The Commandment of Love

In this episode we continue talking about the balance of abiding in God's love and obeying His commandments. I believe that if we have a revelation of the love that God has for us, obedience will naturally flow from our lives. May this sermon bless you and make Jesus a little more glorious to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Alright, this joke is called the lawyer and the pastor. A pastor and a lawyer are seated next to each other on a flight from LA to New York. The lawyer asks if he would like to play a fun game. The pastor, tired, just wants to take a nap, politely declines, and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun. He explains, I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me five bucks, and vice versa. Again, the pastor declines, tries to get some sleep. The lawyer, prideful lawyer, might we add, now agitated, says, Okay, if you don't know the answer, you pay me five bucks. If I don't know the answer, I'll pay you five hundred. This catches the pastor's attention and figures there'll be no end to the torment unless he plays and agrees to the game. The lawyer asks the first question: What's the distance from the earth to the moon? The pastor doesn't say a word, reaches in his pocket, gives him a five-dollar bill. Okay, says the lawyer, your turn. He asks the lawyer, or so the pastor asks the lawyer, what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four? The lawyer, puzzled, takes out his laptop, computer, and searches. He also calls a few friends. Frustrated. He sends emails to his co-workers to know available. Avail. After an hour, he awakes the preacher and hands it 500 bucks. Pastor says, Thank you, turns over to get some more sleep. The lawyer, who is more than a little niffed, wakes the pastor and asks, Well, what's the answer? Without a word, the pastor reaches into his wallet and hands the lawyer five bucks. We have been talking for a bit now about this eternal life that Jesus says in John 17, 3, that this is eternal life to know you, the one true God, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And I think just even the scripture that was shared at the prayer time, that the revelation of Jesus Christ and what he has done for us and what he continues to do for us is the eternal life. This is a big part of what it truly is to be a Christian and to follow Jesus. This ongoing understanding and revelation that we get to experience in this life, and I believe even into heaven. Because how can we ever get to the end of something that is endless? I don't think we can. And so this exploration of who God is and the revelation of it is a big part of this eternal life. So we've been talking for the past month or so on this abiding life in Christ. It's kind of John 15, we'll get into that a little bit later. And the ways in which the love of God has been and is being revealed in our lives. We've been talking about in Ephesians 1 that there's these statements that Paul is making are very powerful when he's saying, in Christ you have this, and in Christ, and what that is speaking of is the idea that we are abiding in Christ. Again, this is John 15, where he says, I am the vine, you're the branches, abide in me. And we've talked about that abiding, being connected to the vine begins with the gospel, believing that Jesus Christ is who he says he was. He's the Son of God, that he was pure and holy, that he died on behalf of our sins and for our the payment of our penalty of sin and separation from God, and he rose again. And this is how we become inserted into the vine of God. And that these statements are directed towards those people who are abiding, this living in the vine life. And he starts out with saying, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then he goes on to talk about that we are chosen, but those who believe in Jesus Christ, that those who are inserted in this vine, are now chosen to be holy and blameless. And those who are in Christ Jesus are predestined. They have a suitcase that it's like God has packed good things and wonderful things for our lives ahead of time. He's predestined us to the adoption according to the good pleasure of his will. And we've received an inheritance. Now it's really, I unpack this a bit, but I still, it's one of these things right now that's really blowing my mind, that an inheritance is something that someone else has earned and worked for and stewarded. And the only way in which they can pass an inheritance, usually, is by them dying or passing away. And how Jesus Christ then has gone before us and has earned and received the blessings, the favor, the uh inheritance, would you say, from the Lord. And by him dying, he has now passed that on to us. He chose that process to bring to us what he has for us. And that is that is to me kind of just an ongoing, amazing thing. Okay, so we've been talking about uh, well, yeah, we'll go to John 15, 9 and 10 real quick. I'm just gonna explain this. So we've been talking about the love of God. So it says in John, oh, sorry, I didn't have it. I'll just I'll just read it. I wasn't planning on actually going into it that much, but just so we're all on the same page. John 15, 9 and 10. It says, as the Father has loved me, I've also loved you, abide in my love. And so we've been talking about the love of God and how it has been poured out upon our lives through these Ephesian statements. Like how what he's done for us is revealing the love of God, the ongoing love of God. So as the Father has loved me, I have loved you, abide in my love. Now, I've made this kind of a triangle or a pyramid, because then in the next, the next verse it says, If you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. And so it's like this progression. The bottom of this is uh the relationship