Welcome back, my dear friends. This is the last lesson in my series, “The Next Step Living Your Life Through Jesus.” I’ve saved the best foundational Christian truth for last — “LOVE.” The love that God, your Heavenly Father, has for you and me is beyond human comprehension. It is a love that has no boundaries; it is unconditional and never ends. It is because of God’s love for each of us that His only Son gave up His life and died on a cross so that you and I could spend eternity with our Father who truly loves us.
What is Love?
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ERV
Throughout the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus often taught His followers using parables. What is a parable? It is an imaginary story that could be true. Jesus’ disciples asked Him why He used parables to teach, and Jesus said: I speak to them in parables so that those who want the truth can have it; those who refuse to hear the truth just hear an interesting story.
I’m going to use a parable to finish my final lesson in the series, “The Next Step Living Your Life Through Jesus.” My friends, after reading this lesson you will have to decide what you will do with it.
The Tale of a Sinner
There was a man, who was a Christian, and he was happily married with five children. He was a salesman whose territory is so large he would often have to stay overnight in different cities for three or four nights at a time to complete his business. The company he worked for was always pressuring him to increase his sales and make more money. He was very successful at his job, but the pressure from his superiors to increase business was getting harder to bear. One night, alone in a town, far from home, tired, depressed from his work pressures and feeling alone, this man met a woman in the hotel’s lounge.
They began to talk and he found out she was in sales and that she also had a family, so they had a lot in common. The more they talked, the more he stopped feeling so lonely. His cell phone vibrated and he noticed it was a call from home, but he decided to let it go to voicemail and continued to talk with her.
One thing led to another and temptation began to fill his heart. The Bible tells us that once Satan plants a temptation in our mind, he simply sits back and lets it grow inside of us just like a woman who is pregnant. Once it finally takes hold and comes to term, sin is born. That’s what happened to the salesman.
Now I’m sure you know people like these two individuals who got caught up in sin without ever intending to. They’re good people who simply lost their focus on Jesus and fell back into their old sinful nature. Like these two, when we lose our focus on Jesus we find out all too quickly that Satan is standing there ready to provide the perfect temptation to us, like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Once the salesman decided to cross the line from temptation to sin, his world changed forever. Lives and reputations were destroyed. The very people he loved were now ripped apart from him. The world quickly turned on him and rushed to surround his wife and children with love and compassion. The world told his wife that he was worthless from the day she met him. If she had listened to them a long time ago she never would have married him. He’s nothing but a liar and a cheat she’s told. Others tell her to get rid of him and start her life over. They tell her that she would be better off and that her children will one day understand why she left him.
The Two Sides of Sin
We often automatically take sides, don’t we? When someone falls into sin like the salesman did, we automatically think of only the victims he has hurt and betrayed. We believe that they’re the ones we need to comfort and protect; they’re the ones who are suffering. The sinner no longer has any rights, and condemnation and hate are often the punishment handed out to him. It’s what he deserves, right? Well isn’t it?
Listen to what Jesus said to the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount; “Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you.” (Luke 6:3 ERV)
Jesus failed to mention the scripture we often follow in this situation where we are “to love the victim of sin and judge and hate the sinner who caused it.” I’m still trying to find that verse in the Bible. If you know where it is please let me know.
I believe the Bible teaches us that when sin occurs in our lives, there are really two victims. The one who has sinned and the one who has been sinned against. They both need to be shown love and compassion in order to save both souls. Love and compassion for the victim to which the sin has been committed so that they can cope with the situation, and love and compassion to the sinner so they can repent and be restored.
Searching for Love and Forgiveness
My friends, we need to understand both sides of the issue of sin if we are going to truly understand the Love of God. Let’s focus now on the victim who has committed the sin and see what perhaps he is going through.
Like many, this man struggles with the sin he has committed. Guilt and remorse fill his heart. One evening, like so many other nights, when sleep does not come easily, he tosses and turns and finally, amid his tears of guilt and shame, falls asleep.
He begins to dream and finds himself drowning in the sea of sin he is caught up in, gasping for air looking for help. He keeps fighting his way back up to the surface of the sea of sin he’s caught in, looking for some help and he suddenly glimpses an island off in the distance.
He swims through the strong currents trying to take him back under the waves and reaches the island thinking he’s finally saved. He drags himself onto the shore and notices a sign posted in the sand which reads: The Island of “You should be ashamed of yourself.” Then out of the woods came a group of people berating him and telling him he should be ashamed of what he did. “You’re a married man with children, how could you do such a thing? You’re worthless!” They turn their backs on him and walk away.
