A New Commandment
John 13:34-35; 15:12-13
“a new commandment I give you – love one another as I have loved
you”
According to one preacher’s study there are 366 verses that refer to
love – 204 refer to God’s love – 175 of those 204 verses described
God’s love as unconditional – His love is not based on who we are or
what we have done – it is based on who God is – and God is love!
111 times His love is described as unfailing and 40 times as enduring
– could you use some of that kind of love in your life?
Unconditional love. What exactly is it? What does it look like? What
does it mean? How do I recognize it?
Despite the fact that unconditional love is probably something most of
us could define ‘intellectually”, it is still a hard concept for most of us
to really get our hearts around. And the reason we have such a hard
time is because most of us have had more experience with
unconditional loves evil twin ‘conditional’ love.
The Greeks had a word for this kind of love. It was the word eros.
When we hear this word we tend to think of the English word erotic.
But eros has a much broader meaning then just sexual love. At its
core eros describes a love that only gives to what satisfies its desires,
wins its admiration or fulfills its appetites. In other words. It’s a love
that only loves because of what it gets in return. Have you ever
experienced conditional love? Have you ever loved anyone
conditionally?
When I say - I love McDonalds fries, I love my TV, I love my truck, I
love my Geo Metro, I love chocolate – it’s a conditional kind of love if McDonald’s fries started tasting like cardboard, if my TV broke, if
my truck or car quit running and if chocolate suddenly turned into
Brussels sprouts, I would no longer love those things. I love those
things because of what they give me in return – it’s a conditional love.
There are strings attached. It’s like the Greek word ‘eros’ it’s a love
that only gives to what satisfies it’s desires or fulfills it’s appetites…
And sometimes (though I don’t want to admit it) sometimes I love
people conditionally… I love them because they act the way I want
them to act, give me stuff I need or want, make me feel happy… I
love them because they love me. At times we all love conditionally.
And – we all have been loved conditionally. And – being loved
conditionally hurts…
Conditional love is a cruel task master. No one no matter how hard
one tries can ever meet all of the conditions. The really horrible thing
is that this kind of love is everywhere. Conditional love may greet us
from the moment we leave the womb. Studies show that adults smile
at, coo over, kiss, and hold pretty babies more than plain ones. And
fathers are more involved with attractive babies than those who are
less attractive.
Think about the stories we read little children - they reinforce
conditional love. For example - why did princes and everyone else
love Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty? Was it because of
their great personality? No! It was because they were hot - and
because of what that beauty would give to those who loved them.
Who noticed Cinderella when she was cleaning house?
What do you think would have happened if like Princess Fiona Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty turned into ogres (and
stayed that way)? I tell you what would have happened - the prince
would have found someone else to kiss, the seven dwarfs would
have booted Snow White out the next day and Prince Charming
would found another pair of feet that fit the glass slipper or picked up
a different pair of shoes.
We live in a world and among a people of conditional love. A world
where love is so very often tied to;
• How you look
• How well you perform
• What you possess
• If you behave
• What you can give
• If you do what people, want you to do
• If you say what they want you to say
• If you become who they think you should be
• If you agree with them and always give them the responses they
want
Conditional love is everywhere and it traps all of us in an unwinnable
contest to prove that we are pretty enough, smart enough, strong
enough, agreeable enough or spiritual enough to deserve loving.
Conditional love is a selfish self-seeking love.
God’s unconditional love
That’s the bad news - but there is some good news – and – it is really
good news - God does not love that way - His love for you and me is
unconditional, no strings attached - it is not based on who you are or
what you’ve done – it is based on who He is - and God is love!
As I mentioned, there are 175 verses in the O.T. that have been
shouting for 3,000 years about the unconditional - no strings attached
love, that God has for you - I’d like to read all 175 – but, I won’t - I’ll
read just a few – the first one is in Genesis 32 – it’s the first time
anyone ever talked about God’s love - Jacob who up until this time
had lived his life as a con man, a schemer.
I am not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love you have
shown to me, your servant. When I left home, I owned nothing except
a walking stick, and now my household fills two camps! Gen 32:10
He passed in front of Moses and said, "I am the LORD, I am the
LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in
unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many
thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion Exodus 34:6,7
You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your
anointed, to David and all his descendants forever. 2 Samuel 22:51
But as for me, I will sing about your power. I will shout with joy each
morning because of your unfailing love. For you have been my
refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress. Ps 59:16
I cried out, "I’m slipping!" and your unfailing love, O LORD, supported
me. Psalm 94:18
God’s love is a love that loves kings and orphans; the widow and the
foreigner; the faithful and the rebellious, the schemer and the
suffering. His love keeps on loving regardless of condition. His love is
unfailing and endures forever.
We Need God’s Kind Of Love
Isn’t it great that the major theme of God’s love is that it is
unconditional, unfailing and enduring forever? I really need that kind
of love and so do you.
And the reason we need unconditional love is because our condition
isn’t so good. To be honest we are all pretty messed up. We are all
infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous
deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Is 64:6 (NLT) People like us
who are in such a sorry condition need; an unfailing, enduring
forever, unconditional love…
Jesus Demonstrates God’s Love
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,
though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)
Underline - powerless ungodly sinners
2,000 years ago Jesus came to demonstrate the unfailing, enduring
forever unconditional - no strings attached love that God has for you
and me. Jesus demonstrated that unconditional love in two special
ways.
