The Love of the King
In a song from the 90’s, by singer/songwriter Twila Paris called How Beautiful, she writes:
How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.
I have always been touched and often moved to tears by this song, but recently I was struck by the phrase “the love of the King”. As is my practice when a song ministers to me, I listen to it literally dozens of time. As the truth of the beautiful Body of Christ bringing the “love of the King” to us, I was struck how amazing God’s ways are.
In our independence we want to believe that we can experience this life changing “love of the King” in our own little self-made kingdom of isolation and selfishness. In this kingdom, everything goes our way, we don’t have to deal with those annoying differences between us and others, our flesh never really has to die, and there is no cross to bear.All the while in this imaginary self-made “paradise” we just sit and soak in the love of this King who asks nothing at all of us.
To be clear, this selfishly solitary life, which I described above, is one of our own choosing. We know, of course, that there are many of our brothers and sisters in Christ that are being persecuted for their faith or are alone by no choice of their own. I firmly believe that God gives “more grace” in these situations and that His love, mercy, and grace are shown in abundance.
I am so thankful that this scenario could not be further from the truth. In reality, this “love of the King” is shed abroad in measure in each of us that have come and bowed our knee to him. We cannot fully experience it in self-centered isolation. It is only truly realized as we learn the reality of walking in community with a local expression of the Body of Christ. Church-life however, is very MESSY – it requires us to love people who are in many ways different from ourselves. We are required to die to ourselves in every way imaginable and yet God chooses to spread his love through all of us – together. As Romans 5:5 says, “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” In light of this, listen to these verses from Ephesians 4 in a new way:
“…with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
… but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Eph. 4:2-3,15-16 NKJV
I think that part of what “each joint supplies” is the love that is shed abroad in that individual member’s heart. Paul says this in another way earlier in Ephesians:
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Eph. 3:14-19 NKJV
Paul says we understand the mind-blowing dimensions of God’s love “with all the saints”. I believe this is by God’s design, the body of Christ requires inter-dependence. We need each other.
As this reality has become more and more real to me, I am even more thankful than ever for the people that God is more and more knitting my life together with. I am thankful for the symphony of God’s love that is shown to me every day. In their forbearance, forgiveness,unselfishness, rebukes, encouragement, and daily kindness they show me and my family “the love of the King”.