There are some familiar phrases that we use where the word spirit is used to refer to the essence or purpose of a thing or an activity or program, like when we say; in the spirit of sportsmanship. It is really not referring to the sports itself but it refers to the purpose or objective of the sports activity, which is generally accepted as, to build friendship and good relations between the participants.
When a person says, in the spirit of peace or, in the spirit of love, we normally take it as referring to the intentions of that person. So when we use the word spirit in this manner, we basically are talking about our heart, our desire and intentions. When a person says, in the spirit of love, what he is saying basically is that his desire and intentions are for the purposes of love. So he is basically talking about his heart, his desires, and his intentions.
When we read the word of God, it is the very thing that we should seek for. We should seek for the spirit of His words. What are His heart’s desires, what are His intentions? I believe that when we read the Bible along this direction, we try to look into the heart of God, and it is the truth that we will find.
Now this is very important because other people tend to be technical in their approach to the word of God. And I believe that when we seek only for the technicalities in the word of God, we will never arrive at the truth. Because technicalities only drag us and hold us bound in the realm of reason, of logic, and of earthly wisdom. We may acquire learning, but never really able to grasp the spirit of it. As the Scripture says: Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
I am writing these things because it has come to my knowledge that there are actually churches who believe that it is a lie to tell the whole world that God loves them. They believe that God loves only the believers. His love does not extend to the rest of the world. The reason for this apparently is that, they find it hard to comprehend that if God indeed loves the whole world, then what about those people who will end up in hell? How can they end up in hell when God loves them?
Now, from here it could go on to an endless battle of discourses and Scripture throwing, arguments and fighting over the meaning of words, then over to the principles of hermeneutics or whatever… But what is it to a simple man? But the love of God transcends knowledge. And even though it is much higher than human knowledge or wisdom, the simple man is well able to comprehend it. Here is the wisdom and majesty of God manifested.
And so what is really the spirit of the word of God? What is His message in his Word? Without going through any intensive discourse, I believe that the heart of God is after the worst sinner in the world. If you will line up everybody in the whole human race, according to the gravity of their sins, beginning from the sinner, to the worse sinner, to the worst sinner. I believe that the heart of God is after that man who is at the very end of the line. Because when that man repents, it would give God so much joy. And you can just imagine the magnitude of rejoicing in heaven. Because who do you think will love God more, one who is forgiven little, or one who is forgiven much? Needless to say the Apostle Paul, that great man of God, he considers himself to be that man at the end of the line for he says, “I am the worst of sinners.” It is because he knows he is forgiven much.
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