A Down & Up Kind of Love
Notes
Transcript
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jennifer Lopez wrote a song in 2000 that was called “Love Don’t Cost a Thing!”
While she was focused on material things, I think any person that has ever experienced True Love would say that there is some cost involved
Time - I can’t watch football all day
My agenda - Does anyone really want to sit through a 3rd grade band concert?
Desires and Dreams - Sometimes these take a backseat for the one’s that we love.
True Love…always requires some sacrifice.
True Love…always requires some sacrifice.
There is no better example of this than Jesus Christ.
He is the definition of sacrificial love
If everyone truly understood the sacrifices that Jesus made for you and me, then we would never question whether God loved us or not.
If everyone truly understood the sacrifices that Jesus made for you and me, then we could end anxiety, depression, and suicide.
Paul had this same desire
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
This is my prayer for us today.
May we fully experience the love of Christ so that we are complete and filled with the fullness of life and the power that comes from God.
To illustrate this love, we are going to look at two very sacrificial things that Jesus did for us
1) Jesus came down for us.
1) Jesus came down for us.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
He gave up his divine powers
Omnipresence - Being present everywhere
Omniscience - Complete knowledge
Omnipotent - All powerful
This is greater that giving up watching tv to spend time with you wife
He gave up heaven
9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
1 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.
4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.
5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
He gave up his position
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
From a position of being served to a position of serving others
This is what Christmas is all about.
Jesus coming down for us
Just part of the story
2) Jesus went up for us.
2) Jesus went up for us.
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
1 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.
2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him.
3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.
16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away.
17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).
18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
31 It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.
33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs.
34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
Why would someone equal to God go through all of this?
12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Love
Unconditional Sacrificial Love
True Love…always requires some sacrifice.
True Love…always requires some sacrifice.
Have you experienced the love of Jesus?
Do you really understand how much he loves you?
Are you extending this type of sacrificial love to others?
