“We shall be like him. Oh how rich the promise.”
“What greater could our Fathers love prepare?”
We shall be like him, pure in heart and sinless,
We shall be like him, raised above all weakness.”
Beautiful words, with a very great meaning to those who look to God and Jesus for salvation. This hymn was probably inspired by John 3 verse 1 & 2, which reads, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Do we really stop to think that God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten son into the world that we might live through Him ?
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. Yes, the great God of the universe, God who controls nations and the very elements loved us—you and me—poor weak creatures of the flesh, sent His Son, His only son to be a propitiation for our sins.
“Beloved, If God so loved us, we ought to love one another.”
What are these verses trying to tell us? That God in His mercy and love knew from the behavior of man that he could not come into the good graces of God on his own — he needed help. So, while we were yet sinners or even before we were born, He sent His Son into the world that if we believe and follow him we could find grace in the sight of the Father and live. “OH, how rich the promise, what greater could our Father’s love prepare?”
We should thank and praise our heavenly Father daily for our great calling. Even now we have a peace of mind that passes understanding that the majority of people don’t have. Most have no idea at all what the love of God can do for us. Let us never betray this love that has been bestowed on us. Even more important, we should never take God’s love for granted because if we do we may have a tendency to forget and miss much of the comfort and peace that can be yours when we keep God first in our lives.
We would like to relate a little story we heard many years ago. We feel this story has many lessons in it — one concerns holding a grudge or a bitter feeling, one is forgiveness and another is of pride and finally not knowing enough about another’s needs. Many years ago in France, a very rich man who we will call George invited some friends to dinner and among these friends was a man named Jack. The rich man served a feast of good things to eat which was beyond comparison. There were all kinds of meats, fish, and poultry, delicacies of all kinds. There were all kinds of vegetables, fruits and wines of many types. Further, there was such an abundance that it would have served at least 40 people when only 10 had been invited. Toward the end of the meal, George thought he would show off one more thing he had in his possession. He had recently acquired a very expensive and beautiful jewel, which he passed around the table for all to admire. As it passed from hand to hand, naturally everyone made quite a fuss over it and admired it. However, it never reached the head of the table. Needless to say this was very upsetting to George and when asked in turn, each one at the table said they had passed it on and further all offered to be searched, except Jack. Our thoughts, like those at that table, naturally decide that probably Jack was guilty. Since George was a gracious host and he did not want to humiliate Jack any further, he dropped the whole matter and finally bid his guests goodnight. The matter did not, of course, end there, George never spoke to Jack for many years and also hinted about suspecting Jack to others. As the years went on there was occasion to move the very heavy banquet table and under one leg of the table there was a crack in the tile floor. In this crack was found the precious jewel. George immediately realized what he had done — he had held a grudge against his friend and even said some terrible things about Jack. He had spent years nurturing this feeling and getting upset every time he saw or thought about him. He went immediately to Jack to beg his forgiveness for their broken friendship and the terrible things he had said and thought. Jack forgave him in love and said he hoped their friendship would now resume as it had been before this misunderstanding. As he left, George asked why, if Jack was not guilty that night so long ago, he had not been willing to be searched. After a long pause, Jack said, “You see, at that time I was not as fortunate as I am now, I was stuffing my coat pockets with food for my family at home, since we had not had a meal in several days. I was too ashamed and proud to open my coat and let everyone see the food I was hiding.” At this point, George was more ashamed than ever of his conduct. He said, “If I had been the friend to you that I should have been, I would have been aware of your needs and would have helped you so that it would not have been necessary for you to hide food for your family.”
We can see the lessons there for us all. Are we so pleased with our own possessions and surroundings — our jobs, homes, or whatever that we don’t want or try to see the needs of our brother or sister? Is it possible that we could be a bit like George ? Do we like to show off our material possessions but keep them to ourselves instead of sharing them with some not so fortunate? We cannot do these things and show the love of God at the same time. You know, this not only means material things, but more importantly, spiritual things. The Truth we have been shown is not ours to keep to ourselves. In everyday life, our striving to live as God wants us to live means being a friend to those who need it and taking time to listen if someone needs to talk. Christ said that if ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me. This is true love then, if we all look after each other. We have had many exhortations along this line, and if you are like the writer, you resolve each time that you hear one that you will surely make a special effort to get acquainted with certain brethren that you don’t know very well, or that you will invite them to your home or out some place so that you will both become closer. Somehow these resolution’s slip back in our minds and once again we are still in discussion with the brother or sister that we have always known and that we have perhaps worked with for years in some phase or another. We will certainly not get any commendation for all the good intentions we had, for the road to the kingdom is not paved with intentions but works that show our love and compassion. We have to try and be like Him now or we shall never see Him in the kingdom.
We have this warning brought home to us in I John 4:20 & 21 — “If a man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar.” George in our story claimed he loved God but he was bitter toward Jack for those many years and he did not really have the love of God in him. From this verse, we can see how important it is for us to have a very clean slate toward our brethren and sisters. We can’t have some that we love and are companionable with and have others that we don’t particularly like or even (we hope not!) have had words with and are bitter toward. John tells us in no uncertain words that — that brother is a liar ! for he says, he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? and to conclude the matter John says, “and this commandment have we from him” —from whom? from Jesus, of course, “that he who loves God should love his 8rbrother also.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One