THE LOVE OF GOD, THE LOVE OF JESUS AND THE GLORY OF GOD
What has impressed me is the love of God which has been commended to us, and the assurance of the love of Jesus. No doubt our sister rejoiced in this verse as having known it, that “God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us”. What a momentous matter that is. No one else has done it, no one else could do it, to meet the need and to secure the persons. How thankful we are, every one of us who knows the love of God for sinners like ourselves. And no doubt even into old age, our sister was able to speak like this of the Saviour. We should be at liberty to speak as Paul did; he could say elsewhere “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”, Gal.2:20. How that rang true. He could also say “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first”, 1 Tim.1:15. How that would ring true in the ears of those who heard Paul. The love of God – He commends it to us, it is known by those who have put their faith in Christ, and it grows on you. In the epistle to the Romans the gospel is set out for us in order, and you come to this – the love of God.
Now, as to the love of Jesus in John 11, there were three persons there, one of whom, Lazarus, was seriously sick and who went on to die, and two who were very closely related to him. We think of those who are closely related to our sister, the one who is now with Christ. It is as if the Holy Spirit would say through the opening verses of John 11, I want to assure you that whatever I am going to unfold in the rest of this passage, whatever is going to transpire, the love of Jesus is involved in it. “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”. What did transpire of course was that, as the Lord Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it”.
I think that what our brother has said already indicates that the glory of God is involved in the death of a saint, with resurrection in view, and that “the Son of God may be glorified by it”. The Son of God was glorified by what He went on to do, in calling forth Lazarus out of the grave. It was another one of those experiences which made His disciples increasingly believe on Him. We know that soon there will be
‘Myriads, myriads, raised and living,’ (Hymn 380).
They will all answer to the call of the Son of God. How great He is!
It may test us in the meantime. The sisters of Lazarus had hoped, as at times we hope, that their brother would recover, that the Lord Jesus and the Father would come in and bring in recovery. That is so in some cases, but the Spirit of God would say to us that we are to be assured in any case and whatever transpires, that through divine love and the love of Jesus, these greater matters will be arrived at – the glory of God, and the Son of God being glorified.
May we be encouraged and strengthened for the Lord’s name’s sake.
Word at a burial at East Finchley
15 March 2018
G.C. Bywater