Radio Broadcast Wednesday 08/31/2022

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ P75 (08-31-22)

Only in Christ Jesus do We Find the Perfect Love of God

~ And so once we come to grips with the truth of the gospel, not a perverted gospel, or a half gospel, but the fullness of the gospel, Christ died for us then so that razed from the dead he can live in us now. And when he came to live within his God is love and love came to live within us unconditional love for you, unconditional acceptance for you and for me. And when we when when that need is met, all other needs pale into insignificance. Because the greatest need that man has is to be loved and accepted unconditionally. We don’t recognize that, but that’s our greatest need.

Listen in to today’s lesson with more in-depth teaching, from the Bible study booklet, A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ, available for purchase from our online Bob George Ministries ecommerce store.

Just as a person’s physical growth is based on proper diet and exercise, so is the Christians’s spiritual growth dependent on regular feeding upon the word of God and application of its principles. With more false teaching, shifting opinions and general confusion in the world than ever before, Christians need a solid foundation upon which to base their beliefs and build their lives. The word of God declares that Jesus Christ is that foundation of truth. With that in mind, let’s now take A Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ.

Bob George 0:43
As our listeners know, who are keeping up with what we are in the process of teaching through why we’re in our book called a Closer Look at Your Identity in Christ. And we’re now into the the chapter that deals with the fact that you and I are totally loved. We last week, we got through the passage in Romans on page 83, of your study guide, Romans 8:35 to 39. And we’re taking a little bit of a of a detour right now. And I’m going to be going over God’s definition of love and dealing with that with what I consider to be the very opposite of agape love. And that is pride. And we have a sheet that we have developed on that called God’s definition of love. And again, it’s not in the book that you are studying through. But if you would like a copy of this, you can order that, it’s free of charge. But if you would just call our order line, they’d be more than happy to get that information to us. And we’ll be more than happy to get the sheet on God’s definition of love to you. So you can either call our order line or write to us either way, and we’ll get that back to you for a future reference, because it is a very important bit of information I think, for us to have in front of us at all times. I can say that in our counseling center that this sheet is probably used more in counseling than any other sheet that we have, because basically, especially in marriage difficulties, we’re going to learn something and that is in in chapter 13 of the Proverbs. In verse 10. It makes a statement pride only breeds quarrels. So if you’re having marital difficulty and quarreling within your marriage, the Bible says pride only is causing that it doesn’t say pride, sometimes, pride may be responsible for quarrels. It says pride only breeds quarrels. In other words, the only thing that breeds quarrels is pride. But wisdom is found in those who take advice. And so the pride for the prideful never obviously want to take advice, just give advice. And wisdom is found in those who will take advice. In other words, listen to another side of the story and to realize that we are not the center of the universe. And there is more than one viewpoint in the world. And it isn’t one of those things that there’s only two viewpoints, my viewpoint and wrong viewpoints there. So folks, we have to come to grips with that. And pride comes before the fall. And all of us have pride that is working in us through the indwelling sin that is working in us. In other words, I believe that that indwelling sin is that propensity that was entered into man at the fall, that that propensity of man to believe a lie and to believe that he himself is the source of truth, rather than God, which is exactly what happened at the fall in the Garden of Eden. Man said, I don’t need God to determine right from wrong and good from evil, I will determine it. I’ll determine that on my own. Now what was that? Well, it was the pride of man.

And so when pride entered into man, that propensity to believe that we alone are the source of truth, we alone are the center of the universe, we alone are the ones who should be served We alone should always get our own way. Because, in essence, even though we may not consciously think that, pride, in essence is saying, I really am God, you know, I’m not going to make that kind of a statement but in my own heart, I should be treated as God. And, and folks, that is the beginning of the end as it said pride comes before the fall of man. And so, as we tried to describe last week, the three definitions of love in the Bible, and really that’s kind of a misnomer, because there’s really only two Greek names for love that is used in the Bible. But in the Greek language, there were three names, at least a minimum of three that was used for love. And the one that is not used in the Bible is eros, which I think we all know what that means. And that is a sexual heiress type of a love. That was a Greek word for love, but not used in the Scripture. We talked about last week about the fact that the two Greek words that are used in the Scripture, Scripture is the word phileo. That’s where we would get our term Philadelphia philanthropic, it means a brotherly type of love. And it’s as good as the human being can do the the human nature that’s as good as we can conjure up. It is a friendship kind of a love, but it is a conditional kind of love as well. And even though that kind of love, there is a need of the soul and of the body for friendship kind of love, at which we can receive from one another. But it’ll never satisfy the need for the fulfillment of that agape love, which is God’s unconditional love and acceptance, that only can come from God.

