12/1/07
What the
World Needs Now
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”
Not too many years ago, Dionne Warwick was all over the radio dial, singing her sweet song about love. It was an era of discontent, of personal searching, an era of questioning everything. It was a time of love, or what the world called love; open love; group love; romantic, shifting love. And it was this time of love which ushered in an astronomical rise in the occurrence of sexually-transmitted diseases. Unbridled love. The devil’s brand of love.
Love That Hurts
It has always been the devil’s plan
to infiltrate the things of God
and to distort them,
so that they can be used to ruin us.
Such has been the case with love. God created the universe in love and out of love. He made us so He could love us, and we could love Him in return. God filled all of heaven with love—enduring love. He filled this world with love when He created it. Adam and Eve walked around in an atmosphere of love. Pure unselfishness pervaded the heavenly courts and the Garden of Eden.
But Satan has struck right at the heart of God when he came up with his own hurtful version of love. The devil’s version of love degrades a person.
What the World Really Needs
What the world really and truly needs is God’s love: a love that HEALS.
Let’s look at the differences between God’s love and the devil’s counterfeit love:
Unconditional vs. Transient
The Lord’s love is an eternal principle. He loves us no matter how we look, smell, act; no matter how sinful we become, no matter how distant we are from Him, and no matter how much we hurt Him. God still loves us, even though it breaks His heart to see us drowning in sin.
The devil’s version of love is very flighty. When a person is actuated by Satan’s kind of love, he finds it very easy to love someone when they are doing something for us, but then drop them when they disappoint us. It’s a convenient, temporary love that the devil inspires.
Seeks the happiness of the loved one
vs.
Self-gratification
God’s love truly desires our good. He wants us to be happy. The Bible says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:2 The very nature of God is to give Himself entirely to us to save us. Certainly Jesus wasn’t thinking of Himself on that horrible cross! He was fixated on you and me, and the joy that we would experience as saved, ransomed souls!
But the devil is the author of selfishness and self-gratification. Please yourself. Seek to get your own needs met. This mindset is what pervades our world, and is why the world is full of violence, greed, and abuse.
Prizes internal purity
vs.
Premium on outward/sensual
Truly God looks at us on the inside. He cares about our thoughts, our motives, our characters. He knows very well that we are often diamonds in the rough, and at other times we are whited sepulchers. He prizes inward beauty of personhood.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is
Holy:
‘I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and
humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.'" Isaiah 57:15
"When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put
forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best
service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He
will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him, and yet are disloyal to
His Father’s commandment. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear
a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an
easygoing, accommodating, crossless religion. But Jesus says, "If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me."--The Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890.
Indeed, the Lord looks at our hearts, and takes everything into consideration. But the devil gets us focused on the external. We start seeing people’s words more than their actions. This is the realm of lust and the sensual. An entire worldwide advertising industry is founded on the maxim that flesh sells; outward beauty attracts. It’s the very opposite of God’s kingdom of purity and worth of character. But we are so prone to be caught up in it.
Enhances value of love one
vs.
Devaluing and objectification
God’s love builds value in us. After all, we must be incredibly valuable if the Supreme Ruler of the Universe would give up His life just to salvage us. This act of Christ proves that we are extremely valuable to Him. And when we allow ourselves to be loved by God, it fills our lives with joy and purpose. We begin to see just how precious life really is.
But Satan has succeeded in devaluing men and women by turning them into objects that are to be lusted after and rated according to physical characteristics. This process destroys and demoralizes young people, who already feel insecure about themselves. People are not objects. They are beings, made in God’s image. Don’t ever allow yourself to be objectified and devalued by caving into the world’s sleazy, skimpy, eye-catching ways and fashions. Have courage to make a statement with your life that you belong to the King of the Universe, who loves you for who you are and values you.
“You are beautiful because I love
you”
vs.
It is God’s love which declares us beautiful. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1. God has lavished His love on us, and we are beautiful in His sight.
But the devil has turned this around. The world loves because of outward, superficial charm and beauty. Fellas fall for gals whom they consider to be physically attractive, and women go for men who are buff or who are charming or rich. There is very little examination of what the person is actually made of; very little weight put on matters of character and conviction. It’s outward.
God is love. An eternal reality
“Love” is not merely how God feels about us. It’s who He IS.
God’s ways are love.
God’s commands are love.
God’s wishes are love.
God’s delight is love.
