Do not fear because the love of God is with you
 
The number 16 in the Bible has a consistent meaning of love from Genesis to Revelation. Before I touch on this divine design of the Bible relative to the number 16 let me just express some incredible truths about this subject.
 
I believe if people read this whole article they probably will be more open to pursue the essence of God which is His incomprehensible love for you. I know after I finished this biblical study I was more convinced than ever to seek after this high calling that we have in Jesus Christ.
 
According to the Bible this is the one emotion that makes all the difference no matter what happens in life.This is higher than anything spoken of in Scripture. I will stand up and proclaim the love of God through His Son Jesus Christ because this is the truth that stood up for me.What was the reason God sent His only Son to die on the cross for the sins of mankind? The motivation was love. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,but have everlasting life." John 3:16
 
Both love and hate are powerful emotions but with hate you have to keep feeding it all of the time. It is never satisfied. Love is content, honest and reaches out to other people.Hate does not want anything to do with helping anybody.
 
A person can either reach out to others for a selfish reason or for an altruistic reason. If you don't know what altruistic means, in simple terms it is to do something with no selfish motive. To do something for a greater reason above ourselves for the benefit of somebody else or other people.
 
The world for the most part teaches us to be selfish. In fact that is the way human nature is programmed. Jesus Christ changes us from the inside so we will desire to love God and other people. It does not come natural to us.
 
Jesus Christ shows us that love is the only way and it will last for eternity. Let me give you one example. In 1st Cor.13:13 the Bible says,"And now abideth faith,hope,charity,these three: but the greatest of these is charity." Why is love the greatest? We won't need faith or hope in eternity. Only love will be present throughout the ages to come.
 
We could have very eloquent gifts and actually be successful but without love nothing we ever do will last.That makes me think. Whatever I do, there had better be the love of Jesus Christ working through me because according to the Bible everything else will die.
 
Let me just say a couple of other truths about this subject. God does not just have great love for us. He has perfect love. Great love forgives. Perfect love does not even see sin. Remember Jesus Christ died for our sins. I would think this should motivate me to want to experience the love of God.
 
Another thing that I would like to point out is experiencing and understanding the love of God is an ongoing revelation that will last for all eternity. Many times with technical knowledge we will grasp something and never lose what we learned. The Bible says, "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His Kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:7.
 
It should also be noted that Ephesians 3:17-18 says, (17) "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith: that ye, being rooted and grounded in love. (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breath, and length, and depth,and height."
 
In science 4 dimensions  (1) breath (2) length (3) depth (4) height are incomprehensible. That is why Ephesians 3:19 goes on to say, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." On the one hand we can not comprehend the love of God but on the other hand we recognize and realize the love of God if we have it flowing through our spirit.
 
I was listening to a few problems that my friends have and comparing them to my own circumstances. Little and big problems that just surround our lives.Then I just thought about our trails and came to the conclusion that God is transcendent over our dilemmas. When we draw close to the love of God, no matter what we are going through Jesus Christ becomes bigger and our problems become smaller.The reason for this is because we serve a big God who is stronger and more powerful than our situation but compassionate enough to allow us to experience His love. It is at this point that our perspective changes and our focus is more centered on Jesus Christ.
 
I will be the first to admit I'm so busy in my life that I barely have the time to do anything, You can probably imagine I don't always feel spiritual if you know what I mean. I understand this truth that I must yield to the love of God because everything I just mentioned is fleeting.The love of God lasts for all eternity. By the way, my problems in life do not give me comfort; however, the incomprehensible yet reassuring love of Jesus Christ does indeed give me true closure.That is what we are all looking for because God designed us this way.
 
Even if we figure out our problems we may become worse. This is why the love of Jesus Christ transcends our troubles so that we will be able to get through our hardships.Christians need to fight for their authority to abide in the love of God. When fear arises try and resist this destructive emotion. It should be noted that if we do not pursue and abide in the love of God we will immediately search for some sort of substitute to replace the void that is now in our hearts. We were made to be one with Jesus Christ in His love. A replacement will not work. It is temporary at best.
 
Sixteen is the number in the Bible that stands for love. Jehovah in the Bible is in 16 different forms under 16 different titles in the Old testament. This is who we serve and all these Holy attributes encompass the love of God. This is one piece of evidence that God really does love us and in return He desires that we be the recipients of His love. I don't have the time or space to go over all 16 of the attributes of Jehovah which starts with our Creator (Genesis 2) and ends with, "The Lord my God." Zechariah 14:5. I am here because God created me and as one of His children I can say, "The Lord my God." He created me. He is my God and He loves me.
 
When I was reading all of the verses on love the same redundant theme rises to the surface over and over. "And to love Him with all thy heart, and with all understanding, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33.
 
This overwhelming theme that God loves us so much and that He desires His children to love Him back and love people reminds me of the cross. When Jesus Christ died for humanity one board stood vertical and the other board went across horizontal. I think you probably know what I am about to say. We need to love God ( the vertical board ) and other people ( the horizontal board ) because the cross has a vertical and horizontal board. By loving God and our brothers,sisters and people that don't even believe in Jesus Christ, we are exercising the balance that the cross represents.  
 
