Devotionals

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 

Chapter 15 of John is considered to be part of Jesus’ final words to his disciples. He has already foretold his betrayal and is hoping to instill in the disciples those things he really wants them to remember. One of these things is the centrality of love. He explains that he has loved the disciples in the same way that the Father has loved him. This did not mean that Jesus was relieved of all hardships; in fact, his greatest hardship was coming soon. Jesus also knows that things will not always be easy for the disciples. He wants them to know that no matter what happens to them, his love is constant and unchanging. He wants them to feel it!

10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 

Jesus gives very clear direction on how to “remain in his love.” They simply have to keep his commands. Do you remember some specific commands that Jesus gave? He said earlier that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second greatest is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) We sometimes may think it is difficult to do this (especially the part about the neighbor!). We may think that loving neighbors who are very different from us may not bring us very much joy. But Jesus finds joy in loving all people, especially the unlovable. He wants his disciples to try to find that same joy. Have you ever experienced joy from reaching out to someone who might make you uncomfortable?

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

There may have been times when the disciples’ behavior did not make Jesus happy, and yet he still feels joy in his relationship with them. He loved them despite their foibles, misunderstanding and doubts. Is this similar to a parent’s love for their child? Do parents want their children to love each other? Wouldn’t that be ideal?

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

A more literal translation of the Greek “philos” which was used for “friends” in verse 13 is “loved ones.” Jesus gave up his own life in the ultimate demonstration of the great love he had for us. Would you be willing to give up your own life for your friends or loved ones? What circumstances might lead you to do that?

14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 

The disciples did have a servant/master relationship with Jesus at first. He expected them to follow and obey him based on their incomplete knowledge and understanding. They did not yet know Jesus’ ‘business’. The Greek word for disciple is “mathetes” and it means “learner.” They were Jesus’ apprentices, learning along the way from his teaching, modeling, demonstrating, and debriefing. Sometimes they made errors in judgment. Sometimes they got caught up in ambition. Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, he turned the tables on them and washed their feet, as if he were their servant. He shared everything he had learned from the Father with them. He called them friends. The servant/master relationship is characterized by duty; servants do whatever is required. A friendship relationship is characterized by love; a friend will do whatever it takes.

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

We may be confused by Jesus’ statement, “You did not choose me.” Didn’t we choose to follow Jesus? Yes, we did, but before that we were beloved sons and daughters of an adoring Father. He chose us first. The path to friendship with Jesus began with the gift of our adoption as sons and daughters. We are “disciplined” (taught) as servants in the way of the cross and transformed in our own understanding from responsibility to a master to obedience out of love for the master. When we obey this love, we become empowered servants of others, producing good fruit as we love each other.

Genesis 1:1-2   1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 2:1-4    1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2By the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.  4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Reflection:  It is important to read the Creation account in Genesis chapter one and do a comparison with Genesis chapter two.  In short, we go from a grandiose/cosmic Creation to a much more intimate Creation account in Genesis 2.  Try this for a moment … Who created God?  And who created that God?  We are left with the reality that God (Elohim) has always existed.  God did not need to create the universe; God chose to create our universe.  Why did God create the universe?  Answer: God is love, and love is best expressed toward something or someone else … so God created the world and people as an expression of his love.  Therefore, we have value in the eyes of God!  And talk about intimacy … notice in Genesis 2, the reference to the Lord God … from the majestic (Elohim) to Yahweh (Lord).  We serve a God who loves us and desires an intimate, personal relationship.  But where is this relationship heading … notice in Verse 4, that we have Mother earth and the heavens?!

Genesis 2:5-6    5Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Reflection:  What is going on in these two passages?   (1) The earth has no plant life.  (2) No rain has fallen.  (3) There was no one to work the ground.  (4) God created streams that watered the ground … some versions say, “… a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”  Note:  There was no one to work the ground.  What is the implication from this statement?  What was the job of humans?  Someone is going to be responsible for working the ground; at this point there was no one to till the ground.  Let’s get us some humans!

Genesis:2:7   Then the Lord formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Reflection:  Look what we are made of … from the DUST of the ground!  God did not use gold dust or silver dust or some fancy alloyed dust; God used the earth!  Look how David describes this in Psalm 139:15 … My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  

And then, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  The body is a lifeless shell until God brings it alive with his breath of life, and when God removes his life-giving breath our bodies once again return to dust.  In today’s culture where success and achievement are used to define the personal strength and value of a person, what should not be forgotten is that God chose to give us the mysterious and miraculous gift of life.  Our intrinsic value comes from a special connection to our heavenly Creator God!!

Genesis 2:8-9   8Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16-17  16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”   

Romans 8:14  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Reflection:  A Tale of Two Trees!  Two distinct trees were planted in the garden separate from all the others … The Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Is the Lord God giving man a choice?  Is the Lord God intending for man to eat from the TREE OF LIFE?  But, again, is the Lord God giving man a choice?  Does the Lord God want to give US a choice?  Perhaps God does not want us to be robots, so God reviews the benefits and blessings of living under his authority … and then gives us a choice?  

Those who eat from the  Tree of Life are led by the Spirit of God … Romans 8:14.  But the other tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil … does it not represent the right for us to determine, for ourselves, what is right and wrong?  Whatever terminology is used … two trees, two gates or two ways … the same decision stands before us today!

Genesis 2:10-13   10A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12)(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur.  And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Reflection:  This description, in a way, is a strange narrative in the middle of a creation account.  Yet, there might be something valuable for us …let’s take a look:

• The theme of water – Water of Life – flows from Genesis to Revelation, winding its way through both testaments.

• One river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there it parted and became four riverheads.  The names of the four riverheads translate into increase, bursting forth, rapid, and fruitfulness.

• Each river came from one source and together they wound their way around the world … in the same way, the gospel comes from one source and yet it branches out into four different accounts – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Each gospel reflects the glory of the Lord.  Thus we have the gospel spreading.

• The river of life concept demonstrates that God is the ultimate source of all spiritual and physical nourishment.

→Genesis 2:15   The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Reflection:  Read these Scriptures, and, perhaps, seek out interpretations of their complete meaning.  Do they establish the role of humanity as caretakers entrusted with God’s physical creation?

Do they strongly emphasize that followers of Jesus Christ should engage in purposeful, active labor to provide for themselves, society, and God’s Church?

→Genesis 1:28  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

→Leviticus 25:23  The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine.  For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

→Colossians 3:23-24  23Whatever you do,  work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.  24All earthly work is viewed as a form of service to God.

→2 Thessalonians 3:10  If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

→Hebrews 6:10  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

How can understanding God’s intentional design in creation influence our daily lives and decisions?

Billy Graham:  Christians should be the most concerned for the environment.  Christians certainly shouldn’t worship the Earth, but they should respect it. God made humans accountable for how they treat nature.