John 13:34 "So now I am giving you a new commandment:
Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your
love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."
1.
A New Commandment.
1.
I have read this text hundreds of
times.
2.
No kidding.
3.
I have heard it quoted more times
than I can count in almost 21 years of being a follower of Jesus, and until
this study in this series, I had never really thought about what the text is
saying.
1.
This alone is by far one of the
reasons I love the Bible.
2.
No matter how many times you read it,
you can always learn something new.
3.
If you will allow the Holy Spirit He
will teach you new things.
4.
I always heard it as Jesus’ call to love one another.
1.
But what about all that “new
commandment”
stuff He's talking about?
5.
The call to “love
one another”
is not a new commandment at all.
1.
It’s an old commandment.
1.
Just because something is old doesn't
mean it should be disregarded.
Matthew 22:36-40 36"Teacher, which is the most
important commandment in the law of Moses?" 37 Jesus replied, "'You
must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your
mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally
important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 The entire law and all the
demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
6.
But later in John’s gospel, Jesus says He is giving a
new commandment about love for our neighbor, it is not just “love
your neighbor as yourself.”
1.
According to Jesus it is a “new
commandment.”
1.
There are basically two ways that we
could say “new” in
Greek.
1.
We could say “neos” which
is the word for something new in the sense that it was not there before, but
now it is.
2.
Or we could say “kainos” which
is the word for something even better than what was already there before.
2.
It’s the second word, kainos, that Jesus
uses in John 13.
1.
A commandment that is even better
than the original commandment about loving others.
2.
In the original commandment, love for
my neighbor was measured by the standard of how well I love myself.
7.
As a side note, I am personally convinced that this is a
statement suggesting that I actually already love myself quite a lot.
1.
And if I can direct that same
intensity of love toward others, I will, as this commandment has it, be loving
my neighbor as God intends.
1.
In this commandment, my love for
myself is the measure of how I am to love others.
1.
Yet in Jesus’ “new
commandment,” the measure of
love for others is altered and refocused to Jesus and His love for His disciples.
2.
He says to them, “Love
one another just as I have loved you.”
8.
Jesus uses this term “just as.”
1.
Jesus is not saying, “Since
I love you, you should love your neighbor.”
2.
That’s not what "just as" means.
3.
Nope.
1.
It means “in
the same manner, with the same quality, and in the same way that I love you,
love one another.”
2.
Use the same things to show each
other love that I have modeled, that I have lived out, that you have read about
and heard of me.
1.
This is not about “paying
it forward.”
2.
This is about doing love for others
in the same manner that Jesus does love for others.
3.
This is about self-giving love that
does not stop until the self-giving love equals the same quality and quantity
of self-giving love shown by Jesus Himself.
4.
In this equation, my love for myself
is no longer the standard of love for others.
1.
Instead, Jesus’ love for us is the new
measure of love.
2.
This is the "new
commandment."
3.
This is the new standard.
9.
This is liberating on at least two
levels.
1.
For the person who really loves
him/herself a lot.
2.
For the person who claims not to love
him/herself much, or at all.
1.
In either case, we can rejoice that
our relative level of love for self is no longer the measure, the example, the
quality, or the degree to which we are to love others.
2.
Instead, we are to look to Jesus and
let Him be the standard by which we evaluate love for others.
10.There is a
commandment that has echoes of the original, but is much better!
1.
It’s better because the standard for
love of others is no longer how much, or the manner in which I love myself.
2.
The new measure of love for others is
Jesus.
2.
Jesus does not want me to love my
neighbor as myself.
1.
He wants me to love others in the
same way that He loves me.
1.
I have a lot to learn about this.
2.
I’ll have to keep following Jesus
because I simply can’t
do this without Him.
3.
But I want to learn to do it from
Him.
1.
The bible calls the Holy Spirit our
teacher in all things.
John 14:26 "But when the Father sends the Advocate as
My representative—that is, the Holy
Spirit—He will teach you
everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."
1.
The Holy Spirit reminds us disciples
of what Jesus taught and lived out in person.
2.
The Holy Spirit teaches us what Jesus
taught and lived out in person.
3.
The Holy Spirit will guide your
steps.
4.
The Holy Spirit is never self
serving.
1.
That means this Christ follower is
about strengthening and encouraging this community, encouraging the globe,
through strengthening and empowering people.
2.
That means this church is about
strengthening and encouraging this community, encouraging the globe, through
strengthening and empowering people.
2.
If we were to reach one person in
this way and teach them this way what sort of impact could it make upon us as
individual Christ followers, what sort of impact could it have upon us as a
local church body?
