Knowing the forgiveness and love of God does not end the pain caused by the things we do to each other. Jesus was born, lived, died, and was resurrected to bring the lost family of mankind back to God so we could have love, strength, and knowledge of forgiveness. Jesus was born, lived, died, and was resurrected as an example to mankind of how we should love God and treat our fellow humans. It is the commission of the Christian to pass on to others the news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Part of that commission is to live the kingdom of God now. Jesus said He went to prepare a place for us so we could be where He is (see John 14:3). That statement is not a future, after we die, or after He returns promise. The statement is how we should be living our lives now.
Knowing God as my Father, by way of the turning over of my life to Jesus, does not stop the pain of not having my physical father in my home as a child. That knowing also does not stop the pain of what I foolishly did to my own children by leaving their home when they were young children. The sins of my father were not passed to my children; I repeated the sins of my father and made my children relive my painful past. As I must forgive my father, I have need of being forgiven by my children and by God. I pray that my children will know God as their Father, but do not expect that knowing to take the place of the father that I was not. No relationship can or has taken the place of my losses. Neither the loss of my father nor the loss of not always being a true loving father to my children can be replaced by another relationship.
It is written that before the coming of Christ a witness would come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, or destruction would come upon the earth. Destruction is upon the earth and it started by the destruction of the father in the home and the destruction of the family. Knowing God as our Father has less meaning in a home with no father. Not that God has less meaning, but the word father has a different meaning. The word father does not automatically result in happy, loving memories.
Jesus gave to us an example of living for others. Jesus came to give us the freedom to truly openly love without the pretense of perfection. Perfection is not a requirement in a forgiving world. If we were perfect there would be no need for forgiveness. We are not perfect; we are only blind to our own imperfections, or overly sensitive to them. We have blinded ourselves with the sins of others or our own. Obedience to death is the requirement of a world without forgiveness. It is difficult to live for others while holding on to their sins or your sins against them.
You cannot have doctrines that govern love or forgiveness. You cannot follow rules to grace. Love, forgiveness, and grace are given and not earned. The earth did not earn the love of God nor did we earn the life of Jesus and we cannot follow rules to God’s love or to the grace given by the life of Jesus. What we can do is love one another. Not talking about loving only people that may in some way think the way we do. Love one another does not rely on likeminded premises. Love one another also does not mean that we have physical relations with everyone or any one. We are to love other believers so others will know we are of Christ Jesus. We are to love everyone else because we are of Christ Jesus.
The true commission of a Christian is to spread the good news of the life of Jesus and what that means. It is not the commission of a Christian to write doctrine or create law. It is not the commission of a Christian to build large meeting halls and collect God taxes. We are to be doers and not just hearers of the Word. We are to be doers and not just braggers of the Word. To praise God is to speak and/or sing about the qualities of God. To worship is to live our lives as if we believe the praise we give God.
To live the praise we must dwell within the name of Christ Jesus. We accept the life Jesus gave to us and give ours to Him in return. Giving Jesus a life does not mean saying “Here is my life take it.” Giving Jesus our life means that we give Him our works to take to the grave and take His resurrected life and the works He created for us. Just as no one took the life of Jesus because He gave it for us, Jesus will not take our life – we have to give it to Him. We give it to Him by accepting His life. When we go (repent, turn back) to God we go as Jesus. The Father sees us as Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Child. Everything created was created in Him and is in Him, the only begotten.
Jesus is living in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not something humans have to wait for. The kingdom of God existed before the creation of mankind. The fall of mankind out of grace in our own eyes, the lack of mankind to be able to understand the grace of God, did not end the kingdom of God. The lack of mankind to be able to understand the grace of God only ended mankind’s understanding of living within the kingdom of God.
The kingdoms of mankind are contained within the confines of Gods kingdom; mankind is lost to its existence around them. Without the understanding of God’s grace, mankind needs laws to govern them. Within the understanding of God’s grace, God governs mankind. Knowing these things does not change the fact that our relationship with other humans causes us stress and pain, and we to others also. That is why our treatment of others is so important to our dwelling within the kingdom of God.
Our dwelling in the kingdom is directly related to how we relate to the least of God’s children. Jesus compared our relationships with each other as being how we treat Him. Because it is done or not done to the least of these, His brethren, it is also done or not done to Jesus. Love God by loving each other, accept the life of Jesus and love one another so others will know you have. Love all others because Jesus has done these things for us all.