He runs back into the sea of sin to escape the island where he thought he could get help for his problem. Back under the waves he goes falling deeper into the sea of sin. He struggles to stay afloat as the waves of sin continue to batter him with guilt and despair.
Once more he notices another island in the distance and thinks maybe he can get help there. Swimming with all of his might, he reaches the island and pulls himself ashore. Laying there exhausted he notices another sign which reads “The Island of “How could you, I knew you couldn’t be trusted.” Once again another group of people come out of the woods this time kicking him and taunting him saying, “How could you, you’re no good, what about your wife and children, where was your head? You monster, you’re nothing but a loser.”
Exhausted, he crawls once more back into the sea of sin to escape the beating and verbal abuse he was receiving. This time he sinks deeper and deeper into the sea of sin. All alone and struggling one last time to stay afloat from the waves of sin that are now crashing over with more force, he notices one last island. He thinks what’s the use, every time I reach an island hoping for help with my sin problem the people there do nothing but condemn me and force me back into the very sin I’m trying to escape. He decides he is not going through that again so he lays back in the water waiting for the next wave of sin to finally overcome him and finish off his pain and sorrow.
But something in the back of his mind won’t let him give up. He thinks of his wife and children and how much he truly loves them and begins once again to swim towards the next island. Nearing exhaustion he finally reaches the island, but he doesn’t have the strength to pull himself out of the water and begins slipping back into the sea of sin one last time for good.
Suddenly a hand reaches down and grabs hold of his wrist and pulls him up onto the shore. He struggles and makes it onto the shore with the help of the stranger. He lays there breathing heavy and trying to clear his mind and get his bearings. He desperately looks around for a sign to find out what island he is on, but doesn’t see any. Suddenly he hears a voice which simply says \”Welcome, my friend.\” He sits up only to find a group of people standing around him with a towel, dry clothes, warm soup and bandages for his injuries.
They tend to him without saying a word and meet every one of his needs. They take him to a tent where he can sleep and regain his strength. Days pass and he finally starts to feel like his old self. Every person who talks with him is pleasant and caring in their response to his needs.
Finally one day the leader of the group sits down with him and asks him how he is doing. He is amazed by the care and compassion he received and asks the leader the name of the island. The leader responds that this is the island of “Love and Forgiveness.” “Why did you even help me?” he asks. If you knew what I did you would have left me to drown in my sin, which is what everyone else left me to do. The leader simply says that I pulled you from the sea of sin because you needed help and that was all I needed to know. You needed love, you needed compassion and understanding from the ordeal you were going through and that’s why I pulled you out. I didn’t need to know the details of the sin you were caught up in, I just knew if we didn’t help you would have drowned in your sin. Each one of us here on the island was once in the same place you are now.
He goes on to say, we all struggled in our sin trying to find help, but like you we ended up on the same islands you did the first time. The island where we found family and friends, members of the church we attended offering nothing but condemnation and accusation. We were told we were worthless and selfish, we were called monster and other things I would rather not mention.
Like you, we all lost hope of ever getting help until that hand reached down and pulled us from the drowning sea of sin onto this island of love and forgiveness. Each one of us has gone through exactly what you’re going through right now. Although each of our sins may be different than yours, each of us fell into the same sea of sin as you.
He struggles to understand, but is relieved to have at last found a place where the word sinner isn’t used in a degrading and hurtful manner. The leader continues to talk with him about the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers each Christian who has fallen into sin. He tells him that the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin, and goes on to say, “if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” (1 John 1:9 ERV)
The more the leader talks to him, the more he feels at peace in his heart. The leader goes on to say that we are all, each and every one of us nothing more than sinners who have been saved by the Grace of God; it was God’s gift to us because He Loves us. (Eph. 2:8-9)
He reminds him that “Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned. With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” (Hebrews 4:14-16 ERV)
The leader assures him that Jesus knows what each of us are going through and how we struggle with sin. He goes on to say that Jesus has been there and done that but is the only one who was ever able to keep from sinning. So cut yourself some slack he says.
Once again the leader reminds him that \”if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” (1 John 1:9 ERV)
He encourages the man to kneel at the throne of God and ask for forgiveness, repent from the sin he’s committed so that he can receive God’s grace, mercy and kindness to help him when he needs it.
“But what about my family and friends?” he asks, “even those in the church I attend won’t speak to me. They all look at me as if I don’t exist. How can I make things right with them and start to redeem myself in their eyes?”
