Spiritual Love (15) - Perfect Love
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December 30, 2012 |
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 "Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away…But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:8-13).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
When you go to Heaven, if you could take one thing with you, what would you like to take? What do we have that is worth taking?
In Heaven, the roads you will walk on are pure gold. Also, God understands His beloved children's hearts and prepares their heavenly houses, which are made of gold and beautiful and precious jewels and gem stones that can't be compared to anything on the earth. So, you don't have to take gold or jewels with you when you go to Heaven. But there is one thing that we need to take from this earth to share love with God. It is the spiritual love that is cultivated in our hearts while we are living in this world.
1. The Love that is valuable forever, even in Heaven.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 says, "Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away." Prophecy, tongues, and knowledge on God are spiritual things, but why will they be done away in Heaven?
Heaven is a spiritual realm and it is a perfect place. Even if we prophesy in this world it is completely different from understanding everything in the heavenly kingdom in the future. We will understand clearly the hearts of God and the Lord in Heaven, so we no longer need prophecy there.
It's the same with tongues. When we communicate with others who speak different languages, there are difficulties we have communicating with them. But there is only one language in Heaven. So, there is no need to worry about not understanding others. Because the good heart is conveyed as it is, there cannot be any misunderstandings or prejudice.
It's the same with knowledge. When we live on this earth we diligently learn the Word of God. We learn how we can be saved and what God's will is, but it is just the knowledge that allows for us to go to Heaven and it is only a very small part of knowledge.
As said above, prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are temporarily needed on the earth to enter Heaven although they belong to spirit. Therefore, it is important to know the word of truth and to know about Heaven, but it is more important to cultivate love. Only when we diligently circumcise our hearts and accomplish love can we go into the heavenly kingdom and live there happily and forever.
2. The love that will be felt perfectly in Heaven
1 Corinthians 13:11 reads, "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things."
In Heaven is no darkness, worry, or anxiety. There is only goodness and love. So we can express our love to the fullest in Heaven. The physical world and spiritual world are totally different. Even on this earth, according to the measure of faith, each individual speaks, understands, and thinks differently.
In 1 John chapter 2, each of the levels of faith is likened to 'little children', 'children', 'young men', and 'fathers' respectively. Those who are at the level of a child in faith are like 'children' in spirit. Also, their understanding is like that of children, so they cannot really understand the things that are deeply spiritual and they have little strength to practice the Word. But when they become young men and fathers, the level of feeling the love of God will be different. They will have greater ability to practice the Word of God and they will be able to win in the battles against the power of darkness.
But even though we accomplish the faith of fathers on this earth, we can say that we are still like children compared to the time when we enter into the heavenly kingdom. It's because we have physical limits on this earth. To the extent that we believe and hope for Heaven while living on the earth, we know how beautiful Heaven is. But, it's not easy to perfectly understand how beautiful and glorious Heaven is. When we reach Heaven we will realize the spiritual realm that is limitlessly spacious and mysterious and we will understand the principles of all things of the spiritual realm.
Our life on this earth is a period of preparation for the everlasting heavenly life. This world passes by quickly because it is like a shadow compared to the eternal kingdom of heaven. This life is just like a shadow and it is just what lets us begin to imagine the eternal world, but it's never eternal. After the shadow-like life on the earth is gone, the actual shadow's entity will be clearly revealed.
So, 1 Corinthians 13:12 reads, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
When the apostle Paul wrote this chapter on spiritual love, it was about 2,000 years ago. A mirror at that time was not as clear as today's mirrors because they ground and polished silver, bronze or other metals and the polished metal imperfectly reflected the light and image. When the eternal kingdom, the perfect world, comes later, we will feel the heavenly kingdom directly in the heavenly kingdom itself. We will clearly see every detail of the kingdom and feel it directly, so the liveliness will be completely different. We will vividly feel the greatness and awesomeness of God. He is the inexpressible beauty itself.
3. Among faith, hope, and love, the greatest of these is love
Faith and hope are very valuable in increasing our faith. We can be saved and go to Heaven only when we have faith. We can become God's children only with faith. And, if we have faith, it is natural to have hope. With it, we can take hold of the better dwelling places in Heaven, try to become sanctified, and work faithfully for God's kingdom.
As explained, faith and hope are a must until we reach the heavenly kingdom. But why does 1 Corinthians 13:13 say, "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love"?
Firstly, faith and hope are needed only while we are receiving 'human cultivation' on this earth. In Heaven, only spiritual love exists among the three.
If you have true faith and love God, your hope for Heaven will become greater and greater over time and to the extent that your faith grows up. You will miss the Lord more and more as time goes by.
Those with hope for Heaven don't say "It's way too much. I am suffering" even if they are walking on the narrow and harsh road on this earth. They don't sway at any kind of temptations. But when you arrive at the last destination, Heaven, you don't need faith, which is to believe what is unseen, and hope any longer. Only love will be there in Heaven. That's why love is said to be the greatest.
Secondly, you can possess Heaven with faith, but you can't go into the most beautiful dwelling place in Heaven that is New Jerusalem if you don't have love.
To the extent that we act with faith and hope, we can enter a better dwelling place in Heaven. Spiritual faith is given to the extent that we live according to God's Word, cast off sins, and achieve a beautiful heart. And in accordance with this measure of faith our heavenly dwelling place will be decided among Paradise, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd kingdoms of heaven, and New Jerusalem.
But New Jerusalem is given to God's children who accomplish perfect love with faith. It is the crystal of love. In order to resemble the Lord and dwell in New Jerusalem, we must follow the footsteps of the Lord. His way is love. Only when we have this love can we resemble the Lord by cultivating the nine fruits of the Spirit and the Beatitudes in our hearts.
Thus, when we have faith we can go to Heaven and when we have hope we can cast off sins. Faith and hope are definitely necessary but only when we have perfect love can we enter into New Jerusalem. That's why love is said to be the greatest.
Dear brothers and sisters. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become blessed believers who please God by achieving spiritual love recorded in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
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