As I Have Loved You

Scriptures: Philippians 2:6-8, John 15:13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Romans 12:10, Matthew 23:12, Hebrews 7:26-27, 1 John 3:16

Question: How did Jesus love? 

Answer: With Humble and Sacrificial Love

How did Jesus love us? First, He gave up His glorious existence in Heaven to come down here, put on human flesh, and gave up His own life for our reconciliation with the Father. Boiling this down, He had a humble and sacrificial love. It was a total giving of Himself, out of love for the Father, with the ultimate goal of our conversion. 

Paul describes a humble love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Jesus was all of these. Humility is important to God. 

Romans 12:10 “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus was indeed exalted after He humbled Himself. 

His love was sacrificial. 

Hebrews 7:26-27 “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”

He sacrificed Himself for our sins and our salvation. 

1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

When you love others, is it ultimately for their salvation, or for some other motive?

Would you lay down your life for them?

Scriptures: Hebrews 10:10, John 3:16, Luke 6:27, Luke 6:32, 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, Luke 13:3, Mark 2:16-17, Matthew 5:20

Question: How Did Jesus Love Us?

Answer: Inclusively

Jesus loved everyone. He even loved those people that He disagreed with. He loved fornicating prostitutes, greedy tax collectors, and cohabitating adulterers, but was fundamentally against fornication, greed, and adultery. We are called to love everyone too. 

Luke 6:32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”

In today’s society, people who don’t share the same views are quickly labeled ‘haters’ and mutually demonized. Funny thing is, Jesus said we’re supposed to love thosepeople too. And make sure to use Jesus’ definition of love: 

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

Love is not about winning arguments. Do you get puffed up with pride as you engage in intellectual battles? Are you quick to condemn the other side? Do you enjoy verbally destroying the enemies of your beliefs? That’s not love. 

Jesus loves us all as we are, and meets us where we are at. But He also loves us enough not to leave us there. He calls all of us to follow Him. He called EVERYONE to repent, even His disciples. 

Luke 13:3 “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus reached out to the marginalized sinners to save them, and to heal them. 

Mark 2:16-17 “And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Sinners need to be healed from the effects of sin. The ironic thing was the people who thought that they were ‘righteous’ needed healing from Him too. 

Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Do you love everyone, even those who disagree with you?

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, John 18:37, John 6:35, John 8:12, John 10:9, John 10:14-15, John 11:25-26, John 15:5

Question: How Did Jesus Love Us? 

Answer: By Speaking the Truth In Love.

Whoever Jesus spoke to, whether it be a Roman governor or prostitute, He spoke the truth and then let them decide if they accepted it. He basically told people who He was, and the benefits of following Him. 

John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

John 10:9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.“

John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Besides preaching the benefits, He also preached the consequences. 

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

We need to follow His lead…tell people who He is, the benefits of discipleship, and the consequences…and then let the Spirit work. But our delivery is key. When speaking the truth in love, don’t forget the love part. The two go together. We want people to listen to us as we share the truth. Someone said, ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’

Do people know how much you care, or are you just a clanging cymbal?

Scriptures: Matthew 11:5, 2 John 1:6, James 2:15-17, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Timothy 6:18, Proverbs 19:17, Luke 16:25

Question: How Did Jesus Love Us? 

Answer: He Physically Loved People

Jesus didn’t just love people by sharing the word. He physically loved people by also sharing Himself. He healed people, He delivered people, He fed people, and He even resurrected people. We need to not only speak the truth in love but to walk in it as well. John explains this point in his second letter. 

2 John 1:6 “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” 

God wants us to share our faith with good works. 

James 2:17 “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

1 Timothy 6:18 “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”

The poor have always been important to God. 

Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” 

Unfortunately, the opposite is true as well. The rich man who did not care for the beggar Lazarus was told in Luke 16:25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”

When the goats are separated from the sheep, they will hear, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Don’t be a goat…

We Christians can pride ourselves in talking the talk, but are we walking the walk?

Do you just preach at people? Or do you physically share yourself with others in need?