SUNDAY NIGHT WITH EKURWE
24 July 2022
Luke 10:25-28
“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered:” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (NIV)
Welcome to part two of the series of exposition on this all-important question- WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? As we said earlier, this question is not only for Christians but for all humanity.
The answer by the expert in the law, whose original aim was to test Christ, was right after all. He premised the response on love to God and neighbour, which received approval from Christ. An expert indeed and a prototype of many today. We are a generation of tired, fussy little Christians– experts but not examples. We know too much; we have heard all the preaching and read all the books. We desire to be rated as experts and never be considered dumb. By that disposition, we utterly miss the treasure purposed by God for us, to understand in humility what must be done to inherit eternal life. Love to God and, above all else, is the key.
A.W Tozer, a celebrated and revered theologian, once stated, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.” Everything God has ever done has been out of love. God has proven this nature about Himself to humanity through the ages, from the fall of man in the garden of Eden to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The gift of Christ was the fulfilment of the redemption plan. The plan for redemption that spans many generations and culminates in Christ flows from the heart of love and concern for the lost humanity.
LOVE for God is about giving up all that is in self and yielding to all that God desires. It is about the complete surrender of our will, plan, purpose, and interest and willingly without an iota of grudge or complaint. What manner of love? Suppose the Holy Spirit decides to give us a picture of ourself without the works of love Christ did on our behalf. In that case, we will discover that no criminal is half so terrible in actuality as we are in possibility. At that point, we will understand that apart from the love of God, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We have a responsibility to love Him back with all our hearts –not as a prerequisite for salvation, but as a response for salvation in Christ.
1 John 4:8 says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” The unwavering and unfailing love that He had shown when it was not solicited demands our appropriate response. He has maintained a covenantal relationship with humanity since creation and is willing to bring it to everlasting fruition at the close of the age. God will close the age and usher to eternity those that put their trust and love in Him. Even in our weaknesses, He has always been our stay and hope.
Christ is the true pearl of inestimable value and worthy of our complete love. God did not send Christ as a reward for our obedience but as a ransom for our disobedience. The great price of redemption is worthy of sacrificing our all. But regrettably, we often treat many other things as greater pearls because of our love for them instead of God. The ideal action for us to inherit the kingdom of God is–‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’
Keep a date with us next Sunday.
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