The Sacredness of Life

MEMORY SELECTION: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” —Romans 13:10

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:21-26; Exodus 20:13; I John 3:11-15

ALTHOUGH the new creature is not under the Law Covenant, he is, nevertheless, under the law of the new commandment—the law of love. The law of love is all-inclusive, in that it encompasses every other law that God gave.

We learn that love works no injury to its neighbor and that the fulfilling of that feature of the divine law applies to our duty to love our neighbor as ourselves. Yet love can do more than this, and in the case of our Lord it did much more, in that love motivated the sacrifice of the rights and privileges of his life. Jesus laid his life down in death, the Just for the unjust, that we might be brought to God, and that, in due time, all the families of the earth will be blessed through the merit of his shed blood.

Each true follower of Jesus must recognize the standard of perfect love as it is expressed in the devotion of the Master Teacher. He must then use that standard to measure his own thoughts, words, and doings in an attempt to increase his own degree of love.

The way of love as it is seen in the life of Jesus, however, is a difficult way. During the present Gospel Age the invitation has been extended to those who desire to follow our Lord’s example. They do this by laying aside their own preferences and giving themselves in complete consecration to God. There will not be many who will be willing to walk in the narrow way during the present age of sacrifice. If faithful, however, those who do thus follow their Lord will receive the rewards promised: glory, honor, immortality, and the privilege of living and reigning with the glorified Lord in the kingdom of God.

Because of inherited weaknesses through the fall of father Adam, mankind is presently incapable of keeping the divine laws perfectly. An attempt to measure one’s life by the perfect standard, as set by Jesus, is extended only to those who are begotten of the Holy Spirit. They have the promised assistance of God in their daily lives. God’s grace is manifested by the provision whereby they are justified by the blood of Jesus, which was shed on their behalf. They are recipients of the merit of that sacrifice, which was presented to the Heavenly Father on behalf of the new creation throughout the present age.

God’s grace covers the unintentional shortcomings of his people. But it is the responsibility of each child of God to develop the proper heart condition in connection with the heavenly calling. The admonition is that those who do not come up to the spirit of the law of love and have the required heart intentions will not receive the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

In consideration of the selected scriptural reading for this week’s lesson, we note the passage in Matthew’s Gospel which points to the necessity of having the right heart condition. “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother … shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [vain fellow, margin], shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire [Gehenna, eternal death].” (Matt. 5:21,22) The Master taught that slander is an assassination of another person’s character and that anger will bring judgment in the kingdom.

John reminds us (I John 3:11,12) that “this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” It was selfishness that caused Cain to commit the first murder in human history.

When Messiah’s kingdom is established, all the families of the earth will be given ample opportunity to learn righteousness and the way of love.

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