Episode 002: Proof of The One Thing

If you caught episode #1, you'll remember that God’s love is the game-changer. But to truly embrace this, you need undeniable proof. In this episode, I’ll provide three compelling proofs that God's love really is that transformative force. Plus, I’ll show you how understanding these proofs not only deepens your awareness of God’s immense love for you but also allows you to feel His love more profoundly. Prepare to have that persistent feeling of inadequacy shattered as you experience the reality of God’s love.

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Transcript

Speaker 0:11

Hi, welcome back to Trudia Masterpiece Podcast.

Speaker 0:14

This is a Ministry of Craig Walker Coaching. My name is Craig Walker, and I'm your host, and I'm thrilled to be with you today as we jump into this second episode.

Speaker 0:25

I want to give you the second part of what we started in our first, and that's to demonstrate to you that God's love, it's that one thing that changes everything.

Speaker 0:36

When you see that you belong to God, that he accepts you, that God believes in you, he sees your potential, even if you don't, and he's for you, regardless of what you've done, what you haven't done, God is always on your side working for your good. We said, when you get God's love, God's love just gets you.

Speaker 0:58

Now, I told you that I can prove this to you.

Speaker 1:00

So let's get started with proof number one that God's love, it's that one thing that changes everything. How do I know it? I can give you a few reasons:

Speaker 1:08

1. I know it because I see the chaos that it caused the moment that we lost sight of God's love.

Speaker 1:14

Let's just start at the beginning. Let's travel back in time to when God said, Let there be, and there was. God created the world and all that it contains, and on the sixth day he created humans. He placed Adam in the garden spot of the world, giving him a food to eat, a job to do, and a command to obey. The Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden, and I'm reading this to you from Genesis chapter 2.

Speaker 1:39

He placed him in the garden of Eden to watch over it, but the Lord warned him, You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die. In other words, guaranteed. Then God said, Hmm, it isn't good that man should be alone.

Speaker 1:59

So God created a helper who is just right for him. Now, all is good up to this point.

Speaker 2:06

Adam, the first man, Eve, the first woman. They just walked in perfect fellowship with God and they walked in perfect harmony with each other. I know this is hard for us who live east of Eden to imagine that in this marriage they never fussed. They never fought. There was never any insecurity. Neither ever said a condescending word. There was never this, well, you're just like your father. He never said, you're just like your mother. No passive aggressive behavior. They worked together like a hand in a glove. Neither cared who was the hand and who was the glove. This is incredible. This is marriage at its best.

Speaker 2:46

But, and you know the story, trouble was brewing. There is a snake in the grass. The serpent showed up tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Now, this was masterfully done how he got her to eat. He contested God's love. Now she saw the tree was beautiful and its fruit fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom that it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and she ate it. And she gave some to her husband, who was right there with her, and he ate it too. I think he was there just watching. Is she really gonna die? At that moment, the scripture says, when she didn't die, their eyes were opened and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness, so they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Speaker 3:32

Underline these three words. "At that moment," the moment they ate what God said, don't eat, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame. Shame? What's that? Shame's that feeling that something's wrong with me, something's missing, or something's broken, or something so deeply ingrained in me, I just can't change. Shame's that feeling that I'm not enough and I'm not worthy of love and belonging. Now here's the question. What happened that caused them to feel shame, to feel the need to cover up? And you could say sin, and you would be right, I agree. But I want you to think more deeply. You see, sin was the root, no doubt about that. But shame, that was the fruit. I want to slow down here just for a bit. I want to I want to share a bit of theology. I'm gonna be quick. Uh, this will be painless, but if you don't get this, you'll miss the significance of all that's just happened. Now remember, God had warned them if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are sure to die. Well, they ate. They didn't die. Well, not physically. That wouldn't happen for another few hundred years. But they did die spiritually. I mean, the human spirit within them died. Now, stick with me just a minute longer and we'll be done with this.

Speaker 5:07

The spirit of man is that part of humans that communes with God's spirit. Without a spirit, they can't see, they can't sense God. Without a spirit, they're left to experience the world with their physical senses. Yeah, they can experience the world through what they see, what they hear, what they taste, smell, and can touch. But they're incapable of sensing spiritually. See, that part of man died. Spiritually speaking, humans are in the dark. They can't sense God. Therefore, they don't sense his absolute love at that moment. Now, if you're tracking with me, what I'm about to tell you, it's gonna make perfect sense.

