The
number 16 in the Bible has a consistent meaning of love from Genesis to
Revelation. Before I touch on this divine design of the Bible relative
to the number 16 let me just express some incredible truths about this
subject.
I believe if people
read this whole article they probably will be more open to pursue the
essence of God which is His incomprehensible love for you. I know after I
finished this biblical study I was more convinced than ever to seek
after this high calling that we have in Jesus Christ.
According to the Bible
this is the one emotion that makes all the difference no matter what
happens in life. This is higher than anything spoken of in Scripture. I
will stand up and proclaim the love of God through His Son Jesus Christ
because this is the truth that stood up for me. What was the reason God
sent His only Son to die on the cross for the sins of mankind? The
motivation was love. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." John 3:16
Both love and hate are
powerful emotions but with hate you have to keep feeding it all of the
time. It is never satisfied. Love is content, honest and reaches out to
other people. Hate does not want anything to do with helping anybody.
A person can either
reach out to others for a selfish reason or for an altruistic reason. If
you don't know what altruistic means, in simple terms it is to do
something with no selfish motive. To do something for a greater reason
above ourselves for the benefit of somebody else or other people.
The world for the most
part teaches us to be selfish. In fact that is the way human nature is
programmed. Jesus Christ changes us from the inside so we will desire to
love God and other people. It does not come natural to us.
Jesus Christ shows us
that love is the only way and it will last for eternity. Let me give you
one example. In 1st Cor.13:13 the Bible says, "And now abideth
faith,hope,charity,these three: but the greatest of these is charity."
Why is love the greatest? We won't need faith or hope in eternity. Only
love will be present throughout the ages to come.
We could have very
eloquent gifts and actually be successful but without love nothing we
ever do will last. That makes me think. Whatever I do there had better
be the love of Jesus Christ working through me because according to the
Bible everything else will die.
Let me just say a
couple of other truths about this subject. God does not just have great
love for us. He has perfect love. Great love forgives. Perfect love does
not even see sin. Remember Jesus Christ died for our sins. I would
think this should motivate me to want to experience the love of God.
Another thing that I would like to point out is experiencing
and understanding the love of God is an ongoing revelation that will
last for all eternity. Many times with technical knowledge we will grasp
something and never lose what we learned. The Bible says, "That in the
ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His
Kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:7.
It should also be noted that Ephesians 3:17-18 says, (17)
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith: that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love. (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breath, and length, and depth,and height."
In science 4 dimensions (1) breath (2) length (3) depth (4)
height are incomprehensible. That is why Ephesians 3:19 goes on to say,
"And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fullness of God." On the one hand we can not
comprehend the love of God but on the other hand we recognize and
realize the love of God if we have it flowing through our spirit.
I was listening to a few problems that my friends have and
comparing them to my own circumstances. Little and big problems that
just surround our lives. Then I just thought about our trails and came
to the conclusion that God is transcendent over our dilemmas. When we
draw close to the love of God, no matter what we are going through Jesus
Christ becomes bigger and our problems become smaller. The reason for
this is because we serve a big God who is stronger and more powerful
than our situation but compassionate enough to allow us to experience
His love. It is at this point that our perspective changes and our focus
is more centered on Jesus Christ.
I will be the first to admit I'm so busy in my life that I
barely have the time to do anything, You can probably imagine I don't
always feel spiritual if you know what I mean. I understand this truth
that I must yield to the love of God because everything I just mentioned
is fleeting. The love of God lasts for all eternity. By the way, my
problems in life do not give me comfort; however, the incomprehensible
yet reassuring love of Jesus Christ does indeed give me true closure.
That is what we are all looking for because God designed us this way.
Even if we figure out our problems we may become worse. This
is why the love of Jesus Christ transcends our troubles so that we will
be able to get through our hardships. Christians need to fight for
their authority to abide in the love of God. When fear arises try and
resist this destructive emotion. It should be noted that if we do not
pursue and abide in the love of God we will immediately search for some
sort of substitute to replace the void that is now in our hearts. We
were made to be one with Jesus Christ in His love. A replacement will
not work. It is temporary at best.
Sixteen is the number in the Bible that stands for love.
Jehovah in the Bible is in 16 different forms under 16 different titles
in the Old testament. This is who we serve and all these Holy attributes
encompass the love of God. This is one piece of evidence that God
really does love us and in return He desires that we be the recipients
of His love. I don't have the time or space to go over all 16 of the
attributes of Jehovah which starts with our Creator (Genesis 2) and ends
with, "The Lord my God." Zechariah 14:5. I am here because God created
me and as one of His children I can say, "The Lord my God." He created
me. He is my God and He loves me.