He demonstrated that love, by the way He lived…
Jesus loved unconditionally….
• He loved His friends – He loved His enemies
• He loved the rich – He loved the poor
• He loved those who listened – He loved those who walked away
• He loved the young – He loved the old
• Those who loved Him – He loved those who hated and killed Him
• He loved the Jew – he loved the gentile
• He loved the healthy – He loved the sick
• He loved the touchable – He loved the untouchable - He loved
everyone
Jesus was consumed by love when He walked this earth - after all He
was God. Listen to what the prophet says, This is what the LORD
Almighty says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am
consumed with passion for Jerusalem! Zech 8:2
Do you realize there is nothing that makes you more passionate,
more obsessed, or more crazed than being in love? Why do sports
fans paint their faces and their bellies? Why do hunters wake up so
early and stay so late? Why do people dating always have to be with
each other? Why do all of these people act so crazy, so intense?
Because they love their, team; they love to hunt; they love the person
they are dating!
Why does God? Why does Christ act so crazy? Why would he give
so much? Why is He so passionate about you? What is it the fuels
the fire of passion? The answer is one word – LOVE.
He demonstrated that love, by the way He died
In that great chapter on love that we find in 1 Cor 13, we read;
“Love…endures all things” 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NASB)
He could have given up. No one would have known otherwise. Jesus
could have given up – at any step along the way he could have called
it quits.
When He who has never been bound by time, all of the sudden
becomes limited by the clock, he could have said, ‘on second
thought, I don’t think so.’ When He saw the size of the womb, he
could have said, “no way, I’m not going in there..” When He saw how
tiny His hands would be, how soft his voice would be, how hungry his
stomach would be, how sore his feet would get, he could have
stopped. When he saw the dirt floor of his small Nazareth house,
when Joseph gave him a chore to do when his friends goofed off or
slept when his words were read in the synagogue, when his neighbor
used his name in a curse, when the lazy farmer blamed his poor crop
on Him - Jesus could have said, “I’m out of here – I quit” – but he
didn’t.
“Love…endures all things” 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NASB)
Do you understand that the choice was his the whole time. Christ
could have stopped. He could have given up.
WHEN – those who should have treated Him best, treated him
worse…
WHEN – the crowds left because His teaching became to hard.
WHEN – they accused him of being a drunkard, a glutton and a friend
of sinners; he could have just thrown up his hands and gone back
home… but he didn’t…
WHEN – the disciples fell asleep in the garden
WHEN – the temple guards arrested and beat him
WHEN – the roman soldiers shredded his body with the whip
WHEN – crowd shouted crucify him
WHEN – he carried that cross through the streets
WHEN – both his hands and his feet were nailed
WHEN – he hung suspended between heaven and earth…
He could have given up but he didn’t!
How did Christ endure treatment like that? Better yet, why did Christ
endure treatment like that? At any point he could have said, “I quit.
That’s enough. I’m out of here.” But he didn’t. Why didn’t he quit?
Because He is God and God loves us unconditionally - no strings
attached - to the end.
Notice this love in the upper room
Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour
had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having
loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
He loved them even though they would soon betray, deny and leave
him alone. That’s unconditional and no strings attached.
What should your response be to God’s unfailing, enduring
forever, no strings attached love that was demonstrated in
Christ?
Be Loved (completely)… Love(completely)
Let God’s unconditional – unfailing – enduring forever - no strings
attached love - love you! Really love you. Let’s stop splashing around
on the surface of God’s love – let’s begin to plunge its deeps. A love
that Paul said was so wide, so long, so high and so deep that we will
never plunge into it fully. Perhaps our problem is not that we do not
love God enough – it’s that we are clueless as to how much God
loves us! Let me warn you - when you decide and go deeper into His
love for you better get ready. Because you will never be the same
again.
We cannot be loved without being changed. When people experience
love, they begin to grow more lovely.” Think about the people that
experienced the love of Jesus.
A sinful tax collector named Zacchaeus
A women living in adultery who Jesus met by a well in Samaria
A proud Pharisee named Paul
The leper who came back to thank him
A demon possessed man
A prostitute named Mary
A Roman Centurion
Knowing that we are loved by someone, warts and all and accepted
despite our sins, our shortcomings, our failures and our past experiencing love not for what you do or for who you are brings about
a powerful transformation in us - we become lovely.
This is a love that creates value in what is loved.
My Teddy Bear – got it at 4 years old, in hospital – tonsils – loved that
bear – hole in neck – stuffing coming out
There is a love that turns rag dolls into priceless treasures. There is a
love that fastens itself onto ragged little creatures, for reasons that no
one could ever quite figure out, and makes them precious and valued
beyond calculation. This is a love beyond reason. This is the love of
God. This is the love with which God loves you and me.
– John Ortberg
AND – last but not least….
Love one another
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet
hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also
love his brother. – 1 John 4:19-21
We love because of what? Because God first loves us. Being loved
by God - accepting that love - diving into the deeps of His
unconditional –unfailing - enduring forever - no strings attached love
for us is the power that will enable us to love others completely. It
frees you to love them without looking for anything in return. And it
relieves them of the pressure to be more to you than is humanly
possible.
Allensburg: 2-10-13am