55. And We Also
55. And We Also
We finished the last lesson with anti-Christ, and we begin this lesson with anti-Christ. This seems both anti-climatic and as breaking up a single topic. Nonetheless, John is very big on the setting of the darkness of this world as the place wherein Light and Life have come. At the same time, John’s ruling thoughts overall are the Life of knowing God inside of Jesus out from which comes the flowing forth of Rivers of Life setting creation free even while casting down all that opposes the Word of Life.
But John’s central ruling thought inside of that large flow is – This is My full completion, that you love one another in exactly the same way that I love you,” which then becomes the central meaning of John’s letters – “And we also.”
Placing “And We Also.” “And we also” confirms our place together inside the Fellowship of Father and Son. “And we also” is at the core of being like Jesus in relationship with the Father. “And we also” is sharing with Jesus as the propitiation, the One who resolves and joins together. “And we also” is nothing less than sharing Hheart with God.
“And we also” has no involvement with the world – except one. “And we also” is proven inside the all-darkness of this world. That is, while all say “NO WAY,” we say, “Yes, Jesus.” Thus the greatest and most important picture of “And we also” is Revelation 12:1-5, the fellowship of believers inside of Christ Jesus screaming in travail, bringing forth the knowledge of God into the knowledge of all, through all human weakness and in the face of all demonic opposition.
God’s Program. Yet even more than that, “And we also” is Revelation 12:11, a firstfruits together, so giving themselves to the Father for the sake of all who believe in Jesus, that Victory itself is wrought inside the DARKNESS of all accusation against God.
This, in short, is God’s program, the Symphony of the Lamb. And in all of his gospel, letters, and vision, John is writing about nothing else.
Here, then, is where we place John’s two definitions of God in 1 John, “God is Light” in the last lesson, and “God is Love” in the next. And these are alongside of John’s two definitions of God in his Gospel, “God is Word” and “God is Spirit.” What God does, comes out from who He is. We must KNOW who He is that we might be found inside of what He does.
Being Like Jesus. The most explicit meaning of the Covenant is found inside of this lesson, for “And we also” comes out from the profound reality of 1 John 3:2, that we are just like Jesus IF we see Him as He is, IF He becomes visible to us, that is, the Apocalypse.
Being just like Jesus means three things. First, it means that we possess through Jesus the exact same relationship with the Father that He enjoys forever. Second, it means that we love one another in exactly the same way that Jesus loves us. And third, it means that those who see us, inside our fellowship together, are seeing God, they are seeing what God looks like.
Out from these three things together, all creation will observe Love – out from which comes doing good things for all inside of power, the thing most people imagine to be “like Jesus,” that is, outward appearance.
To Possess as One’s Own. We begin this lesson’s Flow of Gospel Verses inside of this larger and all-encompassing way of thinking – inside of God.
• 20 And you have the Anointing that comes from Devotion, and you perceive all. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know the truth, and [you know] that all lying [all fakery and false speaking] is not out from the truth. • 22 Who is the liar, but the one speaking against and contradicting, that Jesus is not the Christ? This is that which is anti-Christ, the one speaking against, contradicting the Father and the Son. 23 Anyone speaking contrary to the Son, does not have the Father. • The one who speaks the same word with the Son, also possesses the Father.
The verbs “have” and “has” are small like prepositions and thus lose their meaning, which is to possess as one’s own.
The Anointing. God wants us to perceive His Spirit as Rivers of Living Water flowing through, inside of which we also are carried. This flowing Spirit is called “the Anointing,” a meaning conveyed by the metaphor of oil. Part of the definition of the Anointing is that enablement of the Energeoing Spirit that causes us to see and to know God. John then sets this “knowing,” which is the Apocalypse (sight restored), into the words that we speak. Then John sets this Flow on our side of things, something part of us first, as the channel through which the speaking of God, from Father through Son, might Flow.
20 Ruling Verse 3: The Anointing is the Flow of the Devoted Spirit of God interacting with our humanity and then flowing out from us. It is that enablement of Energeoing Spirit that causes us to see and to know God.
Defining Anti-Christ. There are several specific and clear elements in the definition of “anti-Christ” given in 1 John. It’s primary definition is a spirit that also “anoints” words, but words that contradict, that is, speak against, the Flow of Gospel Word from Father through the Son, in our hearts and mouths.
