This is the definition of authentic that was given in today's message by Pastor Shante' with a few added words that I looked up on my own. My notes on this posting are from today's Crosswalk Worship service as we start a new series called "Authentic People".
We live in a world of appearances, knock-off's, and copy-cats. Our inner most being craves what is real, what is authentic.
We throw the word "Love" around so often: we love that TV show, or we love our new dress. We love our "stuff"..... Pastor Shante' read a passage of scripture that sums up the true meaning of Love. It says "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." (John 3:16-17 The Message) THIS is authentic love.
The Love of God can never be exhausted! God will never say "I'm done with you!" Many of us do the proverbial "washing our hands" of people that hurt us or disappoint us on a regular basis. But God, no matter WHAT we do, have done, or are going to do, no matter how bad it may be, will ever turn His back on us.
"Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance." (John 20:1 NLT) Pastor Shante' broke this verse down as this: Jesus could have left that tomb with out rolling away the stone- remember who He is! No rock, no stone, or any kind of barrier could have kept Him from getting out! So, maybe the rolling away of the stone was an example of what Jesus could do for US. The stone was very large and heavy, and it was mentioned that it would take more than one person to move the stone, let alone be able to move it by one's self.
Let's look at the stone as obstacles in our lives: Things that are keeping us from giving ourselves completely to God and to whatever He has for our lives. Our stone could be anger or stubbornness. Our stone could be an addiction. Stones are many different things that we allow to keep us from God's authentic love. Just as the stone that covered the tomb of Jesus was heavy and could not be moved by one person, so are our stones- we cannot remove them alone by our power, but God can with HIS power and His Love!
Lastly, Jesus loves us too much to let us go back to who we once were. In the passage of John 21:15-19 there is a verbal exchange between Jesus and Peter. Peter had told some of the disciples that he was going fishing. The idea here was that Peter was going back to what he was doing before Jesus came into his life. That next morning, Jesus appeared to them on the beach. He was cooking fish for them for breakfast, and began to ask Peter if he loved him. Jesus asked this question 3 times to Peter. Each time Peter exclaimed "Yes Lord, you know that I love you".
In this passage, when Jesus said "do you love me" to Peter, the Greek word for love used here is Agape love which is the unconditional love that God has for us. The highest form of love there is. When Peter says "yes Lord, you know that I love you" the word love here in the Greek is Philia love which is the type of brotherly love that most Christians practice toward each other. John 13:34 says this "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Again, the word love here used by Jesus in the Greek is the verb Agapao. It is used here as a verb deriving from the noun we mentioned earlier as Agape. Using it as a verb here, to me, would mean that this love means to act or to demonstrate.
Active love- what a concept! Imagine what the world would be like if we all would give some of our time to actively show authentic love to a broken world as Jesus commands us in John 13:34. We are never the same when we experience the resurrected life of Jesus Christ and His Love for us. We will want to live a resurrected life and come out of our tomb to shine the light of God's love for the world to see. All we need to do is ask Him:
God, how can I give my love away......?
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