Date:   06/28/09

Text:   Matthew 22:34-38

Title:   First Priority

Theme: Since the creator God has first loved us, His children are to respond by loving him.

Introduction:

  In one commentary, the author asked: if Jesus were to go to a pet store, what animal would he bring home? Would it be a cat or a dog? Most likely it would be a dog. (Now, I don't want to start a fight with the cat lovers among us. I will be nice to cats in another sermon. But this morning please don't tune me off because of dogs. ) The cat would come and go as it likes. When you come home, instead of coming to you, you have to look for it. Have you ever tried to tell a cat to stay, sit, roll over or shake hands? You have never heard of a cat's obedient school. A dog is different. When your car is at the drive way, it would start barking, and the moment you open the door, it climbs all over you. If it won't listen to you, you can even send him to a dog's obedience school. While a cat is known for its independent spirit, a dog is known for its loyalty. When you take care of it, it would love and follow you.

  This morning, we'll take a look at God's relationship with men. Next week we want to take a look at our relationship with the self, followed by our relationship with others.

 I •  We stand in awe before the creator God.

To understand God's relationship with man, we first need to understand something about God and about ourselves. Take a look at our universe. Up until 1920's we thought that the Milky Way was the universe. And in this galaxy, there are about 200,000 x 10 6 stars. The planet earth is only one out of this vast number of stars. But in recent years, it is revealed that the Milky Way is only one of more than 100,000 x 10 6 galaxies. We have not even looked at how far one star is from another, and one galaxy from the other. Their distance from each other is precise, each star and galaxy is moving in its own orbit in an orderly manner. The slightest deviation can create chaos in the universe. The Laws that govern and direct movement of the stars are so accurate that men on earth can send a space ship to Mars and know its exact date and time of arrival and landing. This number of stars and the vastness of the universe is mind boggling. To think all these have evolved from nothing to where are they are today, does require some elements of faith.

On December 24, 1968, while the spaceship Apollo 8 was orbiting around the moon, the astronauts took turn reading Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… These majestic words still echoe in many of our memories. This is the very galaxy we are in. If we look at the millions upon millions of galaxies, billions upon billions of stars, and there is this one star, called the planet earth. Then there are 6.7 billion occupants on this earth. Out of the 6.7 billion, there are you and me. When each one of us stands before this creator God, no word is adequate to describe our finiteness and awe.

Or we can imagine ourselves standing before the El Capitain of Yosemite, or in Grand Teton, Banff park in Canada , the ring of waterfalls in Hawaii , or the mountains in Guilin . We are overwhelmed by the greatness and majesty of God's handiwork.

 

II •  The creator God established a loving relationship with men.

We are finite before this infinite creator God, but there is more to this. The psalmist writes in psalm 8:4, “ 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Job 7:17,18, “ 17 What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, 18 visit him every morning and test him every moment?” Yes, there is this creator God, high and above, but he also desires a relationship with man. God does not treat man as an inanimate object; he wants a personal relationship.

What is the central focus of this relationship? If we would take the bible and read it from cover to cover, we will face this indelible mark: God's love for men and their response. We have words such as: ….his steadfast love endures forever; 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;… John 3:16, “ 16 "“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ” John 1:14, “ 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Luke 19:10, “ 10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 1 Timothy 1:15, “…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Romans 5:8, “ 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The central theme of God's relationship with man is His love. For He loves us so much, that he gave his one and only son to us, so that we can enjoy eternity in his presence.

 III •  The created men respond to God's love by loving Him.

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What is Jesus' answer? 22:37, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." 38 "This is the great and first commandment." 39 "And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 40 "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus summarized the 10 commandments by telling us to love God and men. We notice it is not something we do or don't do, but a matter of attitude in life. Why is loving God so important? John Calvin wrote that Jesus could have said our first duty is to ‘serve the lord' or to ‘obey the lord' or to ‘fear the lord' or to ‘proclaim God's love to all the world'. Why did he say ‘to love the Lord'? Calvin went on to explain that only the free service of our wills is acceptable to Him. Ultimately the man who comes to obey God will love him first….God will not have the forced obedience of men, but wishes their service to be free and spontaneous.

Let's take a closer at this command: Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. In Mark it also adds with all your strength. This means that we are to love God will our entire being: heart, mind (will) and strength. When we love him completely, we are also to obey his teachings completely.

We're to love God with all of our heart and soul. This means that we embrace him in our deepest convictions and commitments. In the deepest part of my being, my emotions and feeling, he is the most important person in life. If so, then I would not knowingly do anything that will displease him. I think of the grandparents. They are so proud of their grandchildren, who are the love of their love, that they would carry their pictures wherever they go, showing them off. If God occupies the center of our lives, then we too would carry Him around and show him to our friends.

