Luke 6:27-31

Luke 6:27-31 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

How many of us claim the above verses for our lives as quickly as we claim the "seed faith" verses? We might be more than willing to claim the idea of giving ten dollars to a ministry so that we might receive a hundred dollars in return, but not so quick to claim the above verses. Love your enemies? Do good to those who hate you? Bless those who curse you? Pray for those who mistreat you? If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also? If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic? Give to everyone who asks you? If anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back? Do to others as you would have them do to you? These are probably among the most violated directives in the Bible. We'll pray fervently for the fulfillment of seed faith in our lives, but we don't often pray very long about blessing people who abuse or take advantage of us, unless we pray they come to their senses and treat us better. Today's scriptures tend to separate us from God, from ultimate goodness. We are too self-centered, too bound to earth to embrace the message. If the above scriptures do not tell us who we are, nothing will; we are violators of Jesus' commands. Plain and simple, we are sinners. The Bible says, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Sons and daughters of the Father in heaven are to be as He is: PERFECT! Well, all of you who are perfect, who fulfill the above scriptures completely, can now get up from your chairs and do something else, for this breakfast is not for you, but for the rest of us, we should probably eat on.

Should we try to fulfill the above scriptures? YES, FOR SURE! But do we fulfill them perfectly? No, for we are human. As flesh, we employ for our own survival some of the actions that Jesus Christ considered to be less than perfect. To clarify this point, if you gave all that you have away, you would not have shelter or food. You might spiritualize that activity by saying God will provide, but you might also die of exposure and hunger if God is not in it. That kind of action could be considered somewhat like driving through a busy intersection with the red light against you while saying, God will provide. He might let you survive, but He might let you die, for your actions were not very thoughtful. The actions and attitudes Jesus is asking from us in the above scriptures are illustrations of God's love, of unreciprocated love. He alone is that love.

My beloved Christians, we are the ones who put Jesus on the cross. We nailed his hands and feet to those boards. We are the criminals; we are the Pharisees and Sadducees who cried for his crucifixion. We are the ones who hated, cursed, struck him. We are not the fulfillment of the above scriptures, Christ is. He alone is holy. He alone does everything right. We are sinners saved by grace. He satisfies the above scriptures, for He is perfect. He loves his enemies, He loves those who hate him, He blesses those who curse him, He prays for those who mistreat him, He turns the other cheek, He gives his cloak to them, He goes without. The scriptures indicate that Jesus gave his all, his everything. Consequently, it can be truly said that He is the Son of God!

Where are we today, my beloved Christians? We are IN CHRIST. Before the Father God, IN CHRIST, we fulfill all of Jesus' directives. On Earth, as we live our lives, by faith we should should strive to be as much like Christ as possible. Our longing and earnest desire should be to reveal Jesus Christ to the world by obeying his words: Do to others as you would have them do to you. But always IN CHRIST through faith according to the precious promises we read about in 2 Peter and throughout the Word. As Peter said, because we participate in the divine nature, we are complete, perfect. That is why we praise him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, for HE IS GOOD.