“Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God, but
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and
coming in the likeness of men.” – Philippians 2:5-7
I had a vision not long ago while
worshipping. In that vision I was
standing behind Jesus as He left Heaven for earth. Dressing in a long flowing robe, He started
away from the throne, looked over His shoulder briefly at what He was leaving
behind, and continued until He was out of view.
That lead me to the thought of what it was
Jesus would have left behind in Heaven.
I don’t think He would have missed the grandeur, the gold streets, the
jeweled things, and the riches of God. His
Father God owned it all. He chose gold
to be the gravel of Heaven. The physical
assets of Heaven may have been attractive, but I don’t think Jesus would have
valued them the way we will. In His
economy, gold and jewels are worthless.
He might have missed the sweet smelling
aroma of the sacrifices of the people (Exodus 29, Leviticus 1&2, Numbers 15).
For Christ, the smell of the people of God offering up sacrifices for their
sins was the smell of a heart seeking to please God, seeking to remove the
enmity between God and man. If the smell
was sweet to God, it must have been sweet to the Son as well.
He might have missed the angels singing, “Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole
earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). But I doubt it was the sound of their voices
as much as the words they sang. Any word
in Hebrew said three times means completeness, perfection of the word. To say “Holy, Holy, Holy” is the highest of
compliments. It was to offer the
greatest of praise.
As a beach lover, I wondered if He would have missed the
crystal sea that is before the throne, or the rainbow that is around the throne
(Revelation 4). But then again, what is
a sea, crystal, or a rainbow to the one through whom they were all made (John
1)?
I believe what Jesus would have missed most from Heaven was
love. Consider a place of endless
love. Jesus was surrounded with the love
of God the father, the love of the angels, the adoration of the seraphim and cherubim.
There was no hatred, no ulterior motives, no distrust, no lack of faith, no
self-promotion. There was no backbiting,
no bitterness, no prejudice, and no jealousy.
In Heaven, it was love.
According to God’s word, no one else, except satan, has ever
left Heaven. Satan was thrown out for
acting like a human. He became full of
pride and jealousy and self-promotion, and could no longer worship God because
he was worshipping himself. But Jesus…that’s
a different story. He had done nothing
to deserve earth.
Yet, He came anyway. Jesus
was there before the foundation of the earth.
He knew the plan God had for us to receive him as our eternal sacrifice. He knew that coming to earth mean an earthly life
among sinners, and death. He came,
experiencing hatred for the first time, experiencing mocking, bitterness,
jealousy, our weak faith, our weakness to sin, our contempt of each other, our
prejudices towards nationality, our selfish motives, and our lack of trust in
Him. It was a far cry from Heaven, and
yet, He came.
He came to prove that He loves us more than He loved the
splendor and worship of Heaven. He came
not to show His disdain for our sins. Even
though He was righteous and could have condemned us, He didn’t. He loved us.
He came to prove His obedience to His Father God. He came to allow us to see Heaven and live
with Him eternally. Jesus, perfect
Jesus, wants us to be with Him eternally.
He showed us love, so that we could understand love, and love Him and
each other in return.
In John 15:11-17 Jesus speak of love and joy. He says, “These things I have
spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL. This is My
commandment, that you LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for
his friends. You
are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you
servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I HAVE
CALLED YOU FRIENDS, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made
known to you. YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU and appointed you that you
should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that
whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
THESE
THINGS I COMMAND YOU, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”
Jesus calls us to love each other, not just
in words, but in deeds. He calls us to
be self-less in love, even to the point of laying down our lives for each other
as He laid down His for us. He tells us
that when we do this, we will have joy, and our joy will be FULL – a heart full
of joy. Doing His will, He calls us His
friends, personal friends of Jesus. If
you feel He didn’t mean this toward you in particular, consider what He means
when He says “You did not choose me, but I chose you”. He has a personal love for you – an individual
love for you.
Do you want to experience a little bit of
Heaven on earth? Love one another. I cannot think of a single gift Jesus would
prefer for His birthday than that we show unconditional self-less love for one
another. Imagine what it would be like
if we all just oozed love for each other in everything we said, everything we
did, and every though we had toward each other.
Would that not be heavenly? Find
someone who needs to be loved, and open your heart to them. Let the love of God instruct you and show you
how to love with His unfailing love. Yes,
you might get hurt. Jesus did. But love anyway. Love one at a time until all are loved.
Merry Christmas!
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