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Have I Received the Love of Jesus? Am I Passing it on?

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 
Philippians 1:7-8

Timothy Keller shares a story in his book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. As a young minister he was given leave so he could visit and study churches which were growing. He wanted to discover their secret. In his book this is what he says:
"I did discover a secret but it was a secret which hindered their growth and didn't help it. Each of these churches had serious tensions in their pastoral teams.
The first church had pastoral staff, just not a pastoral team. No one understood what others were doing. There was little co-ordination.
The second church had great people, and they took their work seriously. But it was their own work they took seriously, and there was little evidence that they cared what anyone else was doing.
The third church had leaders who wanted to leave. Some said openly they couldn't respect others, and they just kept themselves to themselves so they could survive.
Before long each of those churches were struggling. The lack of love among the leadership spread and damaged others."

Sincere love between Christians can be in dangerously short supply in many churches. When Paul wrote to the Philippians he stressed the depth of his affection for them. Perhaps Paul had heard that some in the church questioned whether he truly valued them and their support for his work. Paul wanted them to be in no doubt at all.

Paul is very clear that he loves these fellow believers from the depth of his being. His care for them shines through in both verses, "I have you in my heart", (verse 7) and "I long for all of you wuth the affection of Christ Jesus"(verse 8).

Paul doesn't want the Philippians to think he's simply flattering them when he declares his affection. So he made God his witness that his words were the truth. No orator invoked the name of God, not unless their words were 100% truth. Paul's were. He meant what he said and so he promised, "God can testify I am sincere."

Paul says, "I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus."The word 'affection' is the strongest word that Paul could use. Literally, this word refers to one's intestines/one's bowels. It is a metaphorical way of saying 'in the depth of my being', 'in the very deepest parts', 'I love you from the bottom of my heart', or 'my internal organs are like a fountain from which is flowing these longings for you.'

When Paul says with the affection of Christ Jesus it means two things.

First it means that everything is energized by Christ. It is flowing from Christ. He is the supernatural source of these affections. This is far deeper than mere human friendship level.
The other thing this phrase means is the idea of 'being patterned after Christ Jesus' (Philppians 2:5 ff).

Paul certainly cared for these Christians very deeply. He loves these Philippians with the affection of Christ. Paul is following Christ's example of love, but his words have a depth beyond just copying na example. When Paul writes, "I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus" he's describing love that flows from Christ into him and then our through him and to the Philippians. He is not merely inspired to love but on the contrary he is enabled to love.

Charles Spurgeon gives the following example to make it understand in simpler terms. "It's like a billionaire giving me unlimited cash to pass on to needy people. They think I'm generous, but i am not the source of the wealth. The money has come from someone far richer than me; I am only the channel." Likewise, the deep love Paul had found in Jesus was the deep love he now channeled on to the Philippians.

Dear Friends, love whose source is in the heart of Jesus is the gift received by every Christian, and love from the heart of Jesus becomes the gift every Christian has to pass on to others. May we too be channels to pass on this love.

God Bless You.

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Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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