Receiving and giving is the law of the universe, because they are part of the very nature of God.
Our sun gives light, which travels 150 million kilometres to our planet. Plants receive that light through their leaves, and through photosynthesis, they convert light to energy. That energy allows them to give oxygen into the atmosphere. Just breathe in and out once for me. You just received that oxygen in and gave out carbon dioxide, which will plants will receive and turn it into oxygen to give back to you.
And whether you want to look at the water cycle or any other part of nature, it all works in exactly the same way.
We are all part of a community of God’s creation.
The Dead Sea in Israel is dead because it receives fresh water but never gives. It has no outlet to the sea.
A branch that receives the nourishment from the vine ,but simply tries to store it up, and does not produce fruit will wither and die. That’s what Jesus meant when he said,
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers(John 15:5-6, NIV).
I guarantee to that in any relationship, if all you do is receive love, but you don’t give it back and share it, that relationship will die.
Love Has to Love
Love receives and love gives. You can’t store up love. Love has to love. You have to give it away.
God must be a community of three eternal interdependent persons because of this same law of receiving and giving. God cannot be love unless God has someone to love. And God has existed before creation. And so, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have existed eternally simply receiving and giving love among each other, until that love erupted into fruit. We call it creation. Because that’s what love does. It creates beauty. It creates intelligence. It creates wonder. It creates more love.
And now, as the outworking of this love, Jesus has come into the world, and through this one act of redemption at Calvary, he invites you to join into this eternal community of love.
At the Cross, Jesus took that infinity of love that he had received from the Father from everlasting to everlasting, and he poured it out into the world for your forgiveness of sin and for your salvation. Nothing else could have saved you.
What sin does is that it cuts you off from the law of receiving and giving. Sin tells you that you are unworthy to receive love, and that it’s too dangerous to give it.
To be outside God’s community of love is death; to be within it is everlasting life. God is inviting you to open your heart to receive more of God’s love, and open your life to share it with others.
Let the love flow. It’s the secret to ultimate happiness.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.
About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question.
