The Love Of Christ

Love Like Jesus: The Ultimate Calling

Bible Passage: John 15:12-17

Summary: In John 15:12-17, Jesus commands His disciples to love one another as He has loved them. This sacrificial and selfless love is a fruit of being His follower, emphasizing that true love involves commitment and service to others.

Application: This passage encourages Christians to reflect on their relationships and consider how they can embody Christ's love in practical ways. By fostering a community based on love, they can help heal wounds of division and bring people closer to God.

Teaching: This sermon teaches that love is not merely an emotion but an active choice to care for others, based on Christ's example. It challenges the church to raise the bar of love within their communities, compelling each individual toward selflessness and service.

How this passage could point to Christ: Christ embodies this commandment of love, as His life, death, and resurrection demonstrate the profound depths of His love for humanity. In loving as Christ loves, believers participate in the divine nature and reflect God's character to the world.

Big Idea: To genuinely follow Christ means to embrace the call to love others sacrificially, as He loves us, thereby illustrating the nature of our faith in action.

Recommended Study: Consider diving into Logos to explore the original Greek nuances of terms like 'love' (agape) and how they shift the understanding of relational dynamics from a human perspective to a divine one. You might also study commentaries on John 15 to unpack the historical and cultural context of Jesus' words and examine differing interpretations of 'abide' in this context, focusing on how it relates to communal love.

1. Sacrificial Love: A Command

John 15:12–13 ESV

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Greek - agapaō - to Love - Involves a deep level of affection and intimacy

This is not a request but a command - A command to love each other.

This love is more than an emotion but an action. A call to action - an action to giving yourself to others without an expectation of return.

What an example of sacrificial love we see in how Christ gave his life for us on the cross.

is the highest form of friendship. Encourage the congregation to reflect on how they can exhibit such love in their daily lives, prioritizing giving of themselves for others' benefit.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

2. Shared Love: Friendship With Jesus

John 15:14–15 ESV

You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus sees us as more than servants, but His friends.

What kind of God? What kind of King? What kind of Creator sees his people as his friends?

A God that has an intimate love

a King with an close relationship with his people

A Creator that loves his people so much, that he sent his Son to the cross for you, whether you accept him or not

We want God to be our friends. We want God to share himself with us, right?

Are we willing to call him friend? Are we willing to share ourselves with Him?

God will call us and qualifies us in His love for His purpose.

What is His purpose for you? What is his calling for you?

I didn't realize that his purpose for me was to be a

Husband/Father

Firefighter/Chaplain

Pastor/Teacher

3. Selected to Love: Bearing Fruit

John 15:16–17 ESV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Jesus chose you, He chose you to love.

He chose you to share his gifts with.

He appointed you to go and bear fruit.

To bear fruit you must abide. Abide - Greek menō which means to remain, stay (i.e., lodge) with

You must remain, stay with and abide in the vine - which is Jesus - so that you can bear fruit

To bear lasting fruit you must abide in Christ and root yourself in Love that only comes as a gift from Him.

A mutual love in Him, and Him in you

Love him like he loves you. He gave his life for you, have you given your life to Him?