Diffusers 8: Power for Life (Matt 5:43-48)

Intro

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?, Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

This teaching of the Pharisees was at best, a misinterpretation of this verse from Leviticus 19:18. At worst, it was a malicious false teaching. While God indeed commanded us to love our neighbors in the OT, he never told us to hate our enemies. Jesus is exposing this idea for what it is.

But, this idea wasn’t new nor is it really old, because it is still well around.

The world’s value Jesus highlights here: take care of yourself and those who like you while canceling haters and people who don’t fit cleanly within your worldview structure.

Kingdom value: Give love and mercy even to your worst enemy.

The resurrection of Jesus is about new life. The risen Christ empowers us to not only embrace new life intellectually, but to live new life in reality.

The kingdom of God is already here in us.

I. Power to love hard to love people (43-44)

The cross is the greatest example we have of someone loving an enemy relentlessly.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

Jesus literally died for us while we were still in active rebellion against God. Think about that for a minute. God didn’t wait for us to get our act together. He didn’t cancel us. He condescended for us. He came for us.

In what other story, does a king step in between his executioner and treasonous rebels, and offer himself in place of the rebels?

How does this empower us to love hard people? If Jesus can do it for us, we can do it for others.

Consider this: no person will ever owe you a debt greater than the one you owed to Jesus and he died to pay your debt off.

Resurrection power enables us to think like a citizen of Kingdom of God rather than a citizen of a broken world. In this world, the theme is self-preservation. In the Kingdom the theme is restoration.

Here people think this moment is all we have and we have to maximize it. But if you have eternity in your heart you know there is so much more, and a person’s soul is more important than momentary comfort or satisfaction.

We are most like the world when we only show love to those who like us. We are most like Jesus when we love those who hate us.

II. Power to do good to those who don’t deserve it (45)

God does good things for everyone, even those who curse him. There is a temptation for us to write off anyone who we deem to be toxic, but I am super glad God isn’t like that.

Think about the sort of world in which Christians consistently treat those who abuse them with kindness instead of getting angry and making sure they get what they deserve.

We are most like the world when we only do good for those who like us. We are most like Jesus when we are kind to those who hate us.

III. Power for a greater righteousness (46-47)

Several weeks back we emphasized the following saying of Jesus...

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

There are many who will look at the bare minimum the law requires and say, that’s good enough. They fail to realize the heart of the law. It’s not just about people thinking you are a really decent and moral person. It’s about being good like God is good. That takes us so much further.

If we find ourselves making excuses as to why we don’t have to go all the way with being good to others, or we only have to love certain people, then we have missed the point.

His resurrection empowers us to do far more than the bare minimum with regards to loving people and extending mercy.

The fact that God’s greater righteousness seems out of place in our world only exposes how backwards and broken our world truly is

We are most like the world when we do the bare minimum to seem like decent and moral people. We are most like Jesus when we go above and beyond to do good for even our worst enemy.

IV. Power to be a complete person (48)

Be perfect Jesus says… seems like a big command doesn’t it?

God’s ultimate goal for us is to be just like Jesus. Jesus died to kill our sin nature so that we could be born into a new, holy nature and be the people he created us to be. He wants us to be holy, mature, and complete.

The resurrection empowers us to become who God dreamed we always could be, but we messed up in our own pride and self-centeredness.

The standard we were created to live according to is God’s own perfect character. This means being a benevolent and grace saturated people just like God is.

Part of the reason why people in our world often feel so empty, is because they are so self-oriented and are constantly holding people accountable for every little infraction. There is peace in being ready and willing to forgive, even if it costs us something. Holding grudges is one of the quickest routes to misery.

If you hold a grudge you carry another person’s sin but you don’t release it.

If you extend grace you also carry another person’s sin, but you set them free and yourself free in the process. You let offenses roll off of you rather than internalizing them.

God never lowers his standard to accommodate us

We are most like the world when we live as immature, half-humans. We are most like Jesus when we embrace our full humanity and live like him.

V. Closing

Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19)

What is the Father doing today? The time will come for him to banish unrepentant enemies, but today is the day of salvation. Our job is to do what the Father is doing now, not to do the job he will do in the future.

Christ’s resurrection means we have new life in him. He not only died, but he is risen. If we are in Christ our sin nature is as good as dead so we can start living like it is dead. We are alive to Christ. This means that with the Holy Spirit’s help, we have power to join Christ in bringing the realities of God’s kingdom to life in a world full of dead darkness.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.

What do you need from God today? Have you received this new life?

Those who have this new life, who is God sending you to so that you can love them and bring the truth of the gospel to them in both word and deed?

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 20

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,, and that by believing you may have life in his name.