The Conflict of the Ages Series is, in my opinion, the most profound and in-depth cohesive study of the plan of salvation. In this five-book series, we are given an opportunity to look beyond the surface level of life to the larger issues going on in this cosmic battle between good and evil. Just by way of example, I want to share the opening and closing statements in this series. Notice the recurring theme:
"God is love." 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," whose "ways are everlasting," changeth not. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.
"Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings."
Patriarchs and Prophets, 33
“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.”
Great Controversy, 678
The issue before the universe is love. The side of truth declares that God is love, and His ways are best. The side of falsehood claims that there is a better way to love than God’s way, and more in it for yourself. In our brief lifetimes this issue will be forever settled, my friend, for the end is very near.
God’s love in a broken, sinful world
In a world torn apart by sin, God’s love takes on the role of mending and healing broken hearts and broken lives. What we sometimes consider to be binding laws and rules are actually part of God’s healing, rescuing work in our lives.
The World’s Greatest Want
And so, being that we live in a world where God is busy loving and healing people and the devil is busy degrading and ruining people, what would you suppose is our greatest need right now?
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men,--men who
will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest;
men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as
true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though
the heavens fall.” Education, 57
Our you willing to
be that kind of man, that kind of woman, who will be true to God and fearless
for His ways, though the heavens fall?
We will now look briefly at individuals in the Bible, some of whom loved
as God loves, and some of whom loved in Satan’s manner. For you see, the issues surrounding love play
themselves out in our experience in this world.
So let’s take a look at love in the three areas of parenting,
friendship, and marriage.
Parenting: Abraham vs. Eli
Abraham is called the father of the faithful. He was a man who was able to trust God even when he couldn’t see what was in front of him, and even when he had no proof that God’s promise was being fulfilled.
Though he made some mistakes along the way, he ended up
being a very good father. God asked
Abraham something very interesting, to test his trust and his obedience: “Take now your son, your only son
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
Abraham knew that God was serious. He also knew that probably God had a plan through all of this; that God was love, and that this would turn out to be a blessing, if he would just obey. And since he had already failed several tests that God gave him along the way, he decided to obey and to trust this time.
When young Isaac asked the question, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Genesis 22:7, Abraham, full of faith, responded, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:8
Thus Abraham was modeling faith and trust for his son Isaac. And when Abraham actually laid Isaac on that altar and raised that knife to slay him, he was modeling obedience, for that is exactly what God commanded him to do.
When parents parent with God’s love, they model faith and obedience to their children. This is the only way that children can learn what is true and what is right. When we show our children how to make decisions that please God, we are molding the characters of our children. We are teaching them by our actions that it is important to obey God no matter what, and that His ways are the way of peace and happiness.
And because Abraham followed through with God’s commands, Isaac was also able to witness God’s miraculous providing of a lamb, to be sacrificed in his place on the altar. This lamb represented Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Do you think Isaac ever forgot his trip to Moriah?
But then we see Eli, who was a priest before God. He should have known about God’s version of love. He studied God’s Word. But instead what we find is a pattern of Eli giving in to his sons and placating them. And instead of teaching them how to obey God, he simply let them progress at their own pace and in their own way. He thought this was love.
“There are two ways to deal with children,--ways that differ widely in principle and in results. Faithfulness and love, united with wisdom and firmness, in accordance with the teachings of God’s word, will bring happiness in this life and in the next. Neglect of duty, injudicious indulgence, failure to restrain or correct the follies of youth, will result in unhappiness and final ruin to the children, and disappointment and anguish to the parents.” Review and Herald, August 30, 1881
“The history of Eli is a terrible example of the results of parental unfaithfulness. Through his neglect of duty, his sons became a snare to their fellow-men and an offense to God, forfeiting not only the present but the future life. Their evil example destroyed hundreds, and the influence of these hundreds corrupted the morals of thousands. This case should be a warning to all parents. While some err upon the side of undue severity. Eli went to the opposite extreme. He indulged his sons to their ruin. Their faults were overlooked in their childhood, and excused in their days of youth. The commands of the parents were disregarded, and the father did not enforce obedience. The children saw that they could hold the lines of control, and they improved the opportunity. As the sons advanced in years, they lost all respect for their faint-hearted father. They went on in sin without restraint. He remonstrated with them, but his words fell unheeded. Gross sins and revolting crimes were daily committed by them, until the Lord himself visited with judgment the transgressors of his law.” Review and Herald, August 30, 1881
Hophni and Phinehas were not trained to fear God and to obey Him. As priests they would steal the offerings of the people, threaten violence, and engage in sexual misconduct. In one day they lost their lives, thinking that the ark of God, which contained the Ten Commandments, would protect them. They were not obedient to the law contained in the ark, so the ark was of no use to them.