22 Definition: A spirit of anti-Christ is also an “anointing” that enables some to split Jesus away from “Christ,” a “Christ” without Jesus. It enables humans to speak words that contradict Christ, that move in opposition to His speaking.
23 Speak Christ: Those who speak the same word that is Jesus, now made personal as them, live inside of Jesus. Those who do not, have nothing to say except that which contradicts the Lord Jesus inside of them. The issue of our speaking through faith is that we might “possess,” that is, KNOW, the Father.
Speaking Against. We need a further picture to define anti-Christ. Consider the weeping one and the one turned away in the diagram of Christ sustaining all; these are not anti-Christ.
To picture anti-Christ, we must place another face over the top of all three, a face turned straight into the speaking of Jesus sustaining us every moment. Like the serpent in the garden, this voice speaks contradiction straight at the Word causing them to be. The horror is that I have done that in the past, sensing, even, the spirit of accusation. Jesus SAVES us from anti-Christ. This picture is very jarring to me, but we must have it to comprehend Revelation 12. You see, this is what we have DEFEATED for the sake of the Church. (Added picture borrowed from https: // drawingref. com/ screaming)
Always Anointed. • 27 The Anointing that you have received from Him lives and remains inside of you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you; but as the same Anointing teaches you concerning all, and is true, and is not a lie; and just as [the Anointing from Devotion] has taught you, so you are dwelling inside of Him.
The Anointing we have received is not “upon us” in the sense of “sometimes maybe, try really hard.” John’s words show clearly that the Anointing is now part of us. And the thing the Anointing teaches us is that we are INSIDE OF God.
27 Ruling Verse 3: The Spirit of God anointing us is now part of us (see 1 Corinthians 6:17), always joined with us. We are always inside of the Spirit (see Romans 8:9). And the Spirit teaches us that we DWELL always inside of God.
Acknowledge Boldly. • 28 And now, little children, live and remain inside of Him, so that if He becomes visible [to us] we might speak boldly with all freedom, and not be ashamed as if away from Him, for we are already inside of His presence here and now. • 29 If you know that He is justly innocent, then you know also that everyone doing justice without hurt is conceived out from Him.
We are inside of Jesus, thus we speak boldly that we are. Verse 28, worded in this way out from the Greek, truly defines for us our action that constitutes “abiding in Jesus.” That action is our BOLD acknowledgement that we do.
28 Ruling Verse 10: We see Jesus through faith, that we are inside of Him and He is inside of us. Our faith, then, is our speaking boldly in all liberty and without shame, that we ARE inside of Him always, inside of His presence here and now.
Source and Fruit. Union with Christ is Covenant. Doing good things for others is Kingdom. We never imagine that we can do what is right and just except it be coming out from Jesus in us as all Word fulfilled. At the same time, we never imagine that we enjoy union with Christ without the expectation of the just actions of Love also coming out from us. Life is a FLOW. Jesus in us is the Source; loving one another is the Fruit.
28 Speak Christ: We speak out from Christ Jesus fully written upon our hearts; we then see what we speak. This is the “if,” how He becomes visible to us, how we see Him as He is.
29 Kingdom: Kingdom must and does always come out from Covenant. The issue of Life is Source. Our doings towards others must come out from full union with Jesus inside, and full union with Jesus inside brings forth what is just and good.
The Covenant. (Chapter 3) • 1 Look and perceive what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called as children birthed out from God. Because of this, the world-cosmos does not know us, because it did not know Him. • 2 Beloved, we are now children birthed out from God, and it has not yet been made visible [in outward appearance] what we will be. • We know that if He becomes visible [to us], we will be just exactly like Him, because we will be seeing Him as He is.
Let’s go through this bit by bit before writing anything. To see and to perceive, that is, to know what we see, is the work of the Anointing given to us as part of our human makeup. The Anointing enables the Flow of Spirit Word. The first thing we understand is the Love the Father has GIVEN to us (Romans 5:5). Thus we place 1 John 3:1 upon ourselves when considering the screaming face that is anti-Christ.
Aromatic Oil. Think about an aromatic oil. An aromatic oil has two parts, the oil itself and the phytonutrients, the healing compounds, that it carries as part of itself. It is those compounds that the body needs, but cannot access unless they are carried inside the oil. The oil allows the transfer of the nutrients into the body. Word and Spirit always together.
