The Better Rule

John 15: 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Jesus said there were two great commandments.  Loving one another as He loved us was not one of them.  As I recall the two great commandments are to love God and love others as we would have others love us.  Why didn’t Jesus give us the updated version first?

This isn’t blasphemy it’s a simple question.  Did Jesus draw a blank?  Did He forget the more important commandment?  When did the “golden rule” become not good enough? 

The “golden rule” has been and is a rule for men to live by.  The secular world understands the concept and embraces the philosophy.  Jesus did not intend it to be a philosophy or a way for us to be happy in life.  Humanity had twisted it into a tit-for-tat rule.  It has been transformed from commandment into a tool of leverage.  We soon learn not to treat others as we would be treated, but to treat others as we want to be treated so we’ll be treated well.  An element of selfishness had and has crept into the commandment to pervert the spirit of the law.  From the outside, to other’s observation, people taking advantage of the “golden rule” for personal gain and those following it unselfishly look exactly the same.  Only someone who can know intent is able to distinguish between the two.  Since we are unable to read minds, use Extra Sensory Perception, or in any way examine the thoughts of another, we must defer to the examination and judgment of God. 

Jesus made no mistake.  To teach men love, God created woman.  Love is not a goody-goody feeling of euphoria.  Love is a commitment.  In the first marriage vows ever taken Adam committed to Eve.  God knew we could not understand or match the love of God.  We needed to learn firsthand the magnitude and scope of love.  Men have accomplished miraculous feats for the love of a woman.  They have turned their lives upside down and devoted their lives to the love of that special woman.  How does God love us?  We will never truly understand the holiness of God’s love, but God loves us enough for us to learn, even if we can’t learn it all.  Adam gave up everything for Eve; for love.  God the Son, Jesus Christ, did the same for love.  We are created in the likeness and image of God.  Our creation is less than God.  In every way whether it is emotion, thought, intelligence, strength, or will, we are less.  Yet, God would have us experience in our limitations the commitment which compels Him to do the things He does.  Men have sacrificed for love.  Even our sacrifice is limited in comparison to the holiness of God’s sacrifice.  We may sacrifice for one, a few, or even a billion, but we cannot cover the totality of man.  Only God can provide sacrifice for all humanity and creation to boot.  We are unable to match the magnificence of God and He knows it, so why the apparent hi-jacking of the golden rule? 

The world operated differently before Christ’s first coming.  One of the reasons Jesus was not simply born and crucified immediately was to disciple others.  Jesus prepared the world for the Church age during His ministry.  Not only did he provide the ultimate and unique atonement, He made all preparation for the aftermath.  In the aftermath of Christ’s first coming we have the Holy Ghost.  Christ ascended to the right hand of the Throne of God in part to make way for the ministry of the Holy Ghost.  OK, so what? 

The Holy Ghost makes the new commandment a reality.  It is the ministry of the Holy Ghost to make the way for us to embrace such an otherwise untenable commandment.  Men lack the spiritual stature to obey this commandment.  Of our own power and strength we can only mostly adhere to the golden rule.  This same effort will avail us naught in loving others as Christ loved us.  But, the Holy Ghost indwelling us makes this love a reality.  With the strength of God in us we can obey.  Living in Christ and Christ living in us makes it not only possible but attainable.  Tapping into the power of God the Spirit gives us power to overcome our infirmities.  We are new creatures in Christ and can love one another as Christ loved us. 

Have you gotten beyond the golden rule? 

Have you embraced the better rule?

John 10:10 …I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.