My friend the love of Jesus has no rivals<\/u>, in that His heart \u00a0was literally poured out for others according to His precious lifeblood.<\/p>\n
John 15:13<\/p>\n
13\u00a0<\/strong>Greater love has no one than this,that someone lay down his life for his friends.<\/p>\n Furthermore, He doesn\u2019t stop there but goes on to say something that is radically unique <\/em>among other religious figures as in, Mt. 5:43-45.<\/p>\n 43\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44\u00a0<\/strong>But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45\u00a0<\/strong>that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.<\/p>\n This theme is played out in Gethsemane as one of his twelve disciples, whom he shared the intimacy of his life with, betrayed Him with a kiss as unto death, yet Jesus offers a salutation in calling him friend during the moment of His arrest.<\/p>\n If that were not enough, Peter denied Him while the other disciples deserted Him and fled, Mark 14:50, 71. Yet Christ still received them back as His own.<\/p>\n Therefore, these were not just vacuous sayings of Jesus, as He even uttered such words of forgiveness during the throes of death towards those who were His avowed and murderous enemies.<\/p>\n Luke 23:34<\/p>\n 34\u00a0<\/strong>Jesus said, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they don\u2019t know what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The reality of what Christ did for others is further demonstrated by the Apostle Paul, who previously had been a persecutor of the church, and of Christ, but who had received the wondrous love of God\u2019s forgiveness and grace as expressed by these compelling words of which he wrote.<\/p>\n Romans 5:6-10<\/p>\n 6\u00a0<\/strong>For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7\u00a0<\/strong>For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. 8\u00a0<\/strong>But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.<\/p>\n 9\u00a0<\/strong>Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God\u2019s wrath through him. 10\u00a0<\/strong>For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.<\/p>\n Lastly, this message of love is beautifully articulated according to the four spiritual laws<\/p>\n Four Laws<\/a><\/p>\n And magnificently captured and expressed in this glorious song<\/p>\n