Pharmaceutical drugs, also called “sorcery,” enter the body by force, not oil. Their purpose is to suppress the symptoms of a problem, which are the body’s way of trying to heal itself, so that the person imagines healing that has not happened. False words, then, like drugs, bring darkness and lying (I have no need of Jesus), contradicting the Flow of Gospel Word.
From Love to Urgency. Next, John defines “the Love of God” which we possess. – That we are called as children birthed out from God. Again, we see the Flow, that we are with Jesus as that Word carried by Spirit, giving Life to all. – The aroma of His knowledge going out from us into every place (2 Corinthians 2:14). What we ARE, and what everyone else “sees” are two very different things.
Then John repeats himself to ensure we KNOW that we are out from God in all ways right NOW. That means the same as being just like Jesus, that is, we possess the same living relationship with God that Jesus does. Yet we ourselves do not know what that really looks like. Because we don’t know, we possess an urgency for – the Apocalypse.
Anointing and Unveiling. The Apocalypse means everything to us, for by the Unveiling of Jesus Christ alone can we see what we really are, just like Jesus, with Jesus, flowing out from God as Gospel Word. The Anointing causes the Unveiling. The Anointing removes the cataracts from our eyes that we might see what has always been the only thing True – Jesus, our only Life, Jesus in one another’s faces, Jesus as this dear one coming to me.
John uses the word “the Anointing.” Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 3:18 as the Spirit of Liberty. John places “IF” we see; Paul places “AS” we see. Same word, slightly different perspectives that we might have the whole picture. And what we SEE is that we are, with Jesus, that same Golden Oil out from God, the Flow of Gospel Word lighting the Church on Fire, filled and clothed with Jesus.
Defining a “Son of God.” We then place this entire picture into what we already know. – The Covenant inside the Most Devoted, that we are just like Jesus, and the Life, that we are conceived of God by a Living and Abiding Word.
3:1 Life: Life is knowing the Father. Yet this “knowing” is not a small thing. It includes knowing the Love the Father has given us, knowing that we are always out from God, and knowing that Jesus Sent into us makes us to be just like Himself.
1-2 Definition: A son of God is a human who KNOWS the Father. A son of God is one who shares the same relationship with the Father as Jesus does, who loves others as Jesus loves us, and who shows the Father to all in humbling self for the sake of others. A son of God is conceived by a living and abiding Word and is birthed into all Victory.
The Covenant. We must also place the three tenses together, already (Romans 8:30), becoming now (2 Corinthians 3:18), and will be (1 John 3:2). Just like Jesus is what it’s all about.
2 Ruling Verse 7: The “IF” of 1 John 3:2 is the largest IF in the Bible, the IF of jeopardy, the IF of Hebrews 3. We are part of Christ IF we are CONFIDENT that we are part of Christ. Jesus reveals Himself (see John 14:21) to those who know that He is inside of them, those who acknowledge Him as God’s Word fulfilled, the One who makes us like Himself.
2 Covenant: “We will be just exactly like Jesus” is the key promise of God to us in the Blood Covenant that binds us to God and God to us. Being just like Jesus is the normal Christian life, and becoming such is the clear focus of the entire Bible. Knowing from the Father what He means by making us just like Jesus is the passion of our lives.
Being Just Like Jesus. The central meaning of being just like Jesus is loving one another just as Jesus loves us. Yet every part of Nicene thinking seeks to eliminate actually being just like Jesus from the minds of all, making it to be the greatest heresy, even rebellion against God. Place that picture of the screaming face into Revelation 12:1-5, and you have where we are right now.
2 Definition: Contrary to what most imagine, Nicene theology serves one purpose, to drive far away any possibility of being like Jesus here and now, to make it “heresy.” It BREAKS the Covenant, giving instead the non-Biblical goal of “going to” heaven after physical death. Acknowledging that God makes us like Jesus now is an essential part of dwelling inside of God.
2 Speak Christ: We do NOT know what we are, and the world cannot see any such thing. We know Jesus as He is only by speaking the same Word with Him, this Flow of Gospel Word.
Into 1 John 3:16. • 3 And everyone who has this hope upon Him, purifies and devotes himself [to God], just exactly as Jesus is pure and devotes Himself [to God.]