that God and Jesus Christ have. The Father and Jesus Christ have with one another. It says that Jesus was fully, um, he was without sin. He followed everything the Father had committed to him. He he said, I've lost no one, I have done all that you have told me to do. And in that way, he's become like the foundation stones. Now, on top of that is as Jesus says, or um, as the Father loved me, I loved you. Abide in that love. And then again, the relationship between us and Jesus is that we follow his commandments. And this is the two legs or the two pillars that hold up this abiding in Jesus Christ. So again, we've talked about this the love of God and the between the Father and the Son, and now Christ to us, and to remain there means to fix our eyes and our gaze on that. Like we need to focus, keep our minds on that. I think the biggest distraction is just everyday life, right? The disappointments, the frustrations. Uh, even good things can become a distraction from really seeing how God is pertinent or relevant in our everyday life, how his love is actually pursuing us all the time and overtaking us in many different ways. And I think just the kind of the ruckets of life can begin to take our mind and our hearts kind of strain off into, well, I've got my that's great, God loves me, but I don't really feel it right now, and I've got a lot of things to do, and so I'm just gonna plow ahead. But if we do that over and over and over, all of a sudden we find ourselves, we're not just kind of half off the trail, we're like in a ditch on the wrong road, a section over from where we meant to be. And that the idea of bringing ourselves back to the gospel, the grace, and the goodness of God to stay there. I talked last week now about kind of this other side of if you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love. Okay, then there's and I talked about how each of these can become a ditch. One can be I just have to follow all God's commandments, and that's the point of Christianity, and you know, I understand when I messed up, when I feel bad about it, and I try to get back on. And then the other side can be, well, God loves us, it doesn't matter what you live like or or what you do with your life. He loves me, I'm getting to heaven, check the box, see you later, Jesus. And both of those are a ditch on either side of this narrow way that we call abiding in Christ, in the truth. Okay, so what commandments is he talking about in verse 10? It says, if you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Well, the first commandment that he just gave us there is to abide in his love, to stay there, to remain there, to set our eyes and our focus on that aspect of God. And the next one is in the next verse, verse 12, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. And it's so it's so amazing how Jesus Christ becomes not only a picture of what he's talking about, but also the target, right? But he also shows us how it looks. So when he's telling us to love, or that he loves us, he's pointing to his own life of this is how it looks. So, so what to what level should we love one another? Well, the next verse says, Greater love has no one than this, then he lays down his life for his friends. So Jesus Christ did that, right? He has shown us in every way what it looks like to love one another. He has shown us what it looks like to love the Father. He's shown us what it looks like to love his enemies and to care for those who persecute him. Jesus isn't like a hypocrite or a teacher that just says, hey, go do all these right things. He says, follow me and do what I do. And that's the difference between a father and a teacher. That's the difference between a mentor and just some sort of knowledge guru online. They walk with you, they show you, they teach you by action and by representation. And then again in verse 17, he says, This I command you that you love one another. So here's the command: Abide and love. And then Matthew 22, Jesus is asked by a religious leader, what is the greatest commandment? And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, all, not some, not part, all the law and prophets hang on these two commandments. So the commands for us now become very simple. Love. But where do we get this love? Yeah. That's where it gets challenging to be away. It's also a recipes, right? Like as we realize that Jesus loves us, we can abide in that love. When we actually have, when we've actually received that love from God, when it's real to us, we can actually give it away. And that looks like something. That looks like obedience. So I would say that love is the currency of the Christian life. And the repentant life, which I mean, which I'm saying, a repentant life is one that just continues to change, to redirect itself towards Christ. That life comes from the ongoing revelation of God's love for us. You can't give away something that you haven't received. And so in you is an ability to love at a level. But when you when God calls you and Jesus Christ calls you to love like he does, that's that will bankrupt you really quick. And I and it's very easy for the world to like its people like itself. It's a whole nother thing when all of a sudden you extend yourself on behalf of people that you don't even know if you like. And that's where the rubber meets the road. We're gonna go to 1 John chapter 2. So that was kind of like the preamble. 1 John chapter 2. Now this is the same John that obviously the disciple John wrote the Gospel of John in 1, 2nd, and 3 John as well. Alright, let's read verse 1 and 2 here. 1 John 2, verse 1 and 2. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if in one sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteousness. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. So that word advocate, the Greek word for that is actually like a legal term, like an attorney or one who appears in court on another's behalf. It also means a helper or a comforter. Okay, why legal terms? Because sin has legal consequences. Now, I don't believe once you receive Jesus Christ, if you sin, your position with God changes. I don't believe that. I don't believe all of a sudden you're not going to be allowed into heaven or that you have fallen from the grace of God. But what I am saying is when you continue down a path of sin, you open yourself up to the attacks of the enemy. This is very real in everyday life. I believe, okay, okay, I'll just a second. Okay, verse 2, it says that, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not of ours only, but also for the whole world. That big word propitiation simply means he's the payment for our sins and its ongoing effects. It's like the mercy of God is now applied. So he's become the payment and the lawyer that transacts that payment before God. Why? Because it says the devil is an accuser of the brethren. That's also another lawyer term. So in a courtroom, the enemy is bringing accusations against you, and then Jesus stands as your defense attorney and says, paid, paid, paid. Right? But here's what I want to say. Therefore, for us who believe in Jesus, there is no more wrath from God. He has paid the penalty for your sin. He no longer treats us according to what our sins have earned. Okay? So all of a sudden, if you the world understands the idea of karma. Do bad, get bad, do good, get good. I would say that there are different laws at work in the world. There's natural law, meaning if you do drugs every day and you drink mercury, it will hurt your body really bad. That's natural law. You jump off of a roof, you hit the ground. It's gonna hurt. That's natural law. The world is set up to operate in that way. Two, there's also effects of sin. There are effects of sin in, again, in our bodies and relationships. I believe they can even be in the ground. That there is an aggregate effect of the sin that's happening in the world that creates death and destruction, health issues, relational issues, all these things. And those come about, one, in general, but also again, personally, if we again are in an ongoing cycle of abuse of drugs and things like that, it will take effect on our body. There's a natural law, but there's also effects of sin. And I'm not saying because someone gets sick or someone has sin or cancer or something that they have done, a certain sin that's caused this to happen. No, there's also the general effect of sin on the earth that's going on. And others' choices can bring negative effects into our life. We all have free will. Certain people have free will to either cause issues in your life or mean harm upon you, that God has given man the ability to choose those decisions that can have rippling effects. So those are the means by which I believe now things go sideways in our lives. Things break down, people get hurt, families fall apart. It doesn't mean that the wrath of God is upon us and then he stops rain from coming to circle Montana. I believe that there are effects of things we've done personally to hinder our ability to hear and to respond to the Lord. There's also natural effects of changes in seasons or in tides in the ocean that cause rain to divert or come or whatever it does. So I don't not believe that those things are evil things, bad things are caused by God. Just get that out there. Alright, let's go on in verse 3 through 6. Again, we're focusing on the commandments, following the commandments of God. How do we do this? What does this really look like? Because kind of your first reaction should be, oh man, are we going back to the law? Do we have to now like cover all the commandments? And if it's not to a certain level, like now we're in a bad place with the Lord, how can we how can we navigate this, right? So let's go on in verse 3. Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God, is perfected in him. By this we know that we know him. He who says that he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. John understood that God loved him. He was coming from a place of receiving and having an understanding of the love of God. Therefore, when we hear him speak about these things, we have to bring into context that he's coming at these believers as though they know Jesus and how much he loved them. So when it says in verse 4, he who says, I know him, I know Jesus, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He's not talking about if you sin, you don't know Jesus, and you're in trouble. Don't let condemnation come and sneak into that. When we truly love Jesus Christ, it will begin to change the trajectory and the way in which we Live. And our lives will no longer be defined by ongoing sin, rebellion against God. So in 1 John 3, 1, in the next chapter, it begins with, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God. Again, trying to put into context what John really believes and where he's coming from in all of this. And verse 4. Yep, that's what we're talking about. I would say two things to this, this thought, when you read this, he who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Before you go down that road of condemnation with the accuser of the brethren, you know, what we call the enemy of our soul, think of these two things. Does it bother you when you sin? When you get off the mark, when you do it for yourself, when you are not thinking of Christ in the moment and you just react, does that bother you? If it doesn't bother you, that's part of the problem, right? But if it does bother you, then it means the Spirit of God is living in you and is with you. Number two, what is your trajectory or growth pattern in that area of your life? So