And folks, that is the God shaped vacuum that’s in the heart of every man, that God shaped vacuum is bringing God back into the humanity of man, entering back into his creation, because God in the man is indispensable to the humanity of the man. But the benefit of bringing God back into the band is, is man now has been invaded by unconditional love and acceptance, if we truly understand how God pulled off, being able to enter back into man, and he pulled that off by first of all, through His unconditional love going to a cross and taking away our sins, and then being raised from the dead, so that we could come into a relationship with that living God by faith and faith alone, not based upon what we do, which is conditional, but based upon what he did, which is grace. And so once we come to grips with the truth of the gospel, not a perverted gospel, or a half gospel, but the fullness of the gospel, Christ died for us then so that razed from the dead he can live in us now. And when he came to live within his God is love and love came to live within us unconditional love for you, unconditional acceptance for you and for me. And when we when when that need is met, all other needs pale into insignificance. Because the greatest need that man has is to be loved and accepted unconditionally. We don’t recognize that, but that’s our greatest need. And so when that need is met, as I said, all other needs pale into insignificance. But that indwelling sin that still lives in us, speaking to our flesh is constantly trying to get our hearts off of the truth of that unconditional love, and trying to convince us that the love we’re looking for can be experienced by one another. And so there is the conflict that the world says that Satan through the world says come over here and get love. You can find love over here you can find acceptance here you can find acceptance here. And the Spirit is saying, No, Bob, the only acceptance the only kind of love that will ever meet your need is the unconditional love that comes from God. So when we do not, when we are not basking in his acceptance, we are going to have to start looking for acceptance someplace else because we were made by God to be accepted people. And when that need is not fulfilled, we’ll be looking for it. Incidentally, in all the wrong places.

As we were talking before the break, when you when you realize that we as a created being are created by God with specific needs, that in light of the mere fact of our creation, those needs do not go away, we can cover them up and pretend that we do not have them. We can live in denial of them. But that’s the best we can do because they do not go away. I can sit there and say I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry. And and get yourself to possibly believe that you’re not hungry. But the fact of the matter is you were made in such a way that when your stomach is empty, you’re hungry whether you want to admit it or not, is up to you but the fact of the matter is that your stomach is empty and you’re hungry. Now what is interesting is is we have the capability of sitting around and, and conning ourselves with with a certain kind of thinking, whether it be positive thinking or idiotic thinking and convince ourselves that you’re not hungry. But the fact of the matter is that you are, it’s kind of like you can do with, when you go in and have an operation, you can take an anaesthetic of some kind, that here, they’ve got your whole chest ripped open doing a heart transplant, transplant or heart work on you, your whole chest has been ripped open. But if somebody was speaking to us, I’m not hurting at all, how come? Well, something has told your brain or numbed your brain and that particular part of your body saying you’re not hurting. Well, that is ludicrous, you are hurting, you’re dying. And when the medication wears off, you become very much aware of that. But while you’re going on, isn’t it amazing what can take place there that you’re here you are with most with your whole insides ripped open, but you’re not aware of the fact that you’re hurting. So that’s how the brain can be affected. But the fact of the matter is, you are hurting. So when that void is there, my friends, we have to understand that God made man in such a way, whereby there was a human need to be unconditionally loved, and unconditionally accepted. Now that need was given to man by God, so that God could fulfill that need in man. All things were made for him, by Him and for Him. So God made us as an object of his love. And so therefore, he made us with a need for that love, so that it could be fulfilled.

And so the whole process becomes very logical when you think of it from God’s vantage point. Now, as I said, when that need is totally incapable of being fulfilled, on an earthly realm, because that is a spiritual need that can only be met in Christ Jesus, well, you have the lost person with that need, that is just as great as the need in a saved person, but he doesn’t know where to find the fulfillment to that need. And so in as much as he either has not heard about Christ, or has heard and ignored it, or intentionally denied it, or I would say in in my particular case, and I don’t know about what your situation was, Bob, but in my particular case, I just did not ever stop to think long enough that God loved me. I heard he loved the world, but I didn’t know that included in me and, and I didn’t, I did not realize that I had that need for unconditional love, because I was still trying to find it in other places. Sure. And so and that’s so easy to get conned, because you’ll try it here. And that doesn’t work. But then always there’s another dangling out there saying, Well, this will work and, and then you’ll you’ll be accepted by being successful in business. So you work on that and you’ll be accepted if you look good. So you work on that. And what takes place folks is is when that spirit in you is dead, which it isn’t all of us until we are saved. Why we kind of get flipped upside down and instead of the spirit speaking to the soul in the body, the world basically says you can find your acceptance, first of all in your body. And that’s what most of us are preoccupied with. Thus, the huge shopping centers that you see all over the world are filled with 80% of women’s clothing. Well, truth always hurts but but the fact of the matter is that we have we have been told and more to women than to men even although we’re getting as bad, is we’ve been told that our acceptance is going to be in what we look like.