“So the Philistines fought, and
Friendship: Daniel vs. Prodigal’s comrades
Daniel is an example of a very good friend. He was an excellent influence on his comrades. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8
Daniel is one of those men that Mrs. White describes in her Education statement: men that can’t be bought or sold, who are true and honest. This is what the world needs.
Daniel influenced his friends to remain true to God’s
healthy diet that He had given them in Creation week: vegetables, fruits, nuts,
grains. These young people were smarter,
wiser, stronger, and healthier than all the other young men deported to
Because of Daniel’s love for his friends, he encouraged them to worship God alone, even in the midst of a corrupt empire and evil surroundings. And Daniel reminded them about the Bible stories that they had been taught from childhood. When Daniel was promoted to second-in-command of the kingdom, his friends remembered what Daniel had modeled for them. They refused to bow down to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. Such is the power of godly friendship. Such is the strength of true love.
But the Prodigal Son’s friends, on the other hand, exerted a very different influence on him. At a time when he needed to have a godly influence in his life, these friends helped to pave the way to this young man’s ruin. “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.” Luke 15:13
The reason this young man wasted his possessions was because his friends helped him waste his possessions. These “friends” did not care at all about his well-being or his future. They led him to believe that happiness is found in spending and in partying and in drinking and in lustful, sinful living. That was their version of love. And the young man bought it.
When his money ran out, they split the scene.
There are more important considerations than the here and now, and our thrills that only last a short while. God’s love helps us to postpone our gratification for the sake of character development. God’s love guides us into a future that is full of meaning and purpose, with real joy.
My friend, be a good friend to your friends. Love them with God’s love. And pick your friends very wisely, because they will drag you down if you let them.
Marriage: Hosea vs. Adam
Now, you might remember Hosea. He was the guy that God told to marry
basically a woman who would prove to be a prostitute. It was an object lesson for His people
When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to
Hosea:
“ Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD.”
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Hosea 1:2-3
It was one of strangest commands in the entire Bible—almost as strange as the one He gave to Abraham concerning Isaac. God wanted Hosea to be a superlative husband, faithful and patient, forgiving and constant. For this is what He was to His people. His intention, His desire, was to heal His people, for that is what God’s love is about:
“I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely." Hosea 14:4
And so as Gomer goes off on her escapades and is continually unfaithful to her husband, Hosea goes and rescues her from her situation, and brings her back home. He didn’t support her in her sin. He always tried to teach her that God has a better way. It can’t be easy being an object-lesson to the world! This poor guy suffers much in the process. But he is acting the role of God in our lives. God loves us even when we are wandering far away from Him. God seeks us out, and brings us back home to be with Him.
What an example Hosea was to his sin-sick wife. What a holy influence in her life. In Gomer’s ever-changing sinful lifestyle, Hosea remained a stable and true force for good. What a husband.
But Adam, the father of our race, wasn’t a very good husband when he first started out. He allowed his wife Eve to wander from his side, and when she got in trouble and fell into sin, Adam, even in a state of perfection, made the decision to love the devil’s way.
He could not bear to give up his beloved Eve, even if it meant disobeying God.
“Adam understood that his companion had transgressed the command of God, disregarded the only prohibition laid upon them as a test of their fidelity and love. There was a terrible struggle in his mind. He mourned that he had permitted Eve to wander from his side. But now the deed was done; he must be separated from her whose society had been his joy. How could he have it thus? Adam had enjoyed the companionship of God and of holy angels. He had looked upon the glory of the Creator. He understood the high destiny opened to the human race should they remain faithful to God. Yet all these blessings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which in his eyes outvalued every other. Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator--all were overborne by love to Eve.”
Patriarchs and Prophets, 56
God could have given Adam another wife. But Adam’s love for his wife was stronger than his love for his God. This was a fatal mistake. Adam’s decision to put his spouse above God in his life plunged the entire human race into sin and misery and woe. Adam’s decision to love in the wrong way opened the door for Satan to rule in the hearts of men and women, and to champion his distorted version of love throughout time. The whole concept that we can’t live without so-and-so is hogwash! It started with the devil in the Garden of Eden.
Adam ended up supporting his wife in her sin. He was the first enabler. And men and women have been enabling one another in their sins for over six thousand years now. It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.
God’s way of loving is best, my friend. It’s always best. The world needs us to love the way God loves. Our own families need us to love the way God loves. May the Lord help us to love with His love.