Fellowship of the Forgiven Love One another
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CrossFit is the new church
CrossFit is the new church
verses 11-15
Let’s play a quick game. I am going to describe a place and let’s see if you can guess what this place is.
Here we go
Walking in everyone knows your name, and if not, they take the initiative to introduce themselves. If you struggle there is no judging. The environment is one of positivity and reinforcement. As long as you are giving 100 percent, there will be an entire class of slightly insane and energetic coaches and teammates behind you the whole way.
What is this place?
I googled CrossFit environment and this is what I found. I was reflecting on the church and what it is supposed to be, feel and look like. As I thought about CrossFit, I realize why some people may have ditched the concept of church and replaced it with CrossFit.
Why?
CrossFit is a place where everyone knows your name, and if not, they take the initiative to introduce themselves. If you struggle there is no judging and judging is replaced by encouragement. The environment is one of positivity and reinforcement. There is an entire class of slightly insane and energetic coaches and teammates behind you the whole way.
My ideal state of the church would reflect an environment much like CrossFit but better. A place where everyone knows your name, and if not, they take the initiative to introduce themselves. If you struggle they are there to encourage you and not leave you in the struggle. Bridge of Faith welcomes those who struggle with open arms but we care enough not to leave you in your struggle. The environment is that we encourage one another and only speak that which is beneficial for building each other up. We are insanely in love with Jesus and love each other deeply.
John gives us some practical lessons here that we can live out to be like Jesus.
We continue in 1 John 3 this week with verse 11
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?
Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things.
Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we have confidence before God and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.
(Pray)
The author continues to write and here we can see that he is writing to believers or those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He says this is the message YOU have heard and WE should love.
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,
He again speaks of the message you have heard from the beginning as he did in
Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard.
What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
This message has not changed. It is not some new age message but he says this is the message you have heard from the beginning and he says.
We should love one another.
Again the word for love used here is agape. This word means to look out for the best interest of the other. We should look out for the best interest of the others here in verse 11.
Imagine what an environment if we started to find ways to live for Jesus and in that we started to look out for the best interest of the others! This would be ideal.
Rather than talking about the messes someone else leaves behind we clean up after them and then talk with them directly about what they did and how we might have helped them. In our conversations, we looked out for the best interest of the other.
He then gives us an example of what this love is not.
I find this very interesting...
unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
Let me quickly read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4
Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
John says unlike Cain. He says don’t love one another like Cain treated Abel.
unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
Cain murdered his brother but why did he murder him.
Cain’s works were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Cain and other’s might feel the need to justify why Cain did what he did. It might would have sounded like this.
“Well you know Abel was showing off and so he got what was coming to him” “This is unfair my gift to the Lord was just as nice as Abel’s and the Lord treated him better. I took justice in to my own hands and killed Abel”
Cain was not looking our for the best interest of Abel he was being selfish and killed Abel because of the evil in his heart.
This happens so often when it comes to loving one another and looking our for the best interest of the others. Their righteousness makes us jealous.
Crazy light hearted example would be a pastor going through the church potluck line.
All the ladies start to watch what their pastor is putting on his plate and if he chooses one dish over another then all the talk starts. Well I bet he just done that because she watched his kids last week and on and on and on.
In this example, the ladies who the pastor did not eat their dish will not take responsibility for what they did wrong in their cooking they just work to tear down the person who may have done it right.
Then it all starts to spiral and everyone starts to hate on the one person who is doing things right rather than taking responsibility for their wrong.
After praising one kid have you ever noticed that some of the other kids start to tell you what they did wrong. I have to make them look like me.
Church family this is not loving one another as he calls us to and I love how he expounds on what this love is not.
It is not hating on others in order to make you feel better.
People may not want to hang with you because all you want to do is gossip and tear others down and here you keep thinking they are all just a part of a click.
Take responsibility for the wrong you are doing rather than blame those who are living right.
Cain murdered evil because his works were evil and Abel’s were righteous.
Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
This is a description of the World here and he says don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
I am convinced that often Christians never experience hate from the world because one of two reasons.
1.) They look so much like the world that the world can’t tell a difference and therefore they don’t hate them.
2.) Christian’s spend so much time in the light with other Christians and never go to dark places but in the dark places the world may hate you because you are a Christ follower.
If we love each other in the church and look out for the best interest of others then don’t be surprised if the world hates you for it.
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.