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Bob George 14:24
So if you’re a right if you’re the right weight, and so we got people working out like crazy to the point that after a while they begin to look like a broomstick. But if you’re the right weight, and you wear the right clothes bought from the right stores, and you wear the right makeup, and if you’re getting a little old where you get some face lifts and all of that type of thing. Why is there more money spent on plastic surgery than there is donations? It’s because we’re more preoccupied of their body than we are spiritual things. And so that has been flip flopped. And so I my acceptance is going to be in what I look like, if I’m an athlete, how good I am, how strong I am, how healthy I am, what I do with my body, all of those things are all forms of acceptance. And then of course, being lost, the best you can go to is religion. So then it’s where the body plants itself on Sunday, and you’ll be accepted if you go to this church, or that church or this church, that’s where you’re going to find acceptance. Or if, if that isn’t an interest to you, while you will find acceptance in the bars, or you’ll find acceptance here, but you are desperately constantly using your body, and your human personality, your soul, mind, emotion, and will to find acceptance in the world in which we live. And every bit of that will never fill that deepest need in your in my heart to find our acceptance unconditionally. And our love unconditionally, which is a spiritual need, not a soulish need that can only be met in Christ Jesus.

This, incidentally, is the cause of the majority of marital problems is people getting married with the thought in mind that this person is going to meet this need for unconditional love and acceptance. And of course, when you’re courting each other, while you count each other into thinking you’re going to meet those needs. But when the honeymoon is over, why it is over. And all of a sudden, instead of living to meet the needs of another person, you now are looking to your mate to get your own needs met. And that’s why you’ll see people say women say my husband just doesn’t understand me. He’s not meeting my needs. And the husband say my wife just doesn’t understand me. She doesn’t appreciate me why I’ve taken her on trips. I’ve bought her dress, I bought this and that should settle it, then the wife sitting there saying you just don’t understand, do you? And the man said, No, you just don’t understand. And brother, what is that? Pride only breeds quarrels. So folks, we have to come to grips with the fact that the very opposite of the type of love that we’re talking about is pride. It is not hate, it is not not liking someone, the opposite of agape love, is pride. And we’ll contrast that for you in just a moment.

But you see in a marriage situation, when I am trying to get that need desperately met, and and folks, that’s the most logical place to get it met, if you’re married, when you’re a child, you’re going to try to get that met in your parents, and we can’t do it either. And then parents will try to get that met in their children. And then the children kind of walk out and get independent kind of like a cat on their own. And, and, and now we’re kind of stuck again. And against probably the closest we can come to it is some lap dog. That does seem to satisfy a little bit of a need for unconditional love and acceptance. But that’s as close as we can get. So in a married situation, we become like ticks on a dog trying to suck the life out of each other, in order to get our mates to meet those needs, when the fact of the matter is that there is no mate that can meet those needs. There’s no man that can meet those needs. There’s no woman that can meet those needs. And it is strange, isn’t it, Bob, that man is so desperate to get that needs met that need men, that if they’ve if they’re a man, and they’ve tried a woman and another woman and another woman and they can’t meet that need, they’re so desperate they turn and try man to get that need and says you have homosexuality. And a woman has tried to get that need met in a man and another man, another man, or the father or whoever it might be and they can’t get met, and they become so desperate to get that met that they hook up with another woman and become a lesbian. And what in both of those cases whether you’re heterosexual or homosexual, the problem is that we are looking for that need for unconditional love and acceptance to be met in another human being here on this earth and it is an absolute impossibility folks, you’re looking for that need to be bad in the wrong place. That is a spiritual need. It is not a soulish each need it is not a body need. A sexual experience will not satisfy the need for unconditional love and acceptance. It might satisfy a sexual desire, but it will not satisfy a need for love and acceptance. And and it’s the same on the soul friendship will not satisfy the need for unconditional love and acceptance. Because again, when you’re courting or when you’re trying to get something out of somebody you will act like you accept them and love them unconditionally in order to get what you’re trying to get. And that’s where manipulation comes in and people become master manipulators. You find manipulators in business, you find manipulators in Christian ministries, you find manipulators in church, you find manipulators in medical profession, you find manipulators for sure in the legal profession, the whole world is a bunch of manipulators. What are we manipulating? Trying to get people to do what we want them to do, because what that means to me is I’m accepted by them. And I’m loved by them when they do what I want them to do. And folks, it is a one way street to nowhere. And if you’re sitting out there today, as a married person trying to get your mate to meet that need for unconditional love and acceptance, I can say to you, as clearly as I know to say to any human being on the face of this earth, you’re engaged in an exercise in futility, in an impossible accomplishment. And you may as well try to jump over the Grand Canyon from one end to the next, and figure out why you didn’t make it. Because it is just as impossible. That need that you’re talking about and you’re longing for is a spiritual need given to you by God so that it could be fulfilled by God and God alone. God gave you his body says, take care of it, that yours. He gave you his Spirit and said, I’ll take care of that. That’s mine.

