"The Love Of Christ" Who Can Claim Ownership?

              The love of Christ is a central element of Christian belief and its theology, but it cannot be considered exclusive to Christianity.   The love of Christ refers both to the love Jesus has for all people regardless of race, color or religion, and the love Christians hold in their hearts for the Universal Christ.  It only exist because from the very beginning Christ first loved us. Often when we hear about the love of Christ we think of how much we love Christ and we disappoint ourselves.  We begin to feel badly that our love for Christ is so inadequate.  We see others who appear to love Christ more than we and often we may feel inferior, jealous or even worse, unworthy.  The love that is going out from us, at least for many, is the only love we can feel, measure or share.    There truly is something missing here. With this way of thinking I mean because it is incomplete.  Love is a circle and what goes around comes around, or at least it should.    To make it complete we must be able to truly feel, see and measure the love that came to us because it was He who first loved us.  God in Christ sent out a love in cosmic proportion that is so radical because it has no strings attached.   Well folks, here is the kicker: if we have not accepted it or taken it in, how can we show that love back or mirror it for others to see.  I cannot show you something I personally do not know, understand or have.   In fact the only love many of us can share or mirror is a one way love or a love with a condition.  In fact if I cannot feel the depth of his unconditional love in my life how then can I mirror that love for others to see.   

The theme of love is the key element within the Gospel of John.  In his Gospel, John uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd to symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus based on his love.  In that gospel, love for Christ results in the following of his commandment, John 14:23:  "If a man loves me, he will keep my word" and in 1 John 4: 19 of the Epistles we hear:  "We love, because he first loved us", expressing the love of Christ as a mirroring of Christ's own love.  Towards the end of the Last Supper, Jesus gives his disciples this commandment: "Love one another, as I have loved you ... 

How can we do that if we do not know how much He Loves us? Jesus goes on to say "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples”. 

The most often missed point here is that the Disciples of Christ are not bound by any religious affiliation.   They were not white Western or North America Folk.   It was a reality when Jesus walked this earth, before Christianity, and for many it is still that way today.  Does that surprise you?   If that were the case then, why should it not be the same today?  We do not profess Christianity as Lord, we profess Christ as Lord of "ALL", or at least some do.  

The love of Christ is also expressed in the Letters of Paul.  The basic theme of Ephesians is that of God the Father initiating the work of salvation through Christ.  Jesus willingly sacrifices himself based on His love and obedience to His Father.  And you thought it was your sins that spurred this radical act of love and obedience.    You may have heard that it was His Love that kept him on the cross, not the nails in his hands and feet.  This insight may pose a problem for those of us who only see Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.  

Ephesians 3:17-19 tells that one of the necessities of knowing the love of Christ, is to  follow his teachings, again not bound by religious affiliation, because His teaching are universal and can be found in many religious sects around the world.   In order to know His Love for us we must seek Him, not a religion to understand and to contemplate on his knowledge.  Doctrine and Dogma might not be the way folks. 

Many prominent Christian figures have expounded on the love of Christ. Saint Augustine wrote that "the common love of truth unites people, the common love of Christ unites all Christians". Saint Benedict instructed his monks to "prefer nothing to the love of Christ".   Saint Thomas Aquinas stated that although both Christ and God the Father had the power to restrain those who killed Christ on Calvary, neither did, and it was due to the perfection of the love of Christ.  Aquinas also started that, given that "perfect love" casts out fear, Christ had no fear when he was crucified, for his love was all-perfect. Saint Teresa of Avila considered perfect love to be love that imitated the love of Christ.   So then we have a new day with the resurrection of the Christ in our midst.  May we begin to be more diligent in reflecting THE LOVE OF CHRIST within our lives and within the life of our gatherings.  Love is for everyone.              
                                "Jesus Teaching on Forgiveness"