Legacy of Christ #3 - Love
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1. Opening Comments
1. Opening Comments
* Work day – Saturday, May 19
o Paint outside – 1 thing and when finished, we’re done
* What series is about
2. Foundation Text
2. Foundation Text
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
* Will, testament
* Things that take effect after the death of the decedent
3. Today’s Text
3. Today’s Text
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love.
* They walked in his love when he was with them, but they would not come to truly KNOW his love until he left and they had to walk it out on their own
* Sometimes we don’t know how much or HOW someone loved us until we lose them
* In the natural, when they leave, we lose the love
* The wonderful thing about Jesus is that he left us a way to KEEP his love – he said to LIVE in it. Wouldn’t have told us that if it couldn’t be done
* When you read this verse, what do you focus on? What draws your attention?
You focus on the subject of the statement – HIS LOVE!
You focus on the subject of the statement – HIS LOVE!
o His love for them
o The father’s love for him
o Live within my love
* Your focus is on love – THE LOVE
* Living IN that love
* That’s what I want
* What I need
* So how do I get it, how do I LIVE in this love?
* Fortunately, he told us:
When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love.
* What draws your attention now?
Your focus shifts to obey.
Your focus shifts to obey.
* Obey, commands, does, don’ts
* Many have a real problem with that today
* It’s the reason you can’t win your friends
* And it could be the reason why, when they look at you, that they don’t want what you SUPPOSEDLY have
* Your focus is on OBEY – AND THEY CAN SEE THAT!
* Some just don’t want to be told what to do
* Others think that living for Jesus is nothing more than obeying a bunch of does and don’ts
* And it doesn’t take long before all of the don’ts get all of the attention and the life loses its luster
* And the Does become so burdensome that you just can’t keep up with them
Any time you begin to focus on the does and don’ts, major conflict arises in your spirit AND your life
Any time you begin to focus on the does and don’ts, major conflict arises in your spirit AND your life
And that focus is the difference between living in His love and just existing in His love.
And that focus is the difference between living in His love and just existing in His love.
* You will always BE in his love – God is love and that love never ends – no matter whether you’re hurting and disobeying him. No matter whether you listen or even believe – he STILL loves you and still wants you to come home. But like the disobedient child that is still loved, but can’t be disciplined or guided, you have to be left on your own to find your own way.
* This child loves you, too – but they love themselves MORE. They are more interested in their own wants, wishes and desires than they are in your love and approval.
* Just like you would do anything to turn them around – even to taking your hands and protection totally off of them, God will do the same. He STILL loves you, it still hurts to watch you suffer and have to deal with the choices you’ve made, but it HAS to happen. So He will back away and wait until you come home. But you still are within the bounds of his love.
* You’re just not living in his love – YOU’RE LIVING IN THE DOES AND DON’TS
* You’re living on the outskirts of his love
* You haven’t taken up residence squarely in it
* Because your focus is on the RESTRICTIONS
* YOU DON’T LOVE HIM LIKE HE LOVES YOU!
* Major difference between being in and living in
* Jesus showed them what it meant to live in the love of the Father
* He stayed at home in that love
* He didn’t stretch the boundaries
* He didn’t try to get away with stuff
He didn’t try to usurp the Father’s place
He didn’t try to usurp the Father’s place
o That place is authority
§ All authority was given to him, yet he surrendered to the Father’s will
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
o That place is protection
§ He could have called on 72,000 angels to protect him, but he left his protection up to his Father
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
o That place is boundaries
§ Not my will, but thine
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus lived in the love of the Father because he focused on his Father MORE than on his own life
Jesus lived in the love of the Father because he focused on his Father MORE than on his own life
* It’s a matter of focus – what are you focusing on
* Like a spotlight, God's love has a focus - the place where it is brightest and strongest. Light is given off all around, but as you move toward the center of the spotlight, you come more fully into the light. And the imperfections in you and your life are more fully illuminated. If you are concerned about those imperfections and don't want them seen, you will remain in shadows, catching some of the light, but not fully in the light. But if you love the light MORE than hiding your imperfections, that love will draw you to the brightest place. Yes, your imperfections will ALL be FULLY illuminated, but the awesome thing is, that the light has restorative, healing, power and the longer you remain IN the light, LIVE in the light, the more you will be healed, and your imperfections will fade away. Your love of the light MOVES you to the focus.
My focus must be on what I LOVE not on the trouble what I love causes me.
My focus must be on what I LOVE not on the trouble what I love causes me.
* Like falling in love – when I focus on how much I LOVE her and how much she loves me – things are copesetic.
* When my focus changes to what I have to do for her, it gets tougher
* When I focus on what I can’t do because of having to live with her, it gets still harder
* But when I can bring my focus back around to how much she loves and all the things she does for me – when I focus on how much I truly love her – I can get beyond the harder and find some rest.
* That’s why Jesus said:
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
* “Keep your eyes on Jesus” – so very true
* Where is your focus today – what are your eyes on?
* What you have to do? Or how much you love him?
* What he asks of you? Or how much he loves you?
* He loves you so much, he loves ME so much that:
o Takes me as I am
o Never asks me to love what he didn’t love
o Never asks of me what he wasn’t willing to do for me
o Never asks of me what he isn’t willing to help me do
o Never asks me to go where he wouldn’t go
