“LOVE THAT LASTS A LIFETIME”

“¹ We, who are strong, have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ² Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’ ⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another (NLT : “accept each other”) as Christ has welcomed you (“accepted you”), for the glory of God. (Romans 15:1-7) [ESV]

In Genesis 2:18 it says, “Then the Lord said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.”  Up to this point, you find God saying these words, “... it was very good” as He looked upon each of His completed creations. Once he created Adam, He realized that of all the animals he had created male and female except for man and that’s when he said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” [ESV]

Whether we like it or not, the truth remains that we are made for relationships, and we need them to survive! This has become more and more evident to me as I see my father aging. My mother passed away ten years ago. When I visit with dad, I always ask him how he is doing and, without exception, he always tells me that he is lonely. Why? Because God created us to live in relationships.

I know that sometimes it’s hard to live in community with others. My father-in-law used to have a saying, “The more people I meet, the better I like my dog!”  While this may be true with many people, the truth is we still need each other.

In these verses from the book of Romans, Paul addresses the essence of what it means to live in relationships with others, especially in marriage.  As we take a closer look into the context of this writing, we see Christians criticizing each other over petty Old Testament practices that they were still embracing. So, Paul comes to them with a rebuke and tells them to accept each other and to look to Jesus’ example of self-giving love as our model to imitate.

In Romans 15:1, Paul says, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.” [ESV] In the New Living Translation [NLT] it says, “We who are strong must be considerate.” The word “must” means more than just “we should.” It actually means we have a debt. The “strong” refers to those who feel free to engage in certain arguable matters, having a debt to carry the weaknesses of those who don’t share our opinions.

Following Christ’s example, the “strong” are not to please themselves, but are to please his neighbor for his good and for his edification. When Paul says in v. 7, “accept each other”, these words mean we are to “keep on accepting or receiving one another.” Just as Jesus receives us, even though we keep sinning and are not perfect, we need to also receive others. Why? To glorify God!

Just like Sierra Vista Community Church, ALL of the New Testament churches were imperfect, made up of imperfect people and lead by imperfect leaders! Does that surprise you? But, in spite of their imperfection, they regularly gathered because of their need for their perfect Savior and Lord and for “one another”.  So even though at times we may “rub each other wrong”, offend each other and even hurt each other... scripture tells us don’t withdraw! Work things out!  This is hard to resist and even harder to practice in a culture like ours when we see relationships as disposable! Just take a look at the national divorce rate. Please, make a commitment today to stick with your marriage, your family, your friendships and with your church. Be there for “one another” as the Lord is there for us!

Think About It:

• How does it make you feel to know that you “have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak”? (v. 1)
• What does “please your neighbor for his good, to build him up” look like for you? (v. 2)
• Read v. 5.  How does “live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Jesus Christ” personally apply to you?
• What does vv. 1-7 have to do with those who are married?
• If these principles were also applied to our marriages, what kind of difference would it make?
• How does “welcome (accept) one another as Christ has welcomed (accepted) you” look like in our lives? (v. 7)
• If we were to live in true “community” (according to Romans 15:1-7), who would notice and who would get the glory?

“LEAVING AND CLEAVING”

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:24-25) [ESV]

The creation account here in Genesis 2:24-25 now focuses on the beginning of human history. Adam is given the responsibility to care for the earth under God’s sovereignty, but not alone. Without female companionship, he would not be able to realize fully his humanity.

Take a moment to read and study these comments from Illumina’s Comprehensive Commentary.

Genesis 2:23 Woman–in Hebrew, the feminine form of the word man (Hebrew ‘ish) is the word for woman (Hebrew ‘ishshah). The creation of woman prompts the man to burst into a song of thanksgiving.

Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave . . .” Obviously the first couple did not leave their parents. This verse appears to be a lesson taught by the story itself. Therefore–or “for this reason,” (NIV) or “This is why” (NEB, JB) expresses the words of the writer, who observes from this divine model that marriage has been a God-ordained relationship from the beginning. Christ cited this verse (Matthew 19:3-9) as the basis for his teaching, which upholds monogamy and stands against divorce. Another important paradigm is discernible in 2:24 (Kidner): marriage (“leaving”) leads to “cleaving,” which culminates in the sexual union, being one flesh (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:16). To cleave to God in Deuteronomy 10:20 is descriptive of the ideal relationship between God and man. So, too, it characterizes the closeness between a husband and wife. (End of commentary)

God made Adam a wife.  First, He let Adam name all the animals. It looks like Eve was kind of an afterthought.  But she wasn’t an afterthought.  What Adam was doing was realizing “There is two of everything except me!”  He was realizing “Something is missing in my life!”

