Set Apart in Selfless Love (Lent 6, 2024)

When Adam and Eve were confronted by the serpent, the issue of oneself vs. God presented itself for the first time. Before that time, there was no conflict between God and man. God was selfless and so were Adam and Eve living in God’s selfless love. Initially, Adam and Eve had only known selfless living, and both God and His true Image-bearers lived in full love, harmony, and truth. All things were good and perfect.

But when the serpent confronted mankind with the other side, it offered oneself vs. God, a division between God and His Image-bearers.

Even the serpent’s tone was adversarial: “Did God really say?” with a slightly twisted version of what God really did say. In that way, sin portrayed God as withholding (selfish) instead of selfless (which is God’s very nature).

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

In other words, the serpent was saying God doesn’t want you to be like He is. He’s withholding this because He wants to be better than you. Right now, you’re not like God and He wants to keep it that way!

The Adam and Eve being God’s true Image-bearers, reflecting Him as set apart by selfless love in all they do … suddenly … became Adam and Eve who accepted the allure of selfishness. This issue of self has been with us ever since. It has now become a test of who lives their lives as set apart. Christ calls His followers to deny themselves and follow Him in divine love.

Following Christ has three dimensions: self, holiness, and love. Self-denial, love, and holiness are related for us just as God’s holiness is tied to His love and selflessness. Look at the culture around you and your day-to-day circumstances. There are two paths before you: selfless love (be like God) or selfish living (sin). God says, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Exercise:
Today’s exercise involves practicing living all day as one set apart FOR God in a culture that doesn’t like Him or want Him. This is the opposite of being set apart FROM God by agreeing with the culture’s way of doing things in which selfish living rules.

Join me tomorrow to see God’s love is still there.

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Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.