Transformed for Life: How to Know God Better and Love Him More

8:29).

Part 1

Extravagant Love

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE. It will bring you into a new dimension in appreciating God and responding to Him. Does the word extravagant surprise you? It is appropriate because it refers, first and foremost, to the love of God.

The very nature of God is love. God is so much bigger and greater than we can imagine, and this is true of His love as well. Our human love is often petty, stingy and self-centered, but God’s love is vast, boundless, extravagant!

This is a prayer Paul prayed for God’s people in Ephesians 3:14–19:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

NIV

The central theme of Paul’s prayer for us: that we may know God’s love. But we cannot make room for Christ to dwell in our hearts until we are strengthened with power by the Spirit. Paul prayed that we may be established in His love and that we may be able to grasp how wide, how long, how high and how deep it is. Then he concluded by praying that we might know this love that surpasses knowledge. . . . This is a paradox. How can we know love that surpasses knowledge?

I believe there is an answer: We do not know it with our intellect but through the revelation of Scripture and of the Holy Spirit. It is a revelation that comes to our spirits rather than to our minds.

The purpose of this section is to share with you various passages of Scripture that provide us with standards by which to measure God’s love.

one

THE TREASURE IN THE FIELD

THE FIRST PASSAGE that provides us with a standard by which we can measure God’s love is the story found in Matthew 13:44. It is Jesus’ parable of the treasure hidden in the field.

A parable is a simple story about familiar, material, earthly things. The objects in Jesus’ parables were familiar to all His hearers. But the purpose of a parable is to reveal unseen, eternal and spiritual things. The familiar scene and the familiar story then become a mirror reflecting unseen, unfamiliar, spiritual things.

Jesus proceeds in the method of a good teacher, moving from the known to the unknown. He starts with items with which His hearers are familiar and leads them on to those that are not familiar. As we read a parable, then, we need to ask ourselves, What are the spiritual things that correspond to the material things in the parable?

Let’s look at this parable. Then I will give you my interpretation.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

NIV

What are the spiritual realities that this simple story reveals to us? I am not suggesting that there are no other interpretations, but according to my view (which is in line with the principles of Scripture), the man who found the treasure is Jesus. The field is the world. (This image runs through the seven parables found in this chapter, and it is stated in Matthew 13:38.) What about the treasure? It is God’s people in the world.

When the man discovered treasure in the field, he did something very wise: He did not immediately tell everybody. In fact, Scripture says he hid it. He knew that if people learned there was treasure in the field, there would be a lot of competition, so he hid the treasure again and decided to purchase the field.

Bear in mind that he really did not want the whole field; all he wanted was the treasure. But he was realistic enough to know that in order to get the treasure, he had to pay the price for the entire field. The price of the field for that man was high; it cost him all he had. But he did it with joy because he knew the value of the treasure.

Can you picture the surprise of the local residents? Whatever does he want that field for? It’s not really good for anything. It has little market value. It’s not good for crops. All it produces is thorns and thistles. Why would he pay so much money for a field like that? They did not know, you see, about the treasure. The only person who knew about the treasure was the man himself, who is Jesus. So He paid the price for the field (which is the whole world) in order to obtain the treasure that is in the field (which is God’s people).

Let’s look at another very familiar verse:

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16, NIV

God loved the world and gave the life of His Son to redeem it. But what God receives out of the world is the whoever: "whoever believes in him shall not perish." That total company of whoevers is the treasure in the field that Jesus died to purchase. He redeemed the world for the sake of the whoever.

In Titus 2:14 we find the same truth. Paul speaks about Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us [buy us back] from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (NIV).

There is that treasure again—a people who are His very own and who have been redeemed from the world, redeemed from wickedness, purified and made zealous to do what is good. The price was Jesus Himself—all He had, all He was. He laid down His life. He gave Himself to buy that field for the sake of the treasure, His redeemed people.

Let me offer one further thought about this treasure in the field. Jesus has bought the field, but He leaves it to His servants, the ministers of the Gospel, to recover the treasure. There is a lot of work involved. You must find where the treasure is, dig it up and take it out of the earth. It has lain there a long time and it is rusty, dirty, mildewed and corroded. It needs a lot of cleaning up. Again, Jesus does not do this work Himself. He has His servants in this world dig out His treasure with hard labor and clean it up.

Believe me, preaching the Gospel to people and bringing them to the Lord is hard work—just as hard as digging a treasure out of a field. But this is left to the ministers of the Gospel in this world, of whom I am one. The purpose: to get that treasure out of the field, clean it up and make it fit for the Lord.

This is what Paul said about his own ministry:

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Colossians 1:28–29, NIV

The whole purpose of ministry, according to Paul, is to proclaim the Person of Jesus. Paul was not content with leaving any of God’s people below the level of their potential. He worked hard. Look at all the words that denote activity in these verses: labor, struggling, his energy, powerfully works in me. What is the purpose and direction of all that activity? To get the treasure out of the field, to get it cleaned up and to make it fit to present to the Lord, who died and bought the field with His own life. How do we proclaim Him? Paul says, We admonish, we teach. His aim was to present everybody just as good as he or she can be in Christ.