Speaker 5:57

The moment the spirit within died, they saw something they had never seen before.

Speaker 6:05

At that moment, they saw themselves without the light of God's absolute love.

Speaker 6:14

Because they were in the dark to God, they were in the dark to themselves. No wonder they thought something's wrong with me and they felt the need to cover up. The moment they ate the forbidden fruit, shame was born. And listen to this at the birth of shame came the death of their true identity. They no longer see themselves as God's beloved children, they no longer recognize themselves as God's work of art. Insecurity, it's now a part of their life. Without the light of God's love, everything changes. Imagine Adam and Eve taking a long walk after that fateful bite. They get a little too far away from home. Adam can't find his way back. Eve says with a smirk, You're lost, aren't you? Adam replies defensively. No, I'm just exploring. Ever since that moment in history, humans have been on the search for what was lost. That one thing.

Speaker 7:16

Like the song says, I was looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces, searching their eyes and listen to this line, looking for traces of what I'm dreaming of. You see, human hunger, that deep thirst that we have, uh, that that drive to know, to experience intimate love, it's a longing that was created by God for you to enjoy. You were made to be loved and to love as you are loved. Now suddenly life isn't working. They planted dreams, they harvested disappointment, they searched for significance and fulfillment. You know what they reaped? Competition. The once perfect relationship, it's now an open wound festering with fear that breeds jealousy, outburst of anger, arguing, selfish ambition, envy, dissension and division.

Speaker 8:15

Shame is the birthplace of all that is bad. And since that time, everyone born has been born in the same condition. We were born spiritually dead. But we still need to know God's love. We still do need to experience God's love, like we need our next breath. You know, without the light of God's spirit, we're in the dark to God's love.

Speaker 8:48

And in this condition, human goodness, it deteriorates faster than tissue paper in a tornado. We were made to be loved, and when we don't sense it, we're at our worst. Now, I know that that some of you are savvy, you're sharp theologically, and you're thinking, but Craig, all right, I have God's spirit. I trusted Christ. I'm born again. I got spirit, the spirit living in me. So why do I struggle to sense his love? Well, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you, that's no doubt. But even you can become indifferent and even deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, look out. My wife can tell you when my relationship with God weakens, my bad side, it strengthens. I become insecure. I want more respect than she can give. I want to be heard more than she can possibly listen. I'm quick to get angry. I can be judgmental, cynical, hard to please. I doubt her intentions, I mistrust her motives, I question her actions. And by the way, please, please, don't judge me, okay? You're no different than I am, are you? See, little things irritate you too. You shout, do you seriously not know how to put toilet paper on the holder? Everyone knows that paper comes off the front and not the back. Why don't you ever pick up after yourself? Do you think you married the maiden? Where does all this ugliness come from? If you've been tracking with me, you know. It started the moment that you lost sight of God's love. You need to know God's love like you need your next breath. You could say love's like air. As long as you have it, you don't think about it. But the moment you lose it, that's all you think about. Seeing God's love, his absolute love, it's the one thing. If you want to win over fear, that sense of shame that you're just not enough, you must learn to see how very much our Father loves us. For he calls us his children, and that's what we are. I know, I know that God's love is that one thing because I see the chaos it caused the moment we lost sight of it.

Speaker 10:57

Okay, here's the second reason I know that God's love is that one thing:

Speaker 11:03

I know because I see the price that God paid to demonstrate his love.

Speaker 11:10

Now, I want you to track with me. Let's just say that love really is that one thing. We're all buying in, we all get it, we all agree to it. If that were true, if love is the thing, the one thing that changes everything, destroys shame, puts an end to fear, insecurity, and all the ugliness that it creates. With that being true, if you were God, what would you do to put an end to all the badness that that shame creates? What would you do?

Speaker 11:35

Well, I don't know about you, but I know what I would do. I would do something undeniable to demonstrate to the world just how much I love them. See, when people see how much I love them, only then would they, only then would they see their true identity as my beloved, my work of art. That I created for my purposes. Ah, but wait, you're smart. You know that there's a problem. Humans don't have a spirit, so they can't see God. They can't sense him. How's God gonna do that? Ah, I know what I could do. I could do something in the realm of the physical. That's what I would do. Oh, wait. That's what God did, isn't it? Yeah. Listen to this. John chapter 1, verse 1 and verse 14. In the beginning, the word, Jesus, it already existed. The word was with God, and the word was God. So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of what? Unfailing love and faithfulness? He demonstrated that to God, us to he demonstrated that to us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. Listen to this, Philippians 2, 6 through 8. Though he was God, he did not think equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being, the physical. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on the cross.

