What is the Point?: Discovering Life's Deeper Meaning and Purpose by Misty Edwards Page A
Authors: Misty Edwards
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without getting into His story. When I talk of love, I am talking of holy, transcendent love that is the fountain of all desire and the source of all that exists because it is God Himself. When Jesus said that all of the law and prophets are summed up in love, He is saying that they all define love and facilitate love for Him. It all hangs on love.
T HE W HY B EHIND THE W HAT
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the L ORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
—M ATTHEW 22:36–39
This commandment reflects God’s ultimate purpose for Creation, His eternal purpose. Here He is standing in front of them, the Creator, and He is answering the question that was meant to trick Him. He knows their hearts and gives them the most profound answer. He wraps all of the law and the prophets into one glorious answer. So much is in these simple few sentences. It would take a thousand books to unpack it and an eternity to unleash the truths that are layered here. From before the foundation of the world God had a plan in His heart. Before the world was created He had a why behind the what. We know what happened: He created the heavens and the earth. But this commandment tells us why He created. We know what He did on the cross: He accomplished redemption. But this verse tells us why He went to the cross. It gives us the why behind the what of Creation and redemption.
The Father promised His Son an inheritance. That inheritance is a people whom He would totally possess. But Jesus’s inheritance involves more than real estate. It is more than the reality that He owns the land in every nation. It is more than government. It is more than the fact that He controls the nations and leads them. Jesus’s inheritance does involve the mandatory obedience of all of creation, but there is more to His inheritance than only this.
In Philippians 2 Paul gives us insight into this global obedience. He is quoting Isaiah 45:23 where the Father promised the Son in the Old Testament that “every knee should bow . . . every tongue should confess” (Phil. 2:10– 11). Every knee, every tongue, and every demon in hell will bow their knee in obedience. Every unbeliever, when assigned to eternal judgment, will go there in obedience to the word of Jesus. The obedience of all of creation is mandatory. But there is more.
God wants more than mandatory obedience. He wants voluntary love. The inheritance of a king is the obedience of all the nations, but the inheritance of a bridegroom is the voluntary love of all the people in all the nations. The very core of the Bridegroom’s inheritance is the fact that the people would be equally yoked to Him in love. The Father promises an inheritance for Jesus, and it is clear that it will be a bride, prepared in love for Him (Rev. 19:7). She will be equally yoked in love—not automated, forced, or programmed, but voluntary love. He said to the Son, “They will choose You and want You in the same way You choose them and want them.” This is the purpose of Creation, the Father preparing an eternal companion for the Son and the Son preparing a family for the Father. The Father prepares us as a bride for His Son, and then, after Jesus brings all the nations under His authority at the end of the millennium, He gives everything to the Father. (See 1 Corinthians 15:27–28.) We are the gift they exchange. This blows my mind!
H E I S A FTER M Y H EART
In Matthew 22:36–39 Jesus is giving us His own commentary on Deuteronomy 6:5. Of course He is the One who gave it to Moses, but He is adding something that Moses did not receive. He said, “This is the first and great commandment” (Matt. 22:38). This commentary from Jesus has been greatly overlooked and dismissed throughout history. Jesus the great teacher,
T HE W HY B EHIND THE W HAT
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the L ORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
—M ATTHEW 22:36–39
This commandment reflects God’s ultimate purpose for Creation, His eternal purpose. Here He is standing in front of them, the Creator, and He is answering the question that was meant to trick Him. He knows their hearts and gives them the most profound answer. He wraps all of the law and the prophets into one glorious answer. So much is in these simple few sentences. It would take a thousand books to unpack it and an eternity to unleash the truths that are layered here. From before the foundation of the world God had a plan in His heart. Before the world was created He had a why behind the what. We know what happened: He created the heavens and the earth. But this commandment tells us why He created. We know what He did on the cross: He accomplished redemption. But this verse tells us why He went to the cross. It gives us the why behind the what of Creation and redemption.
The Father promised His Son an inheritance. That inheritance is a people whom He would totally possess. But Jesus’s inheritance involves more than real estate. It is more than the reality that He owns the land in every nation. It is more than government. It is more than the fact that He controls the nations and leads them. Jesus’s inheritance does involve the mandatory obedience of all of creation, but there is more to His inheritance than only this.
In Philippians 2 Paul gives us insight into this global obedience. He is quoting Isaiah 45:23 where the Father promised the Son in the Old Testament that “every knee should bow . . . every tongue should confess” (Phil. 2:10– 11). Every knee, every tongue, and every demon in hell will bow their knee in obedience. Every unbeliever, when assigned to eternal judgment, will go there in obedience to the word of Jesus. The obedience of all of creation is mandatory. But there is more.
God wants more than mandatory obedience. He wants voluntary love. The inheritance of a king is the obedience of all the nations, but the inheritance of a bridegroom is the voluntary love of all the people in all the nations. The very core of the Bridegroom’s inheritance is the fact that the people would be equally yoked to Him in love. The Father promises an inheritance for Jesus, and it is clear that it will be a bride, prepared in love for Him (Rev. 19:7). She will be equally yoked in love—not automated, forced, or programmed, but voluntary love. He said to the Son, “They will choose You and want You in the same way You choose them and want them.” This is the purpose of Creation, the Father preparing an eternal companion for the Son and the Son preparing a family for the Father. The Father prepares us as a bride for His Son, and then, after Jesus brings all the nations under His authority at the end of the millennium, He gives everything to the Father. (See 1 Corinthians 15:27–28.) We are the gift they exchange. This blows my mind!
H E I S A FTER M Y H EART
In Matthew 22:36–39 Jesus is giving us His own commentary on Deuteronomy 6:5. Of course He is the One who gave it to Moses, but He is adding something that Moses did not receive. He said, “This is the first and great commandment” (Matt. 22:38). This commentary from Jesus has been greatly overlooked and dismissed throughout history. Jesus the great teacher,
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