Perhaps what Lucifer has taught us best about the notion of love is that self-love, or love of self, is not truly love at all. It degenerates. It may begin with innocent sounding questions but it ends in murder and death even to the point of killing the Creator at Calvary. To bottle up love and attempt to only reflect it inward on one’s self is to pervert the very concept of love and morph it into horrific other concepts like arrogance, pride, and greed on an insatiable level. Channeling all of one’s energy on pursuits thought to bring self-fulfillment has the opposite result, creating only the very briefest moments of satisfaction followed by endless years of longing for more. It is a never ending cycle that does not hesitate to kill to achieve its goals, but no matter what actions are taken, happiness cannot be found in the pursuit of self, only deeper levels of depravity and pain. Death becomes a welcome relief to an existence so steeped in misery that joy is simply no longer possible. This is where the seemingly innocuous evil Lucifer entertained has led him. And along the way he was not content to experience these things alone. For reasons that perhaps define evil and iniquity as a mystery, Lucifer, now Satan, sought to spread his notions, and his pain, as far as he was able. Misery loves company, is not just an idol platitude or maxim, it is a truism reflected in our lives every day.
Yet where evil seeks out another to inflict its pain upon, love too seeks out another to bring happiness and joy to. The contrast of a life spent in selfish pursuits and emptiness can be seen in the life spent in serving others and seeking only to bring others joy. This is the example the Savior set for us. Even steeped in the slavery of evil, with minds warped by generations of perversions and backed up by personal choices to deepen them still; the life of the Savior stands out as a clear example of what it truly means to “love”. And for reasons, that perhaps too define love as a mystery, our God left his home, came and served us His enemies, and died to take our punishment upon Him that we might be saved through His sacrifice. Christ too, was not satisfied to remain alone, or keep His enormous love bottled up within Him, instead He too sought to spread His love as far as He was able to anyone He could reach. Misery may not be a welcome guest, but love certainly is. The love of Christ became something tangible in the lives He touched, whether it came in the words of peace, redemption and hope; or whether it came in actions, or miracles. Love emanated from the Savior in ways that simply could not be contained. Love seeks an object to share with.
Perhaps this is why man came into existence. Perhaps when God looks at the love He has for His Son, they sought to multiply that experience by creating humanity. Perhaps we were the next extension of His family, His grandchildren so to speak, or perhaps His babies. Regardless it seems clear we were not created to live in isolation from our God. In Eden He walked in the evenings with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8). Indeed the entire plan of redemption is centered around the idea of bringing us “home” to heaven, to “be with Him forever and ever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). God obviously desires to be with us, to be near us, to be our God and we to be His people. The entire Bible is full of stories of the interactions between God and man, stories designed to teach us about who it is who brought us into existence, and what it means to love. Part of love, is to find an object with which love can be shared or experienced. Love cannot be found in isolation, it is not content there any more than is misery its counterpart.
When a parent is asked why they chose to have another child, it is rarely because they were unsatisfied with the first one they had. Most of the time, parents choose to have more children because the love they experience with the first one brings such joy to their own lives they wish to experience it again and in greater measure. As our children grow, and because we live in a world steeped in evil’s embrace, children sometimes make choices that hurt themselves and others. As parents we long to prevent them from making these choices. When they are young we are able to exert a measure of precaution, but the older our children become, the more able they are to make decisions that could deeply hurt themselves or others. When they do, we long to ease their pain, and help them to avoid a similar fate from similar decisions that might otherwise be repeated. As a species, we have been far from the perfection we were intended to be. Born or created by a perfect parent God, we have been disobedient children who seem bent on clinging to the knives we cut ourselves with. Our parent Father God tries so hard to remove the knife we cling to, heal our wounds, and show us how to live in a way that avoids the pain we inflict on ourselves and on others. But we too often refuse Him. Yet despite our refusals, He does not leave us in isolation. He reveals Himself to us in prayer, in His word, in the life of His Son, and in unseen miracles that go by unnoticed by human eyes. In short, despite our barrier of sin that cannot exist in His presence, He still looks to be with us.
When the burden of our disease is fully and finally lifted from us, when our surrender to His will is so complete that sin can touch us no more, we will be in complete harmony with love and we will be able to enter His presence without seeking our own destruction. This is the day so many believers have spent their lives looking forward to. It will be a great day to see His work in us completed, but it is no less a great day to see it begin here and now. As we surrender our ideas of self-determination, self-control, and personal strength to achieve salvation – we find our victories over evil in both act and desire given to us as His gift of salvation has long promised to do. As the evil cloud begins to break up, and the fog of our sins is removed from our eyes, we begin to see Him and His love more clearly. We are better able to discern His presence in places we never noticed before. For God can be seen in our world today. One need only look at acts of selflessness on behalf of others to see a reflection of the God of our Universe. The doctrine matters little, but the actions of selfless love are hallmarks of our God. It matters little to the hungry whether they are fed by Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, or Adventists, only that they are finally able to eat. The hungry do not care which day we worship on, how we pay our tithe, whether we sing in church with drums and electric guitars or not; they care about whether we brought enough food for all those in need to eat a full meal. A God of love stands behind the actions of those who take the time to prepare the food, take it to a shelter, and perform the act of mercy in sharing what they have with those who have less. A God of love is seen by those whose stomachs do not know the regularity of meals when they are fed by loving hands used in action. Love is not found in isolation, it is found in companionship.
