Love John 15:9-15

-The Fruitful Life is a Life of Love

Many of you are familiar with a book by CS Lewis called “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” it is one of seven books in what are called the Chronicles of Narnia. They conclude with a final story that tells of the end of their world. In the story, an evil ape sets up a false imitation of their world’s Christ figure, a lion named Aslan. However, the false Aslan is completely wicked, capricious, and untrustworthy. What a shock to the creatures of Narnia! Their last king faced the hardship this way:

“Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death?” said the King. “That would be nothing, nothing at all. Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for? It is as if the sun rose one day and were a black sun.”

“I know,” said Jewel. “Or as if you drank water and it were dry water. You are in the right, Sire. This is the end of all things. Let us go and give ourselves up.”

“There is no need for both of us to go.”

“If ever we loved one another, let me go with you now,” said the Unicorn. “If you are dead and if Aslan is not Aslan, what life is left for me?”

I. The Love of God is the Proof of His Goodness v. 9

As we come to the conclusion of our time together, Jesus seems to throw us a bit of a curveball.

He introduces a second topic, love

However, this is not a separate issue; it’s a continuation of the same

It is the love of God that binds us to Christ and it is the love of God that keeps us in Christ

You see, it is easy when we talk about the topics of pruning and fruit bearing to feel like a pawn in a cosmic game that God is playing with our lives

Jesus explodes this understanding by making it clear that He loves us

Even further, He invites us to abide in HIs love

This call to stay in Christ is an invitation to experience the love that He has for us; in fact this love is foundational to our faith

If you somehow end up with a series of theological precepts that are not dominated by the love of God, you have something besides the faith that Jesus called us to partake in

Romans 8:31–32

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)

II. The Life of Love is a Life of Obedience and Joy vv. 10-12

Next, we see what this life of love looks like

We abide in the love of Jesus by keeping His commandments

We cannot abide in the love of Christ without a commitment to obey Him

We do the things that are pleasing to Him; to live in a posture of defiance is completely unloving!

Part of this is demonstrated with a simple command: “Love one another”

This may be difficult for us, but we cannot truly abide in the love of Christ without loving His people

Unfortunately, our love for people may well be the most telling metric of our love for God!

If you find yourself consistently frustrated, disappointed, or angry with people, it probably says more about you than about them

There’s great news though; as difficult as this call to love can be, it is a good calling

This kind of living brings joy

In fact, it turns out that it is impossible to experience genuine joy apart from the life of love

The Enemy lies and tells us that self-gratification is the key to joy; it turns out that the exact opposite is true!

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

George Bernard Shaw

III. The Love of God is Demonstrated on the Cross and in Relationship vv. 13-15

Finally, we see that God has demonstrated His love for us in two ways:

First, we see the sacrificial way that He did it:

Christ laid down His life for His friends

The Cross offers us a picture of sacrificial love that goes beyond our greatest human understandings of the subject

When you find yourself struggling to trust God’s care for you, look to the Cross!

Second, we see the invitation that He offers, to be His friends

In the midst of so many staggering statements, this may be one of the greatest

He calls us friends; this is demonstrated by telling us what He is going to do and inviting us to be a part of it

That’s the invitation that we close with this week; to leave here living as a friend of God

Of all of the gifts that we gain this week, one of the ones that I am always most grateful for are the friends that we meet. It is so good to have this time of reunion and to renew acquaintances. There are some things that will never be the same after this week, but there is one friendship that can be stronger than ever before; that is my friendship with God!