But I want to remind you of the price that Jesus paid for the field and for the treasure that is in the field. The price was all He had. He held nothing back. His love was extravagant. And He did it with joy because He had such love for the treasure—for you and me.

two

THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE

EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD is greater and grander than we can comprehend, but this is particularly true of His love. The very nature of God is love. The word I have chosen to describe this love is extravagant, an unusual and non-religious word, to get away from stereotypes.

Our human love is often petty, stingy and self-centered. God’s love is not like that at all. It is vast, boundless and extravagant. Remember the prayer Paul prayed for all of us in Ephesians 3:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

verses 14–17, NIV

To comprehend what God has for us, we must first be strengthened by His Spirit. Something must be created in us as a receptacle for what He wants to put into us. Paul goes on to explain what that is:

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

verses 17–19, NIV

God wants to put the fullness of His love into the vessel that He creates in us by His Holy Spirit. He wants us to know all the dimensions of His love—how wide, long, high and deep it is. He wants us to know a love that passes knowledge. God’s love cannot be known by the intellect, but it can be apprehended through the revelation of the Scripture and of the Holy Spirit.

The parable of the Treasure in the Field, which we looked at in the last chapter, was used as a standard by which to measure God’s love. It reveals the measure of Christ’s love for His people collectively. Remember, buying the treasure cost Him all He had.

The parable that immediately follows, the Pearl of Great Value, reveals the measure of Christ’s love for each human soul individually. It is important for us to appreciate that God loves us not just as part of a group but as individuals.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:45–46

In line with the previous parable, the merchant is Jesus. He was not just a tourist or window-shopper but someone who really knew the value of that for which He was looking. When He found this one pearl, He realized it would be a bargain to sell all He had just to buy it.

How many of us would see a stone so precious that we would part with everything we had just to own that one jewel? That is the love of Jesus. It is extravagant!

The cost of the pearl is the same as the cost of the field: all He had. (In the next chapter we will analyze what it meant for Jesus to give all He had.)

What does a pearl suggest? One thing it suggests in Scripture is suffering. A pearl is caused by irritation within the oyster. It is the product of something going wrong inside the shell. Isn’t it interesting that all the gateways to the New Jerusalem are made of pearls? That tells us there is no way into the New Jerusalem except the way of suffering.

Then, in the process of making that pearl marketable, many things must be done. The pearl has to be raised from the depths of the sea, removed from the oyster and subjected to various processes. It is rather like the treasure in the field. It takes a lot of work to make it ready. Just as Jesus bought the field but leaves it to His servants to prepare the treasure for Him, likewise, He leaves it to His servants to ready the pearl for His enjoyment. But finally there comes forth that smooth, beautiful, gleaming pearl.

Picture Jesus holding just one pearl in His hand, looking down at it with inexpressible love. This is not a collective picture, not meant for a group, but something personal and individual. It is. Imagine Jesus with just one pearl gleaming in the palm of His hand, saying to that pearl, It was for you I paid that price. I gave all I had.

Go one step further. Say to yourself, "I was that pearl. I am that pearl. If there had been nobody else to be redeemed, Jesus would have died just for me." It is important that you see this. Many of us struggle with a sense of unworthiness, inadequacy and rejection. We wonder whether we are really wanted. It is vital to see that each of us is a pearl for which Jesus gave all He had.

Here are four simple but very important facts about God’s love:

God’s love is individual.

God’s love is everlasting.

God’s love is from before time.

God’s love is irresistible.

Let’s look at some Scriptures that illustrate these four points.

God’s love is individual and everlasting.

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee [individually and personally] with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3, KJV

God’s love is of old, both individual and everlasting. It is out of His love that He draws us to Himself.

God’s love precedes time.

For he [God] chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. . . .

Ephesians 1:4–5, NIV

There are two possible ways of punctuating this verse: to be holy and blameless in his sight in love . . . or to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us. . . . Whichever you use, the fact remains that God’s love precedes time. Before the creation of the world He loved us, chose us and predestined us. He arranged the course of His life so that we would encounter Him and encounter His love.

God’s love is irresistible.

A simple statement in the Song of Solomon says, Love is as strong as death (8:6). Death is irresistible. When death comes, nobody can turn it away or say, I’m not ready. I won’t accept you. No man has the power to resist death. And Solomon says, Love is as strong as death.

The New Testament takes us one step further. When Jesus died and rose from the dead, He proved that love is stronger than death. The most irresistible, negative force in the universe was conquered by the most irresistible, positive force in the universe: the love of God. An old English song sung many years ago called Love Will Find a Way illustrates this:

Over the mountains

Under the fountains

  Love will find a way.

Love always gets to its objectives. It accepts no barriers. And the love of God will go through anything, over anything, under anything to get