3.
What sort of impact could it have
upon us as a global body?
4.
Think of this every Christian,
spanning every denomination, reaching one person with the love of Jesus Christ.
1.
We would double the Christian
population within the span of time it took us to administrate and show love.
1.
As of 2010, Christianity was by far
the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a
third (31%)of all 6.9 billion people on Earth.
2.
Islam was second, with 1.6 billion
adherents, (or 23 percent) of the global population.
1.
Last week Nick told us that there are
currently 2.6 billion who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ.
2.
We have our work cut out for us.
1.
Might I remind you that nothing is
impossible with God.
2.
Nothing is impossible to them that
believe.
3.
Those numbers are predicted to shift
in the coming decades, as the world's population rises to 9.3 billion by the
year 2050.
4.
In that time the projections are that
Islam will grow by 73% while Christianity will grow by 35% resulting in 2.8
billion Muslims and 2.9 Christians worldwide.
5.
Then in 2070 the Muslim population
will eclipse Christianity if current trends continue.
1.
Some of us will see this happen in
our lifetimes then our children, our children's children will witness the rest.
1.
Christianity can not die with me.
2.
Christianity will not die with me.
3.
Jesus Christ laid down His everything
for mankind.
1.
We do not effectively understand the
value of one person.
2.
We do not comprehend the importance
of the mission that Christ has given unto us.
3.
We do not currently connect to the
great purpose that dwells inside each of us.
4.
There is no way we can fully and
completely perceive the magnitude of the goal that we have in front of us.
1.
We do not see our selves that
valuable let alone the soul of another.
2.
If we don't consciously,
courageously, and collectively go after people to disciple them, we'll reach no one, I promise they
won't come after us.
1.
People will always be distracted,
people will always have other things to do.
2.
People will always be busy doing the
things they wish to do.
3.
People will always be doing the
things that they believe are most important for them.
1.
We have to enable them to see the
importance of Christ, we have to encourage them to see His sacrifice.
1.
To encourage others.
1.
I want to push, prompt, and stimulate
others to live faithfully for Jesus Christ.
5.
The House of God should always be a
place where you can come and know that you will be accepted and loved!
1.
Acceptance is not agreement.
2.
I don't have to agree with your
thoughts, your lifestyle, or your choices, to show you love and acceptance.
1.
This place should be the greatest
place on earth!
2.
Free from disrespect, free from hate,
free from discrimination, and free from stereotyping, everyone living in the
love of Jesus Christ!
3.
Love as Christ loved us.
1.
We have been known for our
commandments.
2.
We have been known for our hate.
3.
We have been known for our judgment.
4.
We have been known for our ridicule.
1.
I want to be known for our love.
2.
I want to be known for valuing God,
valuing others, and valuing the mission of Jesus Christ.
3.
I want to be known for statements
like:
1.
Found people find people.
2.
Saved people serve people.
3.
Growing people change.
4.
You can't do life alone.
5.
You can't out give God.
Hebrews 10:25 NLT "And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the
day of His return is drawing near."
6.
We have a new commandment!
1.
Love as Christ loved.
1.
When you love as Christ loved, there
is no ridicule, there is no judgment.
2.
There is truth and truth is
continually and correctively shared.
3.
Christ gave everything.
4.
Christ sacrificed everything.
5.
Christ loved everyone.
6.
Christ died for every last one of us.
1.
That's our good news.
2.
One man Jesus died to reach the
world.
1.
To the reach the unreached.
2.
To reach the unreachable.
3.
Died to reach those that would reject
Him, those that do reject Him, those that will reject Him.
1.
Still I am to do one thing, reach any
way.
James 2:8-13 NLT [8] "Yes indeed, it is good when you
obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: "Love your neighbor as
yourself." [9] But if you favor some people over others, you are
committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. [10] For the person who
keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of
God's laws. [11] For the same God who said, "You must not commit
adultery," also said, "You must not murder." So if you murder
someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. [12] So
whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the
law that sets you free. [13] There will be no mercy for those who have not
shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when
He judges you."
2.
Breaking the law of God on any and
every level is rebellion against God and therefore sin.
1.
This is what the scripture is saying.
2.
We as Christ followers must be
careful that we don't look at ourselves more highly than we ought.
1.
We are saved through faith in Jesus
Christ, not by any thing we do, give, say or share.
1.
Reach as Christ reached.
2.
Sacrifice as Christ sacrificed.
3.
Love as Christ loved, selfless and
abandoned.