Let me give you an example. When Christians finally get to heaven we are going to love,adore and worship God, but did you ever really stop and think about the level of friendships through love that we are going to be able to cultivate in Paradise. I believe we are going to be able to go pretty deep into love with Jesus Christ, His created creatures and regenerate of all time.
 
Most people that I am writing to just want to be raptured at this point because heaven is pure love through Jesus Christ as opposed to the 7 year tribulation period down here on earth which will be a very fearful time.
 
It would have to be obvious that the world economy is just about to crash and that we are very close to all these things that the Bible speaks of regarding end time Bible prophecy.This is one of the most important signs to look for according to the Word of God.
 
I am studying the world economy and it is bad but I believe exactly what the Bible teaches. It will take the rapture of the church to crush the world financial system.
 
Imagine a house on fire.Unfortunately we had some houses catch on fire over here and fireman did get hurt.Think about the second floor crashing down on the first floor.There was a fireman that explained to me that if a house fire gets really bad, the second floor will fall on the first floor. That is what is going to happen after the rapture of the Church. Right now the house is on fire but the second story has not fallen on the first floor.This happens after the rapture because according to Revelation chapter 6 an economic collapse is a judgment reserved for the 7 year tribulation period.
 
When all the Christians get taken up in the rapture, that second floor will fall on the first floor. People will get hurt and according to the Bible the economy will turn into a disaster. I don't have the time to go over the verses but I believe the number one current event sign that we are close to the rapture is a fallen economy around the whole world. It just seems that God is showing people how fragile this earthly financial system really is and how far it can drop.
 
To get back to my original subject, I try to tell as many people as possible and urge them to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Some individuals are starting to listen because of all the fear in the world.I tell them there is another side to this whole story but people still tend to hang on to the world. Read Revelation chapters 6 to 20.You may change your mind.
 
Jesus Christ is love and He desires to save people from all this fear in many different ways but primarily through the rapture. The greatest event in the history of all mankind is just about to take place and we should not be quiet about this wonderful truth.    
 
I think there is a point that should be noted. Many Christians read 1st Corinthians chapter 13 which probably is the greatest chapter in the entire Bible about love. The Bible at this point starts to paint a picture that the biblical meaning of the number 16 is associated with love. In this love chapter 16 things are said about love.This fact seems to give more evidence that the number sixteen symbolizes love in the Bible.
 
When the Apostle Paul's name was mentioned at the 16th time in Scripture the Bible says, "It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barbaras and Paul.That sounds like love to me."Acts 15:25.
 
The most intriguing truth about the subject of love for me is when the Bible compares this emotion to fear. Being afraid is so part of our nature.
 
I would even go as far in saying that if we don't have the love of Jesus Christ then some degree of fear will reside inside of us.
 
First of all as Christians God did not even give us the spirit of fear. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2nd Timothy 1:7. Notice out of these three spirits that God gave us, love is in the center. Anything we do, love has to be at the center of our lives flowing through our spirit. According to Romans 8:15 we were adopted into the family of God when we accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our personal Savior. Once again this verse says,"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear"...which tells me that God is trying to tell us something.
 
There are many verses that I could go to but none is more clear than 1st John 4:18."There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fearth is not made perfect in love." Jesus Christ is pure love. To me that is the most compelling reason a person should come to know Jesus Christ.It was for me but everyone is different.
 
Listen to some of the credible testimonies from people that went to heaven and explained the pure love of Jesus Christ in this place. Listen to some of the credible testimonies from people that went to hell and explained the horror and fear in this other place.
 
In the end it sure seems like a person is either destined for fear or love. What decision will you choose? The love of God through Jesus Christ is bigger than us yet it works through our spirit. Fear is also bigger than us yet it polarizes our spirit.
 
I don't want to be destined for fear. The love of Jesus Christ sounds like a revelation that I desire to experience for all eternity. If you are on the sidelines looking in, choose the love of God. Accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior! Don't choose fear because it is very real and it will defeat you. Love will uplift our spirit. Let me repeat myself. In essence we have to make a choice. Love is warm. Fear is cold.
 
If only somebody would have told me this message that I am telling you when I was young. In essence there are only two options in life anywhere we go. I would have been spared so much hardship and pain. I did hear sermons on the love of God but they were kind of hollow with no real substance. As a result I ended up walking away half hearted and at best had a somewhat cognitive knowledge on the whole subject.
 
I really suffered because of this ignorance. When one heavy trial piled on another in my life I did not know how to deal with them because I did not understand this fundamental basic principle in the Bible.
 
Remember the perfect love of Jesus Christ castheth out fear. If we are in fear because of our torment, that sounds more like hell than Jesus Christ.God wants to make us perfect in His love. We are not destined for fear or torment. Pursue the perfect love of God through His Son Jesus Christ. God's soft answer to our fear is His love.
 
Bob D.