My friend, this is where some of your family and friends truly don’t understand the greatest commandment of all. Do you know what it is, the leader asks?
He lowers his head and says yes, he then repeats Matthew 22:37-40. “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
That’s correct he says. I can’t speak for the actions of other believers, but he goes on to tell the man how he should act when he sees another believer sinning. “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, speak sharp words to him. If he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him. What if he sins against you seven times in one day? If he comes to you and says he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him.” Luke 17:3-4 NLV
The next day as the man was walking along the beach, he ran into a group of fellow sinners and asked them where he could find the leader. Their response shocked him when they told him that there was no leader.
“Surely you’re mistaken,” he said. “The man I spoke with made my heart feel strangely warm as He talked to me about the scriptures of love and forgiveness.” Then the group smiled warmly at him and told him that they’ve all had the same experience he had, and finally realized it was Jesus speaking to their heart and leading them to repentance.
The man awoke from his island dream and knew immediately what he had to do. He knelt beside his bed and asked Jesus to forgive his sin and restore his relationship with God his Father. He got up, dressed quickly and rushed to his home where he gathered his family together, confessed his sin to them and asked their forgiveness.
He realized it would be a long road to restore what he once had, but he knew with God’s help, Christian counseling and finally allowing Jesus to be Lord of his life he could recover from the sin Satan once used to destroy all he had.
Are You Still Living with Your Old Nature?
My friend, let me ask you some questions. As you read my parable, which island did you find yourself living on, the island of “You should be ashamed of yourself,” the island of “How could you, I knew you couldn’t be trusted”, or the island of “Love and Forgiveness?” Which set of your Old Nature’s feelings started to bubble up inside of you?
If your answer was one of the first two islands, then the following scripture from God’s Word was written for you.
“If anyone says “I love God,” but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn’t love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen? And God himself has said that one must love not only God but his brother too.” 1 John 4:20-21 (TLB)
If your answer was the third island, then the following scripture from God’s Word was written for you.
“Dear brothers, if anyone has slipped away from God and no longer trusts the Lord and someone helps him understand the Truth again, that person who brings him back to God will have saved a wandering soul from death, bringing about the forgiveness of his many sins.” James 5:19-20 (TLB)
Our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is a key cornerstone of living our life through Jesus. Without love for one another, how are we any different than the lost souls we live with in this world run by Satan? Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus.
“And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (TLB)
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. What a wonderful analogy. The love that God has for you and me, the love that grows deep inside of us as Jesus becomes more and more at home in your heart is not to be keep selfishly for ourselves. Paul goes on to say:
“Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father. Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him.” Ephesians 5:1-2 (TLB)
“Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred when you trusted Christ to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts.” 1 Peter 1:22 (TLB)
A New Journey Begins
This brings to a close the four foundational Christian truths or cornerstones to you living your life through Jesus — Grace, Truth, Righteousness and Love. This also ends my series on “The Next Step Living Your Life through Jesus.” It is my prayer for you that this series has in some way helped you grow in your understanding of exactly who you are.
Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. Ephesians 2:19 (TLB)
Through my series, “Who Am I Really,” you learned how you were Justified and made Righteous in God’s sight. Through this series, “The Next Step Living Your Life Through Jesus,” you learned how to grow and become Sanctified through allowing Jesus to live His life through you.
We have one more journey to take together, my friend. It is our journey to Glorification. We are no longer citizens of this lost world we live in. We are citizens of God’s country Heaven.
I’m sure that you’ve often been asked what do you want your legacy to be here on earth when you die? For me I don’t want a legacy here on earth, I want my legacy to be stored up in Heaven. How about you?
Don’t store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. 21 If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too. Matthew 6:19-21 (TLB)
Join me next month as I start my new series entitled “Your Journey To Eternity.” Together we’ll search God’s Word and learn how to prepare ourselves to live our life for all eternity with God our Father and all of the other saints who have gone before us. What a glorious thought that is, to realize that your final destination for all time will be spent with your creator, your provider and a life full of nothing but joy and happiness.
I have one final request for you. I would love to hear from you. Common Sense Ministries has just celebrated its second anniversary and God has truly blessed us. We have had the privilege of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with individuals like you in over 50 countries around the globe. We have followers on every continent and it just blows my mind to think that God could use this ministry to reach countries I have trouble even pronouncing. I thank God for each and every one of you who use our ministry and pray for you often. All praise and honor goes to God for what He is doing through us.
Until next month my friend, may God’s mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.
