For the Love of God: His Heart, Our Purpose

By Johnny D. Taylor

From the days of Eden through Christ's return, the Bible weaves the story of the greatest love, the greatest struggle between good and evil, and the greatest purpose of the human creature. You were created ultimately For the Love of God, and in the pages of God's Word we find the age-old story of His relentless pursuit of YOU.

We all have questions that only God can answer:
What is the meaning of my life?
What did Christ really go through on the Cross?
Why is there suffering in the world?
How much does God really love me?
What exactly is required in order to know for certain that I have Christ with me now, and that I will go to Heaven some day?

Author Johnny D. Taylor takes us on a journey through the ages, from creation to the end of time, and helps us experience and understand the great Plan of the Almighty, His wondrous work of Redemption, and the greatest Love Story ever told.

Through the Bible's pages, throughout all the ages, we understand that ultimately everything exists...
For the Love of God

• Language: English
• Publisher: Johnny D. Taylor
• Release date: Nov 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9780983342823

Book preview

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

His Heart, Our Purpose

By Johnny D. Taylor

Published by Johnny D. Taylor at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Johnny D. Taylor

www.godspurposeformylife.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Also from the King James Authorized Version, Public Domain.

Table of Contents

Dedication and Preface

BEGINNINGS

Why?

Masterpiece

Good

Companion

Companion Revisited

Mimshach

Adversary

THE FALL

Eden

Deceived

Adam’s Choice

Transaction

The Death of the King

The Death of the Queen

The Death of Creation

GETHSEMANE, THE SECOND GARDEN

The Press

The Choice

The Last Angel

Kiss

I AM

Trophy

Sifted

DEATH OF THE KING

Scourged

Via Dolorosa

Skull Hill

First Words from the Cross

Watching

Darkness

Transformation

Fall

Forsaken

Heartbreak

Satisfied

Search

AFTERMATH

Adversary

The Difference

Cleft

Beyond the Veil

The Weight of Free Will

Aftermath

THE THIRD GARDEN

Burial

Hope

Arise

RISEN

The Magdalene

The Denier

Proof

From Proof to Faith

The Way

Romans Road

Ascension

WHAT GOD GAINS

Satisfaction of a Savior

Greatest Joy

Servant

Child

Partner

Friend

He is Loved

UNITED

Death of a Saint

Resurrection

Rapture

MIDNIGHT CRY

Betrothed

The Waiting Bride

Go!

Come, Lord Jesus

MASTERPIECE

A Note from the Author

Additional Resources

Dedication

For my wonderful wife Evelyn Marie through whom God has blessed me beyond measure, and helped me know by experience the kind of love that Jesus Christ has for His Bride.

Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies? Proverbs 31:10

I can. Her name is Evelyn.

Most of all I dedicate this book to my Lord Jesus whose story is told in these pages. Thank you my Lord, God, and King for the inexpressible privilege of knowing you and your love.

Ultimately, this entire effort is an attempt to keep the first and greatest commandment of all.

"Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This book and any benefit it may bring is,

For the Love of God

Preface

There burns in the heart of God’s people a desire to know Him better. We long to understand our God and His ways. We seek to gain a profound sense of His heart.

Alongside that desire to know Him is a passionate desire to know ourselves. Who are we really? What does God love about us? Why did the Almighty create us from the dust of the earth in the first place, and set those cosmic events concerning us in motion so long ago?

We need to know Him. And we know intuitively by so doing we will also know ourselves.

And we need a sense of why, a handle on genuine purpose in our lives.

To that end this book is offered. If in its pages the reader can catch a glimpse of the white hot, infinite light and love of God, then it has served its purposes. Often enough, just a glimpse of the Almighty is sufficient to put a person on a life altering quest for more.

And there is much more to know of God and His love. The greatest understanding of all is of course found in the glorious story of Jesus Christ and the cross on which He died.