When I was reading all of the verses on love the same
redundant theme rises to the surface over and over. "And to love Him
with all thy heart, and with all understanding, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more
than the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33.
This overwhelming theme
that God loves us so much and that He desires His children to love Him
back and love people reminds me of the cross. When Jesus Christ died for
humanity one board stood vertical and the other board went across
horizontal. I think you probably know what I am about to say. We need to
love God ( the vertical board ) and other people ( the horizontal board
) because the cross has a vertical and horizontal board. By loving God
and our brothers, sisters and people that don't even believe in Jesus
Christ we are exercising the balance that the cross represents.
Let me give you an example. When Christians finally get to
heaven we are going to love, adore and worship God but did you ever
really stop and think about the level of friendships through love that
we are going to be able to cultivate in Paradise. I believe we are going
to be able to go pretty deep into love with Jesus Christ, His created
creatures and regenerate of all time.
To get back to my original subject, I try to tell as many
people as possible and urge them to accept Jesus Christ as their
personal Savior and Lord. Some individuals are starting to listen
because of all the fear in the world. I tell them there is another side
to this whole story but people still tend to hang on to the world. Read
Revelation chapters 6 to 20. You may change your mind.
Jesus Christ is love and He desires to save people from all
this fear in many different ways but primarily through the rapture. The
greatest event in the history of all mankind is just about to take place
and we should not be quiet about this wonderful truth.
I think there is a point that should be noted. Many
Christians read 1st Corinthians chapter 13 which probably is the
greatest chapter in the entire Bible about love. The Bible at this point
starts to paint a picture that the biblical meaning of the number 16 is
associated with love. In this love chapter 16 things are said about
love. This fact seems to give more evidence that the number sixteen
symbolizes love in the Bible.
When the Apostle Paul's name was mentioned at the 16th time
in Scripture the Bible says, "It seemed good unto us, being assembled
with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barbaras
and Paul. That sounds like love to me."Acts 15:25.
The most intriguing truth about the subject of love for me
is when the Bible compares this emotion to fear. Being afraid is so part
of our nature.
I would even go as far in saying that if we don't have the
love of Jesus Christ then some degree of fear will reside inside of us.
First of all as Christians God did not even give us the
spirit of fear. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2nd Timothy 1:7. Notice out of
these three spirits that God gave us, love is in the center. Anything
we do, love has to be at the center of our lives flowing through our
spirit. According to Romans 8:15 we were adopted into the family of God
when we accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our personal Savior.
Once again this verse says, "For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear"...which tells me that God is trying to tell us
something.
There are many verses that I could go to but none is more
clear than 1st John 4:18."There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love." Jesus Christ is pure love. To me that is the most
compelling reason a person should come to know Jesus Christ. It was for
me but everyone is different.
In the end it sure seems like a person is either destined
for fear or love. What decision will you choose? The love of God through
Jesus Christ is bigger than us yet it works through our spirit. Fear is
also bigger than us yet it polarizes our spirit.
I don't want to be
destined for fear. The love of Jesus Christ sounds like a revelation
that I desire to experience for all eternity. If you are on the
sidelines looking in choose the love of God. Accept Jesus Christ as your
personal Savior and Lord! Don't choose fear because it is very real and
it will defeat you. Love will uplift our spirit. Let me repeat myself.
In essence we have to make a choice. Love is warm. Fear is cold.
If only somebody would
have told me this message that I am telling you when I was young. In
essence there are only two options in life anywhere we go. I would have
been spared so much hardship and pain. I did hear sermons on the love of
God but they were kind of hollow with no real substance. As a result I
ended up walking away half hearted and at best had a somewhat cognitive
knowledge on the whole subject.
I really suffered
because of this ignorance. When one heavy trial piled on another in my
life I did not know how to deal with them because I did not understand
this fundamental basic principle in the Bible.
Remember the perfect
love of Jesus Christ castheth out fear. If we are in fear because of our
torment, that sounds more like hell than Jesus Christ. God wants to
make us perfect in His love. We are not destined for fear or torment.
Pursue the perfect love of God through His Son Jesus Christ. God's soft
answer to our fear is His love.
Bob D.
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