This is another profound “be just like God” verse. This verse does NOT teach us to “weep over sin,” even though there is a removal of false words and seeing that hinder. Rather, we see it as the urgency of the Spirit, now taking us into 1 John 3:16.
3 Ruling Verse 7: Our hope is that we are just like Jesus right now, part of Him, sharing all with Him.
3 Ruling Verse 6: Jesus shares all our human agony with us, yet He places Himself, with all of His distress, only into God, that God alone keeps Him and makes Him devoted (see Psalm 22 & Hebrews 5:7-8). We do exactly the same as Jesus, giving ourselves to the Father as we are – for the sake of others.
When You See God. • 5 And you know that He became visible to remove all sins and all disconnect [from the Father], and inside of Him there is no sin or disconnect at all. 6 Anyone living inside of Him does not disconnect from God; anyone sinning has not seen Him and does not know Him. • 7 Little children, let no one take you in the wrong direction; the one who does what is just and pleasing to God is justly innocent, in exactly the same way that He is justly innocent.
Notice that John continues to use the phrase “become visible,” with the meaning being entirely from what he already said in John 3:3. – We are not yet visible, what we are, until Jesus becomes visible to us. When you see God, coming as Gospel Word through Christ Jesus, then you will know that you are already just like Him.
See Jesus for Real. I wrote most of this lesson before the stark meaning of the jeopardy of John 14 and 15 entered our picture. It is found in this lesson already, however, including this line – “Let no one take you in the wrong direction.”
One who suppresses his flesh has gone in the wrong direction; one who feeds his flesh has gone in the wrong direction. Life is something entirely different. 1 John 3:5 really gives us the solution. – SEE Jesus for real, for in Him alone is NO sin. The Apocalypse alone is our Salvation.
5-6 Covenant & Ruling Verse 6: Our goal is to love others as Jesus loves us, that is, to be like Jesus. We see Jesus alone, that He is our Way, our all-connection with God. The Apocalypse is our salvation; Jesus unveiled to us. Love, in all of its just actions, is ONLY out from God.
The Path of Salvation. In the summer of 1998, when I set myself on knowing Jesus alone, minus all the “Christian stuff,” God was setting me upon the path of Salvation. We see Jesus through faith as He is – inside of us and inside of one another, now our very and only Life. And Jesus is our All-Connection with God, with no thought of separation, even in the midst of all human agony (see Psalm 22).
7 Kingdom: There is only one antidote to “the flesh,” to “being taken in the wrong direction.” That one thing is to give ourselves as we find ourselves to be, including all our agony and foolish mistakes, to the Father through Jesus, just as Jesus did (see Psalm 22). “Trying to do what is right” is self-worship. We do what is just and True ONLY out from God Himself, connected with Him utterly through Jesus.
Defining Sin. • For this reason, the Son of God became visible, that He might remove the works of the devil, causing them to vanish. • 9 Anyone who is conceived out from God does not do sin, because the Sperm of God lives inside of him, and he is not capable, he does not have the ability to sin or to disconnect from God, because out from God he has been conceived.
Verse 9 is the verse that allows most theologists to throw out the radical essence of John’s letter. – Whoever that’s talking about, it certainly can’t be you. It is the primary argument against union with Christ now. This is the problem with turning hamartia, SIN, into a thing in itself, rather than trust in self and not in God. Keeping ourselves to ourselves is sin; it is the work of the devil. To be conceived of God is to give ourselves to the Father, regardless.
NO Separation. Let’s adjust the wording. 9 Anyone who is conceived out from God does not keep self for self, because the Sperm of God lives inside of him, and he is not capable, he does not have the ability to keep himself from God, because out from God he has been conceived. – The work of the devil is to see yourself cut off from God.
8-9 Definition: The work of the devil is to make you act out from the belief that God has forsaken you. Sin is NOT something in itself; it is only the refusal of Christ Jesus. Sin is to trust in self, to keep self for self, rather than giving all into God.
8-9 Covenant: Jesus alone connects us with God, the only thing that is not sin and disconnection.
9 Life: We live only inside of Jesus. We know that God shares all with us, that we cannot be forsaken by God.
Our True Concern. • 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the start, that we should love one another in full reciprocity.
One who is concerned with “sin, sin, everything is sin,” thinks little of loving one another as Jesus loves us. In fact such a one defines love only in terms of “do not sin.” One who is concerned with loving one another quickly sees those things that hurt others, yet gives himself to God, with himself, inside the blundering foolishness. This one then acknowledges God alone as our love for one another.