it's not saying if you ever sin, you don't know Jesus. It's saying, does your life show that when you sin it bothers you or that you are gaining ground in that area of your life? Maybe it's even just little increments, but you're working towards it. That reveals that you have the Spirit of God in you. That reveals that Jesus is living and is active in your life. So I just want to say, don't get overcome with, if I ever sin, then I don't know Jesus. That's a lie. Because if you think back, those of you who can remember, before you followed Jesus, if you did those things, did it even bother you? Nope. Why? Because there was never another voice in your head telling you, like, hey, you're better than that. Hey, that's not who you are. You didn't have that voice because you didn't have the Spirit of God in you. Because he calls you up higher to who you really are. And this is the verse that I think I really want to really want to emphasize. Verse 5. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we know him. That word perfected, again, it's a Greek word. It means to complete, to accomplish, carry through to the end, reach a goal, or fulfill. So let me just change that word. But whoever keeps God's word, truly the love of God is brought to completion or is fulfilled in that person. By this we know that we we know him or we are in him. Isn't that interesting that the end goal of love is that you become more like Jesus? It is the gasoline and the engine of the Christian life to be to walk and be more like Jesus. And that's why the abiding peace is like the capstone of the Christian life because we have to maintain our faith that God loves us absolutely. And from that we accomplish and do God's commandments. Because it really, when we say that love is the commandment, that can look a lot of different ways. I'm not saying that love is relative. I'm saying that the expression of love is much more life-giving and natural than if I were to give you the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are like amputation. Don't do this, you know, on your father and mother, so you better do that. Don't steal, don't lust, don't use God's name in vain. It's always this idea of coming through as a machete and chopping away all these things that start to grow out of your life. Oh, there's another one, chop it. And what people get caught up in is they get way off in the weeds, always messing with sin, trying to find it in their life and uproot it, cut it down. That's the law, that's religion. That's life out of abiding in Christ. So, what is the alternative? Living from love. Now love becomes life-giving and it produces fruit. It produces its own kind. Just like in Genesis, the Lord kept saying he created the trees and they had in themselves seed and they produced after their own kind. And the grasses and the herbs and they produced after their own kind. And the cattle and the animals and they produced after their own kind. And we also now, abiding in Christ, produce after the vine that we are now connected into. So now life doesn't become about what not to do and how not to mess up. But how is Christ in me wanting to reveal his love to those around me? That's a lot more exciting than, well, let's just chop it all down. Why don't we begin to produce fruit that declares Jesus Christ in our lives, the way we run our businesses, the way we treat people around us and our neighbors, and even maybe our enemies, because that's the nature of Christ. So the obedience part, the commandments, are still flowing from this love of the Father through Christ to us. And it becomes the fuel, and the way in which we now are able to live like Christ. It's the grace of God showered upon us. And these are the tensions of obeying the commandments of Jesus Christ and yet living in grace and freedom. The revelation of the grace and freedom God's given you should be propelling you to want to give that away and to put that upon others. Again, later in John, 1 John 4.19 says, we love him because he first loved us. Love that flows through our life, the obedience that flows through our life, all comes back to because he first loved us. He becomes the well, the spring, the source, the sun that gives life and light to each one of us. So I hope that brings a little clarity to some of these scriptures. Because we very easily can read one of these. I would say if you're going to read 1 John, I'd really encourage you to read it a bunch at once. Because you can take one or two of these scriptures and all of a sudden say, Well, I must not abide in Christ because I sinned yesterday. But that's not the point. What he's saying is the love of God compels us to live rightly. And if you say, Oh yeah, I have the love of Christ, but you don't have any love for those around you, if you don't have patience for those around you, there's a disconnect. And you need to work on that. Because the love of God is meant to flow through you. And if it's not, then you can become a stinky algae pool of life. With that, we'll just close. Lord, we just thank you for the love that you have for us. And just as my dad shared, Lord, that you would give us the spirit of revelation and knowledge in Jesus Christ, that he would become more real to us, and his love would become more grasped by our hearts so that we might live out the life that you have called us into. And Lord, I pray that that would happen for each one of us and that it would become the fountain and the spring by which the rest of our life flows from. And we just thank you for being here with us and thank you for the work in our hearts and in this community. And Lord, I just pray for a blessing and goodness and mercy to overtake each one of the people here and that they have a greater sense of your goodness and love towards them. In Jesus' name, amen.