A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; His love endures forever.”

Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.

So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. On the eighth day, they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for His people Israel.

2 Chronicles 7:1-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What a sight it must have been and I would have liked to have been among the witnesses.

Solomon had just finished delivering a heartfelt prayer of dedication to the Lord, one where he praised God, acknowledged the need for confession and asked God to deliver forgiveness is response to repentance, petitioned God for help in meeting the needs of Israel, and encouraged his people to rejoice and give thanks unto God for His goodness. It seemed to be a perfect way to consummate the temple’s construction, committing it as God’s holy dwelling place.

But God wasn’t done displaying His power and His favor.

For as Chapter 7 of 2 Chronicles opens, we immediately bear witness to what had to be an amazing happening for all who were gathered, and there were many.

Scripture tells us that as soon as Solomon had finished his prayer, a rush of fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and sacrifices. It had to rival the fire God sent down to consume the offerings prepared by Elijah on Mount Carmel even though they had been soaked three times with water. When the fire came down and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and licked up the water in the trench

, the prophets of Baal fell prostrate and proclaimed, “The Lord—He is God! The Lord—He is God!” (1 Kings 18:16-39)

Indeed, God had once again made Himself present, acting in a way that could only bring one to awe. In fact, after the fire, we read that His glory filled the temple, so much so that the priests could not enter it. Again, it had to be simply amazing and the Israelites, in response to what they saw, responded by kneeling on the pavement with their faces to the ground, worshipping and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; His love endures forever.”

Friends, as we worship God today and every day, I pray we will ever respond in honor and humility as the Israelites did, rejoicing in all the good that God has done and remembering that His love endures forever. Every day should be a day of rejoicing and gladness, no matter what this world might bring upon us. For no matter our circumstances, God’s love will ever remain. It is a love like no other.

Jesus, our Savior, said this about a love that is like no other:

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13).

He then went on to say this:

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” (John 15:14-16a)

Christ chose to die for us and when we choose to follow and serve Him in obedience then we become His friends, the friends He laid down His life for and showed us first-hand the depth of love we should be willing to have for one another, a love like no other.

Live for Christ fully and you will mirror all He is to include loving the way He loved. Trust and believe in this.

Of course, we couldn’t talk about a love like no other without also talking about God the Father.

In our scriptures today, we found Him once again accepting the sacrifices of His people to atone for their sinfulness but He knew this couldn’t go on forever. There needed to be one final sacrifice that would atone for sins forever. It had to be a perfect sacrifice, for only a sacrifice unlike any other would fully define a love like no other.

And so God, who loved the world and all men and women He made to live upon it, decided to sacrifice His one and only Son Jesus, the perfect and unblemished Lamb of God who John so aptly predicted was coming to take away the sins of the world. Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross not only paid the sin penalty and justified those who placed their faith and trust in Him (made them just-as-if-they-had-never-sinned) but He also paved the way for them to spend eternal life with Him and God His Father through His resurrection over death and the grave.

In other words, we get to experience a love like no other, the love of God and Jesus, forever.

Friends, if this doesn’t bring us to rejoicing, I don’t know what will. Going back to our passage today, we find that the Israelites did just that after experiencing God’s power and glory.

Scripture tells us that after offering a multitude of additional sacrifices, the Israelites played music and praised the Lord continuing to proclaim that His love endures forever. They were thankful and grateful for a love that was like no other that they had ever experienced. It was true then and it’s still true today. And after they were finished worshipping and rejoicing over many days, they went home joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done.

That’s where I am right now after a wonderful day of worship at church, hearing and teaching the word of God, and then coming home to share with you what the Lord has placed on my heart. I am ready to go in joy and gladness of heart, thankful for all the good things that God has done to include giving me a love like no other through Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior.

I pray you’re feeling the same way.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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