Here is an indicator that you are living life in Christ is that you love your brothers. You look out for the best interest of your brothers.
If you don’t love then you remain in death. Being alive in Christ is not possible when you don’t have love or look out for the best interest of others.
Think back to the last time you was angry or frustrated. I bet you felt really alive at that point. When you get selfish, then you remain or abide in death and not life.
The word remain here again is to abide. If you do not love you remain or abide in death.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Does this verse say that if you hate your brother that you are not saved?
In order to answer this question we have to dig deeper. If we take this verse at surface level and say yes that is what it says, then everyone who has ever hated anyone is a murderer and has no eternal life.
David actually killed Uriah. Peter cut off the ear of the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus. I would say this was hate for those who came to arrest him. I would say this would disqualify most all of us of ever having eternal life.
So John is saying that if you hate your brother then you are a murderer and if you are a murderer than the hope of Eternal life does not dwell in you.
This by no means is to justify your hate and say that it is ok. John wants them to be set free from the hate in their hearts. If you have hate, then you are dead and if you are dead then you don’t have the life of eternal life dwelling in you.
Your hate for others causes you to not have life. You are a slave to the person you hate. A life of Fellowship as the Forgiven is not full of hate. Hate brings death and love brings life.
What does love look like?
What does love look like?
This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.
Hate of the brother is death for the brother. Love for the brother is love and death of ourself.
Agape love is giving your own interest for the best interest of the other.
The love we came to know is that Jesus died for us. It was not in the best interest of Jesus to die on the cross for himself. Praise Jesus that he showed us love by laying down his life for us.
True love in the church looks like us dyeing to our interest and looking out for the interest of others.
This is true love and we have come to know this love because Jesus first loved us and gave his life for us so now we know what love is because of His love for us.
(Boys ranch)
If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?
The words closes his eyes to his need in Greek is splagchnon.
This word means deep felt compassion, tender mercies and affection.
Now you may be thinking that this verse entitles you to everything someone else has. I read 1 John and it says if I am in need and they have things and I don’t they are supposed to give me their things.
Wrong. First of all he is speaking from the other side saying if you see your brother in need and don’t have a deep felt compassion for them then do you really love God.
I love this word that is used here this deep felt compassion for your brother who is in need. Time and time again I see people striving to help apart from deep felt compassion.
People will often help with what makes them feel good rather than what is best for the person you are helping.
It is easier to give someone money then to have deep felt compassion for the person you are helping.
You will notice in everything we strive to do it is not about what makes us feel good about ourselves but what is best for the individual we are helping.
The question is not do we help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves or can’t help themselves, but how do we help. We are called to help but the help we give needs to be with a deep felt compassion for the person you are helping and not what makes you feel good.
Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence,
Our love for others must not be with speech but with truth and action. It is easy to say I love you to others but to truly show it is a whole different story.
It is easier to say I love you then to actually look out for the best interest of the one you love. It’s easier to tell my wife I love her then when she wants to do something that I don’t want to do and I know it is in her best interest. It would be easier to insert an I love you then to look out for her best interest.
Love must not be words but truth and action.
You can know that Jesus is your Lord by how you have love for your brother or how your heart begins to look out for the best interest of the other.
even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things.
We can know that He lives in us by our love for one another but even if our conscience condemns us then God is great than our conscience and He knows all things.
When we are at our worst He remains at His best. When we think we are not in him and we struggle with our love for others then know that God is greater than our conscience and He knows all things.
Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we have confidence before God and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.
When our love for others is authentic then our conscience does not condemn us. We then have confidence before God and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight.
Our ask will be more in line with his desires. This chapter we talked a lot about love/looking out for the best interest of others. As we follow his desire, our prayers will reflect this love and looking out for the best interest of others.
Our desire is to do what is pleasing in His sight. This is the goal of the Fellowship of the Forgiven is to be pleasing in His sight and that our desires are what He desires.
Verse 23 sums all this up
Believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded us.
The fellowship of the forgiven is that we believe in Jesus and love one another. We look out for the best interest of everyone around. We have deep compassion for those who are in need around us. This life leads us to obey God’s commands and ask boldly in prayer as we seek to do His will.
May the church be a place where people know you by name or introduce themselves to learn your name. May the church be a place where people look out for the best interest of others. The church can be a place where we encourage one another. The reason all this is possible is because of Jesus. Jesus showed us what love is by laying down His life for us. We love because he first loved us.