FOURTH QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #4
OCTOBER 23, 2021
“TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD”

 

Our lesson title is important. But – it starts in the wrong place! The gospel, including the gospel of Deuteronomy, never begins with our love towards God, but God’s love towards us. That’s why, in Deuteronomy chapter 5, just before our memory verse for this week, the re-giving of the 10 commandments begins with what God has done for us, not with how He asks us to respond. “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”  Deuteronomy 5:5.

 

And then, preceding our memory verse in Deuteronomy 6, Moses describes the unity and fellowship of the Godhead in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”. Now, after these gospel statements, the call in our memory verse to love God with our whole heart, soul, and strength is made. God always precedes His appeals to us with presentations of His goodness and love and blessings towards us.

 

This understanding is more explicit in 1 John 4:10, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Love is not fundamentally defined by OUR love to God, but by God’s love towards us! Why? Because all our love is responsive and appreciative and secondary to His pre-existent love and loving actions towards us! We react towards His love. His love awakens and creates a love within us towards Him. He doesn’t love us when or because we love Him. He loved us before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, John 17:23-24).

 

But we face a severe challenge when we are discussing love – whether God’s love or our love. Satan has hijacked the idea and principle of love. Satan has reduced “love” to a mere transitory emotional sensation and feeling. Satan has defined love as how I feel towards you - which depends on how valuable you are to me or how much you do for me or how you make me feel. This definition finds no support in the Bible.

 

The Biblical definition of love is expressed in 1 Corinthians 13 in so many of its facets – hopes and believes and endures all things. Satan’s love endures little to nothing – it believes little to nothing.  1 Corinthians 13 says love “suffers long”. Satan’s worldly love endures little to nothing. If you don’t make me feel good – now – then I’m gone.

 

“Unselfishness, the principle of God’s kingdom, is the principle that Satan hates; its very existence he denies. From the beginning of the great controversy, he has endeavored to prove God’s principles of action to be selfish, and he deals in the same way with all who serve God. To disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His name. “{Ed 154.3}

 

We have a mission. To disprove Satan’s claim. And the disproving of Satan’s claim occurs via the pathway of unselfishness. No other way! Satan has said that unselfishness – read LOVE – does not exist in God or us. God has proved in the incarnation and life and death of Jesus, that love truly does exist in His divine heart.

 

But God has also claimed that His love for us is so powerful, that it will lead us to love Him and others with the same kind of love wherewith He loved us. Satan laughs and taunts Jesus that we don’t love Him or His principles. We may love getting our golden heavenly reward and we may love avoiding hell – but we definitely don’t love God’s principles of unselfishness (love). Job was one who proved otherwise. Moses was one who proved otherwise (“blot me out” Exodus 32:32). Paul was one who proved otherwise (“accursed from Christ”, Romans 9:3).

 

The last generation will prove Satan wrong as well. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” The honor of God and His kingdom will motivate us to “disprove Satan’s claim”. The love of Christ will constrain us to “disprove Satan’s’ claim.”

 

As we study, “To Love the Lord Your God”, may we remember that He first loved us, and gave Himself for us, and may that move and constrain and motivate us to love Him and others with agape – undeceived by the world’s picture of love – which is self in disguise.

 

~Bob Hunsaker