It is true that God loves us so much that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh was willing to sacrifice Himself on the most nightmarish instrument of death and torture ever conceived. Certainly we who are the objects of such love and sacrifice long to understand just what happened there and why. We need to know. We need to understand. We need to embrace His cross and all that it means in this life and for all eternity.

This is what I have tried to convey through this book. This story of love, the greatest love story of all time, has at its center not only the God of love, but the objects of His love: you and I. From before time began we have been on His mind, in His heart, and in His plans. The story of God and His love is our story as well, so the more we know of Him, the more we know of ourselves.

In my thirty years of studying the Bible, the greatest, most life-changing truths that I have discovered have been those that gave me insight into the heart and nature of our God. He is Magnificent! Awesome! Infinite in every quality! He is this and more than every other superlative description can conjure. He surpasses them all.

In fact, it is impossible to exaggerate God!

These truths of God and their application to life on earth make up the basis of this book. As I arranged and developed these most profound ideals of Christian understanding, one overriding theme was evident: the Story of God’s pursuit of love. God is love, and not only is love His Nature, it is also His desire; God wants to be loved.

From Genesis through Revelation there beats the strong rhythm of the heart of God and His eternal Plan. And it is the story of love.

This book is written in part like a novel. I knew that in order to tell it in story form, I would have to connect the dots of what the Bible literally says with a bit of storytelling and imagination. What I didn’t know was that upon deep and extended study, I would find many more dots, solid Bible truths, than I had anticipated.

As a result, I have been able to keep creative license at a minimum. I have been amazed at how much of the story can be uncovered through diligent study, and how unified and consistent God’s Word is from Genesis through Revelation. I have also included many Scripture references at the end of each chapter and encourage the reader to search out and study the Scriptures for yourself that your faith be not based on what I say, or any private interpretation, but on the Word of God.

So this is not a work of fiction, but as true and detailed interpretation of His story as I can muster. Neither do I claim to have received any special revelation. It is simply my attempt to use my God-given gifts and talents as a Bible student and storyteller to help the reader gain a profound understanding of the heart of God as revealed in His Holy, inerrant, eternal Word.

My prayer and hope for you, dear Reader, is that you will discover the true and living God in these pages, the love of God that surpasses knowledge, and gain a deeper understanding of His heart, and your purpose.

And if you are not absolutely certain that you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, if you are not completely sure that when you die you will go to Heaven to be with Jesus Christ forever, then please pay special attention to the chapters on From Proof To Faith, The Way and the Romans Road to salvation in the RISEN section of this book. Here it is explained exactly what you need to know and do to have that complete assurance of your relationship with Christ, and the peace and joy that come with it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this work; I’ve tried to make it more than worth your while.

I ask the blessing and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the peace and fulfillment of His Spirit, and the boundless love of the Father upon all who read these words.

Johnny D. Taylor, 2010

~~~

BEGINNINGS

Why?

"My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?"

Screams, curses and cries echoed through the thick darkness that shrouded Mt. Calvary as Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, shouldered the twin burdens of the sin of man and the wrath of God.

All attention-- all attention--, was riveted on that little hill as the very center point of all time and eternity, the very crux of all human existence was unfolding.

Angels stared in horror.

Satan laughed in ecstasy.

The souls of mankind hung in the balance.

And the Father scornfully turned His Holy back on His only Son.

So that it was there, in the pitch darkness of heart and mind, in the lostness of soul, and at the uttermost end of strength, the Son of God sent out a question that yet echoes to every recess of Heaven and hell, time and eternity.

Why?

Why, God, why?

Why the cross? Why the suffering? Why the sin? Why Satan, and sorrow, death and hell?

Why anything and everything? Why create any of this in the first place and then let it spiral seemingly out of control into total chaos and abject darkness?

Most of all, why send Your only Son from Heaven to the torture of crucifixion?

It is from here, at this pivotal point of history, when the Son of God hangs writhing in agony on a cruel tree driven into the skull of a godforsaken hill that we also fling our greatest question to God:

Why?

And it is here on the bloody ground at the foot of God’s altar that we find the supreme answer.

It all started when…

~~~

Masterpiece

In the beginning, God ached.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! Deuteronomy 6:4

The desire to create burns white hot in the heart of the artist. The need to express himself and the vision that grips his imagination drives him more forcefully than the need for his necessary food. He must create, he must bring into material being the idea that has been conceived in his soul. He must bring forth the image inside him. He will not rest until he brings to life and light the vision in his heart.