Now, folks, when we’re dealing with this subject that we’re dealing with, it’s important for us to come to grips with asking ourselves the question, where and to whom are we looking to for our acceptance, for unconditional acceptance? Am I really looking for acceptance through my body? In other words, what I wear, what I look like, how thin I am, how good of shape that I’m in? Do I belong to the right clubs? Do I live in the right neighborhood? Do I drive the right kind of a car? In other words, all of those points of acceptance are predicated on your body, who it is where it is, what it looks like. And we say is that where I am going for acceptance. Now folks, I’m not just talking out of out of theory, that I know in my own life experience that acceptance is something that has been very much of a bondage at times in my life to me, I desired to be accepted. Is that unusual? Well, it isn’t unusual at all. As we mentioned earlier, all men, all humanity is made with a need for acceptance. But I didn’t know that for 36 years. And so I found acceptance. The only place that I knew how to find it. I tried to look good. I tried from a personality standpoint to be funny and humorous, and halfway intelligent. And making proper decisions. I found acceptance by joining the proper fraternity in college. I found acceptance in my state by going to my State University. I looked for acceptance from people. When I went into business I found acceptance by being successful. I found acceptance, I thought by driving the biggest car you could buy. I found a lot of acceptance when I started hobnobbing with some Hollywood people. It’s amazing how little you have to do to be accepted. We’ve seen some of that in the recent trial that is so famous where a person is accepted around the world by being a houseboy. And yet the world accepts him because they’re known the only celebrity they have is just bear. They’re known not known for anything just known. And that’s all it takes for acceptance just to be known. And if we feel that we can’t be known why then I’d love to hobnob with someone who is because then I’ll be known for someone who knows somebody who is somebody. And we’re weird, aren’t we? That’s just quite frankly, the way it is. We just will not rest in the fact that the only acceptance that is going to satisfy us on the face of this earth is our acceptance from the Lord Jesus Christ accepted in the beloved.

I know what it is that after I became saved, that I found it was not necessary anymore to be accepted by my bar buddies and my cohort, my co workers, my cohorts, my racquetball buddies, or whatever it might be that now I could be accepted by a new bunch of people called Christians. Because even though in your early years of being saved, or your early months, and sometimes only early weeks of being saved, you realize that how you were saved was by the unconditional love of God that is given to you freely and abundantly in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And you might even have a clue of the fact that he accepted you at that particular point. But we immediately change arenas, and we get out of the last arena into the saved arena. And all of a sudden, that same desire to be accepted by my bar buddies switched, changed immediately praise God, everybody would say, and I sought acceptance with my Christian peers. And so depending upon what group you get involved in is going to depend upon where you look, what what are the criteria for acceptance.

Now, if you go into a certain group of so called Christians, a certain denominational group why, then you’re going to be accepted. If you say you don’t drink, and don’t dance, I mean, those two things would be horrible. And that you go to church three times, at least on Sunday, and you hit prayer meeting and visitation. You’re going to be accepted. And if you don’t do all of those things, and if you really miss a Sunday night why anybody watching will certainly say missed you ole buddy. And what that means is where were you I was here, why weren’t you? I missed the football game. Why didn’t you? And so we have our own criteria. Don’t we? We have our own standards of acceptance.

Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity, with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord, find more information online at shop.BobGeorge.net. There you’ll also find available CDs, DVDs, and bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.