04/10/02
IGNITING A PASSION FOR GOD VII
WE ARE BECOMING WHAT WE LOVE
MATTHEW 22:35-37
BY PASTOR RUSS WITKOWSKI
“One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
A.W. Tozer said, “We are all in process of becoming. We have already moved from what we were to what we are and we are now moving toward what we shall be.”
I. UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF HUMAN CHARACTER:
A. Our character is not solid, but fluid –
1. David was man after God’s own heart, but committed adultery, and then arranged the murder of Bethsheba’s husband.
a. However, there is great comfort in knowing that we are not fixed in a state of sinful behavior and that we are ever being changed or remolded nearer to our heart’s desire.
b. It is not that we are becoming, but what we are becoming that is important.
c. It is not that we are moving, but toward what are we moving that is important.
2. It is not in human nature to move on a horizontal plane:
a. We are either ascending or descending.
b. When we travel from one place to the next in character, it must always be toward the worse or toward the better.
Revelation 22:11 - Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
This is the process of human character – It is either getting better, or it is getting worse.
II. WE ARE BECOMING WHAT WE LOVE:
A. We are to a large degree the sum of our loves:
1. We will of moral necessity grow into the image of what we love most:
a. This is why we must be careful with whom we spend time with and with whom we love.
b. Love, by its nature, is a creative affinity – it changes, molds, shapes and conforms.
1 Co 15:32-33 - "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." 33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
c. What we love is not a matter to be shrugged off!
d. It is of everlasting importance!
e. It is prophetic of our future – it tells us what we shall be and predicts our eternal destiny.
2 Co 6:14-16 - Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
f. This is why a man is said to have changed because of a woman he loves….. He is supremely in love, and he has lowered his defenses so that he is easily influenced by the woman he is love with. The same principle applies to the opposite picture!
III. IT IS ONLY AS WE LOVE RIGHT OBJECT THAT WE BECOME RIGHT: Mt. 22:37
A. Only as we go on to love the right objects that we experience a slow but continuous transmutation toward the objects of our affection.
1. To become like God is to be the supreme goal of all people.
a. The supreme work of Christ in redemption is not to save us from Hell – but to restore us to the place where can be like God again.
Romans 8:29 - For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son……..”
b. While prefect restoration is awaiting the day of the Lord’s return, the work of restoration is going on now.
c. There is a slow but steady transmutation deep in the human nature from base metal to pure gold in Christ.
d. This steady and slow transmutation is based on faithfulness!
IV. THE ANATOMY OF TURNING AWAY FROM GOD:
A. Having been made in the image of God, many good people have become corrupt after loving the world and the systems of worldliness:
1. Think of the long list:
a. Think of the power that turned a young innocent boy into a Nero, or Hitler!
b. And was Jezebel always the cursed woman who head and hands the dogs refused to eat?
Summary: The law of moral affinity took over and each of these people were like clay in the hands of the potter turned to be hateful, unforgiving and unyielding.
A. Even some believers can be turned away from their first love!
1. If once we have been saved we then do not continue to be faithful to love Him supremely we lend ourselves to redirect our love to some lesser thing:
2. The Bible is filled with examples of those who loved God, but ended up turning away from loving Him and to the things of this earth!
CONCLUSION:
The love we have for God is not the love which is originated in mere feelings. It is a love of willing.
Love is within our power of choice, otherwise we would not be commanded to love, nor be held accountable for not loving Him.
Love for God is not the same as romantic love. We do not love God by some sudden emotional surge.
Love for God results from repentance, a change of lifestyle and a fixed determination to love Him supremely!
The emotions and feelings after Him follow our willingness to love Him in truth!
We are responsible to love, and true spirituality begins in the will. We should set our hearts to loving God – for in loving Him we shall become like Him! May the transmutation begin!