So he gathers his material and tools, places his model before him, and brings to bear all his heart, all his mind, all his soul, and all his strength on this one vital task: to create his masterpiece.

Now a masterpiece is a piece of the master. It carries his mark, is infused with his nature, expresses his heart, and bears his image. Take away the artist and you have no art. Take away the essence of the master and you have no masterpiece.

So in a very real way, a masterpiece is in essence a self-portrait.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2

The first creative act in our universe by the greatest Artist of all was to display a formless void, shrouded in darkness, and awash with the inky depths of murky seas.

Why was the earth created in such a state? When His Spirit brooded over the picture of emptiness before Him, what did He see?

Could it be that God at creation’s onset painted a Self-portrait? Could it be that like the earth His heart was empty and void, His Face dark with tears, and His Spirit stirred by a great need? Could it be that in the beginning God’s heart ached?

But what could the heart of Almighty God possibly need?

Certainly a creation that was void and empty, shrouded in darkness and awash in tears bore not the reflection of His infinite glory. Perhaps there was another creation that would stand as His crowning achievement. What would ultimately be His Masterpiece, the truest expression of His image?

Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27

With a mere utterance of a Word, God created the universe. Stars, planets, sun and moon, clouds, oceans, mountains, plants and animals, all were spoken into existence by the infinite power of the Word of God.

But on the sixth day, to bring about the culmination of all He had made, the Lord God held His peace.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

As the Lord God began the task of creating mankind in His own image, He dug His hands deep into the soil of a newborn earth, and deeper still into His own heart. From what He found there He fashioned the perfect body of a perfect man. Then He breathed into its nostrils His own Breath, Intellect, Spirit, and Life, and the man became a living, breathing soul.

From the needful heart of the incomplete earth, that poor and pitiful substance of emptiness and void, He brought forth a creation that was an expression of His very Image.

Here then is His masterpiece, a piece of the Master. He created mankind to carry His mark, be infused with His nature, to be an expression of His heart, and to bear His image.

Like the Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, mankind was created a triune being of body, soul, and spirit. Mankind was given intelligence and creativity, an appreciation for beauty and glory, a righteous nature, the ability to choose their own actions, power and dominion over their environment, and many other attributes that have their genesis in the Creator God.

And most importantly they were given a capacity for love.

Just like God.

Notes:

Scripture references for this chapter:

Deuteronomy 6:4

Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27

Genesis 2:7

~~~

Good

…and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:4

God created the pristine earth with unspoiled wilderness, perfect mountains, magnificent seas, and drenched it all in purest light.

When He made the light He declared it good.

The firmaments: Good.

Land and sea, herb and animal, sun and moon: Good, good, good.

Seven times God proclaimed that in His Creation all was well; all was good.

And then something was not good.

Now how could anything in God’s new world, a world untouched by sin, be considered anything other than good? What was the incompletion, the lack in God’s otherwise perfect creation of good things?

And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone… Genesis 2:18

Loneliness had shown up in God’s perfect world, and had become the single point of need in all creation.

But it was not just a thing lacking, and certainly not an oversight on the Creator’s part. This loneliness was a vestige of the void and emptiness of the world created originally in darkness. And it was a specter of what drove God to create in the first place.

Adam, the man alone, is creation’s masterpiece and therefore a piece of the Master. He is created in the image of God, and displays the heart