Speaker 13:13

Why would he do that? The scripture tells us. John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. You see, they say you never know what something's truly worth until you see what another's willing to pay for it. That's true. Look what God paid for you. Romans 5.8, God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Speaker 13:44

Years ago, I was leading a Colossians 2.7 Bible study. It's a small group study in my home where the participants were, at this point in the study, they were learning what Christ has done for us. And everybody had been assigned the reading of the crucifixion. Terry was a young wife, a young mother, and a brand new believer that was in the group. Well, everything that she was learning was brand new to her. She wasn't raised around Christianity. When she arrived at the meeting, it was obvious that she had been crying. She'd been crying for a long time. Her eyes and her face were swollen, fearing the worst. I said, Terry, you okay? What's wrong? I'll never forget her response. She said, they crucified Jesus. And they crucified him for my sins. Now, is it just me? Or at times, are you also as unmoved by the story of Jesus' crucifixion as you are the story of George Washington crossing the Delaware? I mean, like, yeah, the significance is off the chart amazing, uh, but still, I sometimes I just hear it like it's history.

Speaker 14:52

Sometimes I respond to the news that Jesus was crucified for your sins, like I used to respond when I heard that someone had undergone heart surgery. You know, I'd say, Oh, I'm so sorry, but with an upbeat voice, but look at you now. I just did an emotional leapfrog over the trauma, but look at you now. You know, in the same way, um, I used to say, you know, talk about how Jesus died for my sins, but look at me now. And I'd tell this story how my life had changed. Just doing a leapfrog over what he experienced on my behalf. In the fall of 2022, I had open heart surgery. You know, now I have a whole new appreciation for when someone tells me that they've experienced open heart surgery.

Speaker 15:35

I know what it's like to have my chest bone sawn into and wired back shut. You know, today when I hear that someone's had open heart surgery, I have a whole new appreciation for what they experienced. I don't do that leapfrog. I say, what? Oh man, I feel your pain. I'm so sorry. How did you endure that? I think it'd be helpful for us to stop and to look at the crucifixion again. See, Roman crucifixion, it was just it was not just another form of capital punishment. It wasn't like the electric chair or the gas chamber, which was its goal is just to remove an evil person from society. No. No, the crucifixion, to put it bluntly, was a professional form of humiliation and torture. Watching a the crucifixion was like watching someone be professionally, methodically mocked while they're being tortured to death. And Jesus, he voluntarily, he purposefully endured the cross on our behalf. The crucifixion, it's it's God's way of shouting in the most demonstrable way possible, I love you.

Speaker 16:53

Yeah, God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death.

Speaker 17:07

And as if Paul paused for effect and said, Death on a cross. If you fail to appreciate the price that God paid to demonstrate his love for you, you will fail to appreciate your own true worth and your identity. It's doomed. And by the way, it's so easy to miss, isn't it?

Speaker 17:32

I remember one time my wife told me about her favorite flower. She described it in great detail, wanting to be a good husband. I took notes. I even looked up the flower online, and I came across a painting that looked like what she might have described. And the painting was nice, but it wasn't that nice. I thought it was kind of like one of those paint by numbers pictures. Well, I was shocked and I was thrilled that I was sitting in my office by myself and no one could read my thoughts when I read the story that followed. Well, the painting was of Vincent Van Gogh that was painted in 1888 and 1889. Get this. Almost a hundred years later, in 1987, that same painting was purchased for $39.9 million. Now, I may not have personally been impressed with the painting, but when I discovered who the artist was and what another was willing to pay for it, my appreciation skyrocketed.

Speaker 18:28

Here's my point. If you think little of yourself, if you struggle with that not enough feeling, that fear that something's wrong with you, stop and think again. Recall that God called you his masterpiece and consider the price that he paid for you. See? See how very much the Father loves us. Now, I want to give you the third reason. Here's a third reason that I know God's love is that one thing. I love this. This is good. Stick with me, okay? I know it because I see the difference his love makes when we get it.