We're to love God with all our mind. Our relationship with God is more than the emotions, for it also include our mind, our thinking. We will use our mind, our thoughts to understand his work in our lives, both past and present; and we will dedicate our future plans and goals to him. We'll use our mind to think and understand his grace and observe the objective facts of his handiwork in our lives. We'll use our minds to think through issues and biblical principles and apply them to our daily lives. Faith in God never means shutting of my thinking faculty. The more we see and experience his work in and among us, the more we want to love and stay close to him.

We're to love God with all our strength. When I love him with my heart and mind, I also will do whatever I can to demonstrate this love for him. Remember when you first fall in love with that very special person? You would do whatever you could for him/her. You would use your savings to buy that train ticket and travelled 2200 miles to see her. You will use whatever money you have to buy that flower, picture frame, teddy bear or tie. You will go out of your way to pick her up and patiently wait for her without any complaints. You will do whatever is asked of you. You love him/her with all your strength.

Several weeks ago, I also shared with you how some ministers after getting home, simply fell onto their bed and slept. They gave all their physical strength to God. I think of many of you, especially the elders and deacons serving in this and other churches. While the members are enjoying the time spent with family members, you have to attend different kinds of meetings for the sake of God's church. Yes, you may complain of too many meetings, but you do this out of your love for God.

Jesus wants us to love God with all of our faculties, our entire being. He is to be the love of our heart, the focus of our thoughts and the object of our service. I have shared this with you on different occasions. In recent years, God has given me opportunities to serve some churches in china. When I go there, they would always respectfully say to me “ ????? ” Many of you have also said that to me. Yes, in a way the time spent there was intense and tiring. Yet when I see what the students have to go through, mine is literally nothing. Some of them have to travel on train or bus for over 12 hours to get to the training site. They have to sleep next to each other on the floor in a small bedroom. 40 people have to share two bathrooms that are nothing close to what we have here. Many ministers worked hard even though with a salary barely enough to pay their rent. The believers take advantage of every situation to share the good news with others. One person shared with me that every year he and his wife would organize a tour via the internet. The participants would meet at one location and spend a week or two to visit some cities or scenic areas. They would use the opportunity to get to know each other and share their Christian faith at the appropriate time. He said during the last 3 years, while on the trip or after the trip, 3 had come to know Christ. This is vacation with a purpose. They are intense Christians. The same individual, cannot stand the corruption and bribery rampant in the construction business that he quit and started his own company. They are serious about their faith and they love the lord dearly. I often tell the students that I am the one benefited when I come to teach. Their love for the lord put me to shame. This is the main reason why the churches in china continue to grow. In them, I have seen how they love the lord with all their hearts, soul, mind and strength.

Dear brothers and sisters, this is what God wants of us. Not what we do or do not do, but that of an attitude. The attitude that He is the first priority in our lives. That first priority is to love him completely; loving him with our entire being. When we love him completely, we'll also begin to obey him completely. This will affect our relationship with our family, the way we work and do research and how we relate to people around us. He wants nothing less from us.

Conclusion:

  We come back to the dog story. Can you tell your dog to be loyal to the friend that just came into your house? I don't think so. Why is the dog loyal to his master? Because he knows the master cares for him by taking him out for walks and giving food and water.

Now, can one be commanded to love? Can a mother order the child to love his/her father? Can I tell you to go love this person? If you love because I tell you to, its really not love, right? It is impossible to command someone to love.   

  Isn't this true in our relationship with God? It is hard or impossible to love Him because he has commanded us to do so. Instead, we love, because he has first loved us. He loved us by providing daily necessities. He loves us and wants us to enjoy the peace, joy and grace in him. He knows we cannot do this on our own. So he sent his son to us and died for us. In his death, he carried our sins and forgives us, so we can be at peace with God.

Why do we sometimes find it hard to love God with our heart, mind and strength? Can it be that we may have forgotten his love for us in the first place? Instead of pounding on ourselves that we are to love God with all that we have, maybe we all need to do is to pause, in the midst of our busy schedules and activities, and meditate on how much He has first loved us. Only when we grasped the depth of his love, then will we begin to love him. Only when we have grasped the breadth of his love, then we will begin to have Him as our first priority in life.

  We all know how difficult it is to love God completely. There are so many things around us that distract us from having Him as our first priority. This law, like other laws, often reveal our weaknesses. The more we know this law, the more we see our inadequacies. Thus the more we need to come to him, repent and ask for forgiveness. We come to him telling him how much we need his grace to help us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.