LOVE IS OUR NATURE with Pastor Sam Adeyemi

   1 John 4:7-8

When we love we are practically living the God life, the covenant life. Jesus said the greatest commandment is, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself.’ The basic requirement and fulfilment of the covenant is for us to love God and our fellow men. Love is not only an act, it is a nature. We can love as a result of nurture but when we are under pressure your real nature comes out. Nurture depends on your environment, culture, and up-bringing but true love comes from God’s nature. Love means, ‘profound affection for another which propels one to demonstrate ones’ perception of the others value.’ The Bible says in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave the only begotten son.’ This shows that love is not just a feeling but a feeling that compels. The God kind of Love is beyond the capacity of human nature. The Bible in Romans 5:5 says, ‘hope does not make ashamed because the Love of God is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.’ Being able to love the way God does can never be a product of human ability. We can be good, but our goodness will always be limited outside of God’s ability. In Galatians 5:22-23 the Bible states that the fruit of the spirit is Love, every other attribute listed in Galatians 5:22 is a product of love. We must acknowledge that it takes the Holy Spirit for a human being to love to the extent that he is able to sacrifice his life. In John 8:37-44, the Bible shows that the desire to murder, lie and strive comes from the nature of the devil. Whenever Jesus was talking about His nature and why human beings are not acting in obedience to His word, He (Christ) always made it plain that the problem was the foundation and that foundation is our nature. When Nicodemus asked Jesus how he can experience the Kingdom of God, Jesus replied in John 3:2, that man can only enter the kingdom of God if he is born-again. Jesus used the word ‘born’ because you derive your nature from who gives birth to you. In other words, Christ was saying, ‘Nicodemus if you want to be like me you have to derive your nature from me.’ Since our nature is determined by who gave birth to us, Christ was saying to Nicodemus, ‘be born-again by Me!’The incredible truth is that Love solves all problems.