In (v. 21) it says, “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.”

(v. 23) “Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”” is one of the classic reactions in Scripture.  Can you imagine?  Adam is here in the Garden of Eden.  He’s never seen a woman before.  All of a sudden coming through the bushes he sees this gorgeous specimen of femininity. Can you imagine Adam saying, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh …” The exact Hebrew description of this word “This at last ...” is an exclamation and literally Adam, when he saw Eve for the very first time said, “Wow!”  Illumina’s Commentary says that Adam jubilantly celebrated and bursted into a song of thanksgiving. I wonder what the song was?

One of the key verses in the Bible is (v. 24) in regards to marriage. God’s blueprint for marriage - 29 words and the foundation for every good marriage is found in this.  God designed marriage.  It was His idea.  The key is found in, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife …”  (v. 24)

In this verse, God says in marriage in order to have a marriage that really works there are some things you have to leave and there are some things you have to cleave to. What would you say that they are?

Think About It

1.     If you could have a picture of just one scene in this story, what would it be?

2.     What does this story say to you about the nature of men and women?

3.     Look at (v. 20) What do you think God meant when He referred to Eve as a “suitable helper?”

4.     What do you think is the key message in this passage? Why?

5.     If married, what are you most grateful for in your marriage and what would you like to focus on for growth?

6.     If single, how does this story make you feel?

7.    On a scale of 1 (totally alone) to 10 (totally connected and supported), how do you feel now?

“LOVING MY WORLD”

“The Lord says to me: ‘It isn’t enough to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead the tribes of your nation (Israel) back to me. I have placed you here as a light for every nation; You must take my saving power to everyone on earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) [CEV]

Most of you reading this live in America, the land of plenty. In America most people can obtain or do anything they think will make them happy. So, why are so many Americans unhappy when we have so much and can do so much? Evidence says that it’s because we have paid a huge price and taken crazy risk for our own benefit, but generally are unwilling to take time to meet the needs of others or even think about     the interest of others.

The Bible clearly tells us that one of the main purposes of life is not about obtaining, but about loving. Look at (Luke 10:25-29) “‘Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?’ Jesus replied, ‘What does the Law of Moses say?’ The man answered, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ AND ‘Love your neighbor AS yourself!’  ‘That’s right!’ said Jesus. ‘Do this and you’ll live!’ But the man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, ‘So who is my neighbor?’ Jesus answered by telling a story…” The reality is, that to experience real joy and satisfaction we must give our lives away to something greater than ourselves.

(John 17:18) [Msg.] tells us, (Jesus) “In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.” Jesus emphasizes that our significance, value and esteem come from service and from loving others.

Before our Savior, the Servant and the Messiah was born, God had chosen Him to bring the light of the gospel (the message of salvation) to the world (see Acts 13:147). Christ offered salvation to all nations (greek – ethne/ethnos, “ethnics/all nations”), and his apostles began the missionary movement to take this gospel message to the ends of the earth, the nations.

(Isaiah 49:6) [CEV] “The Lord says to me: ‘It isn’t enough to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead the tribes of you nation (Israel) back to be. I have placed you here as a light for every nation; You must take my saving power to everyone on earth.” This verse tells us that our mission is to share our knowledge of God’s love and saving power with “everyone on earth.” This is a huge challenge!

Let’s put this in perspective:

• The Bible says Jesus isn’t coming back until people in every tribe are there.
• Right now there are about thirteen thousand people groups in the world identified, by ethnicity, by language, by culture.
• Fact: There are 3,800 small tribes (unreached people groups) that still do NOT have a Christian church!

Think About It!

1. Have you made friends with someone from a different culture, who is ethnically different and who speaks a different language than you? It no, why not?
2. If you have made friends with someone who is different than you, how has that enriched your life?
3. What have you learned from your friend?
4. Do you suffer with xenophobia (xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange)?
5. What can you do to reach the “nations” from where you live?