan: Francis was the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, but has since stepped down in order to follow God’s call elsewhere. His passion for truth is inspiring and his confessional approach to preaching. He preaches with a visible love for God and people. His books “Crazy Love” and “Forgotten God” are must reads, but he would tell you, as do I, if you’re not a big reader and it comes down to his books or the Bible, read the Bible.

5. Dr. R.C. Sproul: Sproul is the founder and chairman of Ligoneir Ministries and serves as the senior minister of preaching and teaching at St. Andrews in Sanford, Florida. He is a reformed theologian with a deep love for the holiness of God. He makes my list for his book, “The Holiness Of God”. This book has revealed to me much about who God is and has led me into a deeper desire for holiness motivated by love for God. I have listened to some of his sermons and he is also a great teacher.

6. Paul Washer: Paul Washer is one of the founder of HeartCry Missionary Society, a non-profit that helps support indigenous missionaries. He himself is also a missionary and preacher. I think I really liked this man when I first heard him, however later on I thought he was too harsh. I have no problem with harshness, but he seemed joyless. This was all based on one sermon on youtube. Since then I have watched a decent amount of his stuff, and have found his advice to young men to be very helpful. His words have been inspiring to me as well as convicting. This is a man who feels in his heart a deep love for God and people and truly believes that Jesus is the only way. This leads him to preach fearlessly and with much passion. His love for God displayed through his preaching and life is having a great effect on me.

7. Mark Driscoll: Mark Driscoll is the preaching and founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. He like all the men listed preaches with a passion and fearlessness. Although he is known most for being very doctrinal, it has been his practical teachings on life, relationships, and missions that have been most helpful to me.

8. Jeff Mangum: Jeff Mangum serves as a pastor at Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas. He used to preach monthly at a service called “Fresh Vibe” at my home church. I have only sat under his teaching a handful of times, but from the few times I have benefited greatly.

9. Matt Carter: Matt is the lead and preaching pastor of Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas. Long before my time he served as youth pastor at my home church. I first heard him at Edge Camp, our annual summer camp. I hardly remembered what was even said, but I remember that it lead me to examine my life, see my idols, and surrender everything to Jesus. I came home from that weekend a different person.

10. Jonathan Edwards: Jonathan Edwards no longer lives, but his words live on. He is regarded by many as the greatest thinker America ever produced. He pastored the church in Northampton, Massachusetts and his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sparked the great awakening. His writings on the holiness of God were a joy to read while researching him for a paper last year. His resolutions have also been inspiring to read. Oh and by the way he went to Yale at age 12. This was a brilliant man. Sadly most people only read his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and have no idea that this was a man of great joy. I recommend you read this mans writings. They will do your soul good.

I often ask myself what I want to do with my life. I also say to God,”What specifically do you want me to do?”

Sometimes I look to my heros and imagine living a life like them.

“What if I were to plant a church and effect a region like Mark Driscoll”, I wonder.

“What if I could preach like John Piper or Matt Chandler?”

“What if I could lead people to Christ like Billy Graham?”

Sadly when I do this I often put the focus on me and what I can become. This is not the call. There is no satisfaction in this. I can build up a kingdom, and make my name great, but I am not perfect. I can never rest in self made peace. When I rest everything I’m holding up crumbles.

The call is to love God and to love people. It’s that simple.

Instead I like to think of the truth. People desperately need God and their sin is bad news, but I have the best news in the world for them. I get to give hope to the hopeless. This doesn’t make evangelism and Christian living seem radical. Its a privilege and a joy.

Before I get to this, I remember the good news for myself. I am saved by grace. I can’t screw that up. This stirs my affections for Christ. I want to share the good news I’ve received. I want others to know his goodness as I do.

If neither of these things motivate you to evangelism, a love for God and a love for people, then yes that is a problem. Your love is for yourself and your comfort. Maybe you’re beginning to feel the weight of your sin. You aren’t meeting the standard.

