Disciples will love

This post is part of a series on what disciples of Jesus will look like.

12 This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 15:12-14

Anyone who has spent any time in the Bible at all knows that love is a popular topic. Famous verses on the topic include John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:16, John 13:35 and of course 1 Corinthians 13. I wrote a series about this passage last year. But when I think about following Jesus Christ as a disciple in the area of love, or what it means to love like Christ loved, John 15:13 is at the top of my list.

I so enjoy gaining new insight when I study the Word, especially from passages I consider familiar. And in gathering my thoughts for this post, as is my custom when studying the Word, I pulled up the context for John 15:13 to see the broader thoughts surrounding this famous verse. What I noticed that I had not really seen before is that verse 12 frames an entire line of teaching that Jesus is giving to His disciples, stating that He is commanding them to not only love one another, but to do so specifically as He has loved them. And the way He loved them, and us, is summed up in one simple yet potent word: sacrifice.

To be honest, the topic of love is really hard for me, not in understanding it from the Word, but in applying that understanding in everyday life. In one sense, I feel like I have it down. Every time I try to encourage my brothers and sisters to greater Christ-likeness, I am doing so motivated by a deep love for each of them that really can only be explained as coming from God. And no matter how many times I am rebuffed for whatever reason, despite the pain and frustration that usually causes me, I continue to persist in hope that the next time with the next person will be different. That is a sacrifice for me, as it would be so much easier to give up and just leave people alone. But every once in a while, my hope is rewarded, and I find no greater joy in my walk with God than those times when I can help my brothers and sisters take a step further down the path of becoming like Christ.

But from another perspective, I don't understand how to love people at all. As I wrote earlier, I have only just recently begun to realize that my complete lack of insecurity about myself and my total, unwavering trust in God seems to be the exception, not the rule. Like a broken arm or bruised rib, touching the wounded parts of people's lives to exhort them on in their walk with Christ requires extreme gentleness, a level of gentleness that is almost unimaginable to me. And like a gorilla trying to care for a wounded butterfly, more often than not what I leave behind is broken wings and fractured souls. I cannot even begin to express how much anguish I have felt over knowing the pain that I have caused so many people.

But still I persist, trying to learn from every interaction, failed or otherwise, believing that God will complete the good work He has started in me, that one day the love He has placed in my heart for my brothers and sisters will not be overshadowed by my clumsy, fat gorilla hands.

I imagine that those who read this have experienced times of being called to love when it's not easy. When you face those times, look to the example of Jesus. With every lash of the whip, every thorn in His brow, every clang of the nail, every labored breath on the cross, and every sin He took upon His sinless body, He was literally screaming I LOVE YOU! No hardship any of us face in loving those around us can even begin to compare to what He went through.

Disciples will love, even when it hurts, because that's what Jesus did.

But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

Romans 5:8

A Study in Ephesians: Pt. 11, Ephesians 2:1-3

So far, we see Paul's thought flow in chapter 1 as follows:

1. The Father has a plan for praising His glory and grace. This plan was the salvation of those who believe in His Son. According to this plan, the Father chose, the Son redeemed, and the Spirit sealed*. In all of this, His Son, Jesus Christ, is central to His plan. (verses 3-14)
2. In saving the Ephesians, God once again glorified Himself, for which Paul gives thanks. He also tells them that he continually prays that the Father will give the Ephesians wisdom and understanding regarding how their salvation and continued love for others brings glory to God. (verses 15-18)
3. Paul continues to express that this wisdom and revelation will come by the power of the Father, which the Father demonstrated by raising Christ from the dead, seating Christ at His right hand, placing Christ over all things for all time, and appointing Christ as head over the Church. (verses 19-23)

In short, God has a plan to glorify Himself, He is powerful enough to accomplish it, and He wants us to understand how we are part of that plan. Up until this point, Paul's focus on highlighting the glory of God has been from the Father's point of view. We are to glorify God because He is worthy of His glory. But in verse 1 of chapter 2, Paul switches gears: Not only is God awesome, we were once awful. Paul turns his attention to highlighting what should already be apparent, namely that there is an infinite gulf between God's glory and our sinfulness.

Paul underscores three aspects of our sinfulness in these three verses:

• We were once dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1)
• We once lived only to gratify our sinful desires, just as the world does (Eph 2:2-3a)
• Because of this, we were once by nature subject to the wrath of God (Eph 2:3b)

This is leading in to Paul continuing to praise the gloriousness of God's grace and perhaps one of the most foundational statements in all of Scripture regarding the nature of our salvation (Eph 2:8-9). I will be discussing these verses next time, but for now I want to dwell here.

As I have preached and, I'm sure numerous others have said, understanding what we have been saved from is paramount to fully embracing what we have been called to. The life to which we have been called is not an easy one. It is not comfortable, and it is not safe. 

Philippians 1:29 For it has been given to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him

John 15:20 Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.

Is that something any of us would just voluntarily sign up for, suffering and persecution? Without understanding what Paul asserts in these three verses, we will shy away from the fullness of the calling God has placed on our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. 

You were once completely, utterly, totally dead in your sins and wholly unable to save yourself (Romans 8:7-8).  In that state of total death, you lived only to satisfy your own sinful desires (Ephesians 4:17-19). By very nature of who you were, you were subject to the eternal wrath of God, eternal  punishment in hell (Ephesians 2:3, Matthew 25:32,46)

Can anything this world throws at us compare to what once awaited us? Embrace what you are called to, and stand in awe of what you were saved from.

*See slight correction here.

Take Up Your Cross

Take Up Your Cross

Originally Preached June 27th, 2010