11 Ruling Verse 8: Loving others just like Jesus does not enter the concern of one who is focused on “do not sin.” One who loves as Jesus loves quickly sees those things that hurt others, yet gives himself to God, with himself, for their sake. God alone must be our full reciprocal Love.
The JEOPARDY Again. • 14 We know we are removed out from death, penetrating utterly into life, because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains inside of death.
The first jeopardy is receiving Jesus as our only life, and NOT refusing Him. The second jeopardy is receiving our brothers and sisters as Jesus to us, and NOT despising them.
14 Life: Life and death are always set before all, as the trees in the garden. The Proof of Life, the completion of Jesus, is our love for one another. The evidence of death is found in how we treat those who belong to Jesus.
14 Ruling Verse 7: Hebrews 3 is the jeopardy of the Gospel. The first jeopardy is receiving Jesus as our only life, and NOT refusing Him. The second jeopardy is receiving our brothers and sisters as Jesus to us, and NOT despising them.
1 John 3:16. • 16 By this we have known love, because He set forth his soul, His story of self, for us, for our sakes; • and we also are committed to setting forth our souls for the sake of our brothers and sisters.
Although 1 John 3:16 is a ruling verse, it is paired with John 15:12-13, and thus the expansion of this ruling thought of God is included in John’s gospel. I want to write the Gospel Comments for this verse here and the larger layout of Comments there at the same time, so that the meaning will connect seamlessly. But let’s bring back in the URGENCY from verse 2, that we are already just like Jesus, born of the same womb out from God, but that we don’t yet see what that means. We MUST SEE Jesus as He is. 1 John 3:16 is Jesus as He is.
By This We Know Love. 1 John 3:16 begins with “By this we know Love.” John began his rendition of the Covenant, our being just like Jesus, with “See the Love of God.”
A couple of years ago, God spoke to me, “My son, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” As I heard those words, I saw them applied to my whole life, every moment. From then until now, God has drawn me ever deeper into KNOWING Jesus inside Psalm 22, applied to myself, that I am part of Him there. The result is that I find myself fixated on the immense LOVE inside of which we are utterly caught. And I also see that the Nicene definition of the Atonement as “appeasement” BARS people from knowing such Love more than anything else could.
Giving Us to God. From the lesson on John 7: ~ God bound Himself to give to Jesus what Jesus wanted, for Jesus had bound Himself to give to the Father what God wanted. God WANTS a Church in which to dwell; Jesus WANTS you and me with Him inside of God. Word and Oath together. The moment Jesus said, “You have answered Me,” in Psalm 22, He gave us to God and God gave us to Jesus. This is the interaction that saves us, there is no other. ~
– AND WE ALSO, in the same way, as we give our brethren to God, so He gives them back to us as our own forever.
You see, Jesus said, “Ask Me whatever you want.” Jesus gave us to the Father even while feeling ALL CONTEMPT for us and for Himself (see Psalm 22).
Are You Not Like Jesus? If you feel contempt for your Christian brethren, are you not just like Jesus? Yet because we, like Jesus, have placed ourselves utterly into God in all that we are, regardless of our human feelings and judgments, we are able, like Jesus, to give our brethren with us to the Father in the same way.
Let me tell you what sin is. Sin is not seeing the completion of Jesus, that loving one another MEANS everything to God.
16 Covenant: AND WE ALSO is the central meaning and purpose of the Covenant, the deepest point of sharing with Jesus – even in His propitiation. BY THIS WE KNOW LOVE then takes us into the agony of Jesus’ soul upon the cross as He gave Himself to the Father, as He found Himself to be, with us inside of Him. This point of joining is Covenant, it is propitiation, it is sharing Hheart with God.
And We Also. 16 Definition: John used the words tithemi psuche, which means literally “set forth soul.” The translation “laid down life” is not sufficient for God’s meaning. It is David who takes us into Jesus’ soul as He made this saving agreement with God, and Isaiah who heard Jesus words, “Here am I, God, I and all the children (that’s us) whom You have given me.” “And we also” becomes the greatest sharing of Jesus with God.
