The Power Of Love

THE POWER OF LOVE (1 JOHN 3)

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In Chicago a few years ago a little boy attended a Sunday school. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Sunday school, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way.

A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of churches just as good nearer his home. “They may be as good for others, but not for me,” was his reply.

“Why not (good for you)?” she asked. “Because they love a fellow over there,” he replied.

Love is not without obstacles, opposition and objections, especially in uncertain political, emotional and relational times (like in Hong Kong). Chapter three reveals the ongoing and open battle between God and the devil, the struggle between the children of God and the children of the devil, and subsequently the two greatest forces in the world - love and hate.

Why are love and hate the two greatest forces in the word? What will win out and with what weapons?

You are A New Man

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

How does a foreigner become a Hong Kong resident? By working in Hong Kong as a professional, investing in business, or studying full-time in a local degree-awarding institution.

For me, I have to apply for a dependant visa as a dependant of a spouse who is Hong Kong permanent resident. The following conditions must be satisfied: reasonable proof of a genuine relationship between the applicant (“dependant”) and the spouse residing in Hong Kong (“sponsor”); clear of criminal records and raise no security or criminal concerns for the HKSAR; the sponsor (spouse) can substantially support the dependant. However, the spouse from overseas is not prohibited from taking up employment in the HKSAR.

I often joke with my wife, “You got to support me,” to which she said, “You wish!”

The processing of the Dependant Visa Application take around six weeks.

The visas will normally follow the 3-3 years pattern. You can apply for a renewal of your Dependant Visa by filing the renewal application at least four weeks before the two year visa expires.

There was a complication after five years because my wife’s cancer had spread and she need a wheelchair to get around. The last thing she wanted me to have a permanent resident card. I got mine nine months before her loss. The best thing was she did not have to go to the immigration office, because she was weak by then, so I did the application online with Bon’s help.

First, true love is from God, in God and to God. We love not because of what you can do in your own strength for others, but what’s been done for you, to you and in you. You are loved. Your new identity is “children of God.” The adjective “what manner” is a combination of “how long” or “when,” plus “where,” as expressed when the disciples marveled, saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matt 8:27) and when the disciples said of the temple,

“See what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” (Mark 13:1), or when Mary what troubled at what manner of salutation the angel said to her (Luke 1:29), even when the Pharisees questioned how Jesus did not know

“what manner” of woman was touching him (Luke 7:39). Like the song, How Can It Be? This love is inexpressible, inexplicable and inexhaustible.

God’s love for us is the greatest love of all, and the purpose (hina subjunctive) of His great love is for us to share, that we should be “called” the sons of God, not merely His creation but His children, not slaves but sons, not merely human but heir, and He as He our heavenly Father (Matt 6:14), the living Father (John 6:57), the everlasting Father (Isa 9:6). It is the greatest blessing and benefit.