Nothing either great or small—
Nothing, sinner, no;
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago.
“It is
finished!” yes, indeed,
Finished every jot:
Sinner, this is all you need—
Tell me, is it not?
Finished every jot:
Sinner, this is all you need—
Tell me, is it not?
When He, from
His lofty throne,
Stooped to do and die,
Everything was fully done;
Hearken to His cry:
Stooped to do and die,
Everything was fully done;
Hearken to His cry:
Weary,
working, burdened one,
Wherefore toil you so?
Cease your doing; all was done
Long, long ago.
Wherefore toil you so?
Cease your doing; all was done
Long, long ago.
Till to Jesus’
work you cling
By a simple faith,
“Doing” is a deadly thing—
“Doing” ends in death.
By a simple faith,
“Doing” is a deadly thing—
“Doing” ends in death.
Cast your
deadly “doing” down—
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete.
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete.
Throughout the month of June we have
paralleled the lessons taught to our children in this week’s Vacation Bible
School. Specifically, we have examined
five treasures that are given to every disciple, of every age, by the Son of
God. You will remember: we are Born of the Son; we are Healed by the Son; we are Forgiven by the Son; and we are Loved by the Son. And it is this final treasure, Loved by the Son, that is our focus this
Sunday morning.
As the Apostle Paul famously says in I
Corinthians 15, “Faith, hope, love abide, these three, but the greatest of
these is love.” But why is love the
greatest and why is it the greatest of all the treasures the Son of God imparts
to us?
There are several important reasons, but
first among them is the fact that love is a prime attribute of God’s own
character. When Jesus loves us He is
simply extending to us His very character.
While forgiveness, as we noted last week, is the most transformative
treasure He offers us, His forgiveness flows from His love. Indeed, all other treasures flow from His
character of love, for as John tells us so succinctly in his first epistle,
“God is love!”
In reflecting on the love of the Son this
week, it seems to me that for the Christian there is arguably no greater
expression of His love (notwithstanding the Cross) than what He does on
resurrection night. Indeed, it is so
profound that both John and Luke record it.
I say that it is arguably God’s greatest
expression of love because of the condition in which Jesus finds His
friends. They are terrified. They are without hope. They are locked down, baffled, and
bewildered. In terms of despair there’s
no time in the Gospels that rivals it – even when they are in a boat on the Sea
of Galilee in the storm.
So what does Jesus do? He loves them! In fact, He loves them in exactly the same
way He loves you and me when we are in “lockdown” despair. And when you see that, when you get it, you
find it is just as the Nigerian hymn writer says, “Jesus did it, did it all,
long, long ago!”
In preparing for worship this Sunday and
studying the Son’s greatest treasure – His love – you may wish to consider the
following:
1.
How is the disciple’s condition in Luke
24:38-49 a direct violation of Jesus’ imperative in John 14:1-7?
2.
What are some reasons for their violation?
3.
How is Jesus’ message to them in Luke
24:36 similar to the angel’s message in Luke 2:10?
4.
Why is fear so destructive?
5.
Compare and contrast Luke’s account of
this encounter with John in John 20:19-29.
6.
What three loving things does Jesus do to
dispel their fear?
7.
Why does He instruct them to touch Him
when He prevents Mary from touching Him in John 20:17?
8.
Why does He ask for food in verse 41?
9.
What does Jesus mean in verse 44 when He
says, “While I was still with you I spoke these words?”
10. What is
“the promise of my Father” in verse 49?
What is the significance of that promise for our self-concept?
See you Sunday!