Speaker 19:14

Studies show that nothing good comes from lovelessness. I think most of us would agree with that. Statistics from the Department of Health demonstrate that children who grow up without a father's love, they account for listen to this, 63% of youth suicides, 90% of all homeless and runaways, 85% of children who show up in behavioral disorders come from homes without a father's love. 71% of all high school dropouts, 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers, 85% of youths in prison, 71% of teenage pregnancies, they all come from homes without a father's love. It seems to me that these kids are just shouting, does anyone love me? You see, love makes the difference. I listened to an interview with Craig Groschel and Albert Tate. This is a leadership podcast. Albert Tate is the lead pastor at Fellowship Church in Los Angeles County, California. And when he was asked during the interview to describe his style of leadership, Albert said, Well, my leadership style, it's at its best when I'm in a room of people and I'm seeing people, celebrating people, loving people, and I'm speaking to the greatness that's inside of them. Whether they believe it or not, Albert went on to say, once people tap into your belief in them, there's not much they won't do for that vision and that feeling. Listen, love is what makes the difference.

Speaker 20:57

It's been said, if you want to get rid of your pastor, start bragging on him. Tell him how much you appreciate him, what a great job he's doing, how much you love his preaching. If you do that, your pastor will be gone in just a few weeks because he'll work so hard at getting better at leading and preaching. Another church is going to be glad to come along and take him off your hands. Love, it just makes the difference.

Speaker 21:18

Love brings out our best, doesn't it? Think about that person in your life or those persons who brought out the best in you. For me, it was my Aunt Barbara and Michael Kenneth. Well, what did they do that inspired me? Well, the same thing that those people who inspired you to be your best did for you. They just loved you absolutely. With them, you just belonged. With them, they just believed in you and they were always for you. You see, love is what makes the difference.

Speaker 21:52

Now, I need to be quick to tell you I don't want you to miss this that human love is just a shadow of The real deep need that we all have for God's love. It's that one thing that makes the difference.

Speaker 22:08

Now, I want you to know we come full circle with our proof. This is the good part. This is where I show you where in the beginning we lost God's Spirit and we lost sight of God's love. Remember that? It makes sense now that we're going to return to the Spirit to see God's love.

Speaker 22:26

  The third reason I think love is the one thing:

Speaker 22:26

Love is the one thing that changes everything.

Speaker 22:26

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 3, 14 through 19, he said, When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and I pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. Now, what was Paul thinking about that made him fall to his knees before the Father? He was thinking about God's love, all that he had written about in chapters 1 through 3, of what God had done for us to provide for our salvation when we were dead in our sins, living in shame. Paul was thinking about all of those things. Ephesians chapters 1 through 3, this is the handbook for Christian identity. So it makes sense that Paul would arrive at the pinnacle, the peak of his argument when he comes to the end of chapter 3. And he does. When I think of all these things, I fall to my knees. He said, I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with what? Inner strength through his spirit. It makes sense that Paul prayed that we would be strengthened with the Spirit. When we lost sight of God's Spirit, we lost sight of God's love. Now we're believers and we're strengthened by the Spirit so that then Christ will make his home in your hearts.

Speaker 23:45

This is verse 17. As you trust in him, follow the progression. Strengthened by the Spirit, trust in Christ. Christ is at home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots, this is what happens. Your roots will grow down into God's love and they will keep you strong. When the Spirit of Jesus is living in you, your roots grow down into God's love, like a tree sending its roots down into the earth soil, which makes you strong. God's love makes you strong. Well, that's exciting. That's great news, but there's more to understand, more to appreciate. Now, having just explained the process, Paul now, for the sake of understanding, describes this process high again, highlighting the impact of becoming rooted in God's love. It just gets better. Follow me now.

Speaker 24:41

Verse 18. And he says, and may you have the power to understand as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will, oh, this is so good. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Word power, this is the strongest word possible to describe ability. According to my lexicon, it's stronger than the word dunamis, from which we get our word dynamite. This isn't, this is not a wish. This is not a pipe dream for Paul. This is his prayer. This is possibility for you. God's love.

Speaker 25:27

It's that one thing, the one thing that changes everything.

Speaker 25:30

When you get how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is for you, Paul says, you will be made complete. Anyone need to be made complete with all the fullness of life.

Speaker 25:42

You want to have full life, get God's love and power. This comes from God. When you get God's love, God's love just gets you. Translated. When you're strengthened by God's Spirit, you begin to walk by faith. Christ becomes at home in your heart, and you see yourself in the light of God's love.

Speaker 26:05

You discover that you're enough. There's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing missing. There's nothing broken. There's nothing so deeply ingrained in me that I can't live a full life. A life that I was born to love. Because that's who you are.