16 Ruling Verse 8: Jesus came to prove to all that He loves the Father. He can do such a thing only through our Love for one another, His Completion inside of us. We are never more like Jesus than when we set forth our souls for one another, when we give ourselves to the Father, inside all our human agony, that each one whom He brings to us might be joined together with the Father through our offering.
God as Our Heart. • 19 By this we will know that we are out from the truth and will assure our hearts [possess the confidence of faith] before His face, 20 that if our heart should know blame and fault, that God as our heart is greater, and He knows all. • 21 Beloved, if our heart does not know blame or fault, we have the confidence to enter into God boldly.
This is John’s way of saying Hebrews 3, we are part of Christ IF we are confident that we are part of Christ. I suspect that John did spend a few years in deep fellowship with the writer of Hebrews, yet when John wrote, he wrote his own words.
This verse came to me just in the last few days. I was “feeling” blame inside my heart, that surely God must be displeased with me. Against that overwhelming feeling, I placed God as my heart greater, that He knows me and shares all with me.
God Knows All. 19 Ruling Verse 7: Lostness comes from misinterpreting human emotions, keeping them for ourselves in accusation against God. We, however give ourselves entirely into God, with all our contradicting feelings, in all confidence of faith.
19-20 Covenant: Jesus felt as bad as we do, against God, against Himself, and against others. Yet instead of unleashing those feelings against others, He gave them to the Father with Himself, and with you and me inside Himself. That giving of Jesus as He is, with us, to the Father is the ACT of the Covenant, it is the very and only doing that joins us with God.
21 Ruling Verse 6: Jesus removes all blame and fault from our hearts, filling our hearts with Himself, cleansing us from all consciousness of sins or disconnection from God. We live boldly inside of God. We know God because God knows us.
Ask and Believe. • 22 And whatever we might ask, we receive from Him, because we keep, guard, and watch over His commandments [inside of His full completion], and we are doing those things pleasing to Him. • 23 This is the commandment – that we should believe [have all confidence of faith] inside of the name and character of His Son, Jesus Christ, and that we should love one another, just as He gave His full completion to us. • 24 And the one keeping, guarding, and watching over His full completion, lives and remains inside of Him. And inside of this we know that He dwells inside of us, out from the Spirit whom He has given to us.
I ask the question again. Why, in all the preaching of Christianity, has no one suggested that, in asking, we could ask God to fulfill His Word to completion inside of us and then, in obedience to Jesus, believe we have received?
Such a God. Verse 23 is the two things we must do, stated together, believe into Jesus and love one another. Now, the Greek word for commandment is entole, literally, “inside of completion” but more so – “full completion.”
Those who eat of the wrong tree see this word as only an external command, something they must do of themselves. Those who eat of the Tree of Life see Jesus, see His Heart and great Desire, see their brethren as the object of His Desire, and who KNOW that, in loving Jesus, sharing Hheart with Him is where they want to be. Yet even Jesus can do nothing of Himself. Loving one another is God being Himself in our midst. Jesus is made COMPLETE when such a God is all we know.
Every Next Step with God. I have placed Give Thanks, Ask and Believe, and Speak Christ into Ruling Verse 7, because they describe the confidence of our ongoing walk with God.
Ruling Verse 7: Why would you not ask God to fulfill His Word, all that He speaks inside your entire human life? And in asking, why would you not believe, as Jesus and James both instruct, that you have received ALL you have asked? There is no other way to keep and honor His Word.
23 Definition: Verse 23 contains the two things we must do, believe INTO Jesus and Love one another.
24 Ruling Verse 10 and 3: We can love one another ONLY as we dwell inside of Jesus, where God put us, even as He dwells inside of us as every Word fulfilled. It is the Spirit God has made part of us by which we KNOW such a wondrous thing.
Everything Together. This Flow of Gospel Word is putting everything together inside of God’s meaning. We are seeing how every Ruling Verse is an essential part of every other Ruling Verse. Two of those which were once fairly vague, Ruling Verses 3 and 8, have become far more defined and specific for us through this Flow.
Then we place this entire lesson into Revelation Chapter 12, into our ministry in return to the Father for the sake of the Church in her hour of greatest need and greatest GLORY. The next lesson, “God Is Love,” is even greater, if that be possible. Indeed my definition of God’s purpose, what He wants, is proven remarkably clearly in 1 John 4, God’s big PROBLEM and God’s incredible solution.