It sometimes seems that every societal trend works against the will of heaven and that of love itself. Whether it be the praise of a capitalist system that prizes self-determination based on the power of one’s own will; or the advancement of technology that allows us to sit in isolation in our homes only interacting with others through electronic mechanisms that keep others at a “safe” distance from us; every popular trend in our world seems determined to take us farther from our ability to personally share with someone else. To meet income requirements in our homes, no longer can only one spouse work, it requires both – leaving children to be raised in daycare, school systems, and by “the community” at large. To meet the demands of long working hours on little income, adults often decide to sleep in on days of worship, choosing to “attend” church online if at all, opting for the convenience of home access rather than the effort of going to the local sanctuary. Charitable individuals are far more likely to make a donation in funds, rather than a commitment in personal time to achieve any goal for the benefit of others. And in so doing, we deny ourselves the beauty and the blessing of companionship.
It is our deep and personal loss, when we lose precious time that cannot be replaced, in self-chosen isolation rather than in companionship with others. Whether it be time with our spouse, our kids, our church, or with those in need – every moment we are able to spend in companionship is better than a moment spent alone. Yet societal trends would keep us from this knowledge or belief. Christ was always serving those with whom He came into contact. His humanity, I’m sure, made Him feel tired and worn down just like we get. But He renewed His strength every day at the divine fountain of His Father, as we too are able to do. God does not ask us to solve the problems of world in our own strength, or because He is unable or unwilling to do so Himself. Instead He invites us to participate in the work of serving others and in so doing learn what a sense of fulfillment can be found only in love that is reflected in action. It is our blessing to join God in this work, not His. It was for our benefit He extended this invitation, not His. As we join with Him in serving, we find love, we find joy in companionship, we begin to understand the reason behind creation and the genesis of our species. But this revelation cannot be found at home, alone, untouched by others. It can only be found as we serve. Whether it be our spouse, our kids, our church, or our community at large it is the interaction of service for someone else that is the beginning of our revelation into the love of God Himself.
In prison, one of the greatest punishments that can be inflicted is time in isolation. Think of it, better to enjoy the company of other criminals, some of which may wish to do you harm, than to be alone “in the box”. Long periods of isolation have resulted in insanity and in extreme cases suicide. As is the image of our God, we were not created to be completely alone. We may not all be social butterflies, but even the most devout introvert still craves the love of another, and must in order to achieve this, show love to another. While our society may benefit from the advancement of technology, we must not let it lure us into less and less actual human contact for the sake of expediency or ease. Rather we must exploit our tools and use them to free up our time in order that time spent together is more and more rewarding not less and less. While a good work ethic is to be praised, let us not allow our government’s ideas of free enterprise cloud our vision that we are all interdependent and within the church we are all indispensable. It is not our strength that brings us our spiritual victories, but our recognition that He alone is able to do this for us. It is in our submission to Christ that we find real change, not in the politicians that run for office, or in the new policies we find at work. Genuine transformation of character is found alone at the foot of the cross by the one who is willing to humble himself before His God and accept that which was intended to be given not earned.
In proximity with our God, is found peace. The closer we get to God, the more peace that seems to flood our souls, our minds, and our beings. We lose the agitation, and aggravations that plague us the closer we get to God. In our companionship with God our own weaknesses seem to no longer apply. Our strength is renewed by simply entering His presence. Our worries and cares seem to melt away as we approach the Throne of Grace, on which He sits. What is impossible for us, is child’s play for Him. What is insurmountable for us, is done with ease on our behalf by He who is our Father God. Surely the benefits to us found in companionship with God are too many to list. But perhaps this is also the secret to the reason for our Genesis. Perhaps it is God too, who finds fulfillment in spending His time with us. Perhaps He too, so much more than we, looks forward to the time when our separation is ended, and our proximity can be as close as He wishes. Perhaps the idea of a loving child curling up in the lap of a loving parent is not beyond the hopes of an omnipotent God, as He looks longingly at us. The child finds comfort in the lap of his parent as he peacefully drifts off to sleep. But the parent too finds joy in the expression of such trusting love. Perhaps this is the joy of companionship we bring to our God on a scale defined by the numbers of each of us. Perhaps only God could truly understand what this is like as He is our creator. Regardless, it seems clear, we were and we remain destined to be together with Him. What remains now is only our choice to that effect …
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