It’s okay, I have good news for you. Refer back to the above paragraphs. Jesus died for the sin you are in right now and if you trust in his sacrifice and resurrection you are forgiven completely and forever from all sin.

Is it good news yet?

Now remember that you are in the same boat as the whole world apart from Christ. You are just as deserving of hell. You might even feel like you can explain that many of your sins were sown out of desperation and brokenness. I bet they can too.

Remember how good it felt to recieve that good news? Now you get the joy of being the one to deliver it.

If you don’t want to share it, then you stand in selfishness and sin. You are unaware of the greatness of God’s mercy to you.

But don’t fret there’s good news.

We could do this all day, but I think you get the point.

Its not about being great in the kingdom of God. Here greatness is defined by humility. The greatest man in the kingdom is the greatest servant, with the greatest love for God and people. You don’t become great by desiring greatness. If you seek to love God and others in an attempt to be the greatest Christian you will achieve none of these goals.

Love.

Would we return to love!

Would we be led by our love!

For Him and for them.

And if we don’t love God or people, would we remember the glorious gospel and respond appropriately.

- In Christ Alone.

In response my Dad said, “Happy Easter….it’s alllll good.”

I found the last part humorous at the time. I pictured a picture of the empty tomb with the words “it’s all good” on a banner above it, or Jesus showing up to his disciples as they were mourning his death and saying that phrase.

But the more I thought about it the more I realized the phrase applied to the situation.

Jesus rose and made it all good.

God made many promises to his people throughout history and they are recorded in scripture, but who are his people?

Jesus is our way into these promises. He himself is the promise and all the other promises find there “yes” in him.

His resurrection is proof that he is who he says he is and a promise to us. His resurrection is God’s greatest promise to us, that sin has been conquered and we are redeemed.

“All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Jesus rose and because of this we can rest assured that “it’s all good”.

Amen.

- In Christ Alone

Every year my church has a huge celebration on Good Friday. This year David Dunn along with Alyssa Meyers (a girl from our college ministry with an amazing voice) led worship.

There were a few amazing moments last night for me. One was when the guy next to me started to fast clap in a song that doesn’t normally have clapping. I didn’t want him to clap alone so I joined for a moment, but topped because it wasn’t catching on. As I stopped I heard some others in the distance start clapping and by the time I started again the whole sanctuary was filled with a thunderous clap.

Its hard to explain why that felt so awesome. In my mind I compared it to wedding receptions in movies where people clap and dance in a circle. It was like a Greek or Irish wedding reception. It was a celebration filled with shameless rejoicing. It just felt like raw worship, and that’s because it was.

The other awesome moment was while David Dunn sang come ye sinners. There is a line in that song I had never noticed and it blew me away.

“If you tarry until you’re better you will never come at all.”

It seems strange. In every other aspect of life we try and dress in accordance with the importance of the function. If I am going out with a girl I want to look my best, and if I’m going to meet a king, I certainly don’t want to come as I look right now.

Yet, Jesus commands us to come naked, as we were in the beginning. We were once naked and unashamed. Then we sinned and started trying to cover our shame. Jesus requests simply that we remove the clothing we’ve sown in our sin and come to him exposed, that he can wash away our sin and clothe us in love.

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)

Expose yourself. Present your self inflicted wounds. Present your weapons.

He will destroy the weapons and heal your wounds.

He loves you and this good news!

- In Christ Alone.

- In Christ Alone

Gruesome.

It’s always an interesting experience watching the Passion. Its hard to know how to feel.

I feel sad as I see what Jesus went through.

I feel angry at myself for sinning.

I feel ashamed.

I feel guilty.

Then I remember that he did this to make me clean.

I feel loved.

I feel joy.

I feel peace.

I feel clean.

But still I feel sad to see him die.

But he didn’t stay dead.

He is risen!

And we are redeemed!

Amen.

- In Christ Alone.