The Suffering Messiah - The Greatest

The Bottom Line

I have to admit - New car shopping is not my favorite thing

All they do (no offense if you sell cars) is talk about the features and the upgrades

They tell you how important each feature is to me

When I ask how much - it always about but you need this

All I want is the bottom line

I think our faith works a lot like this sometimes

We talk all we should do or be doing

We talk about all we should not be doing - but if it is all about what I do without knowing why I do it or the motivation for doing it - then it is just stale religion - it is just me going through he motions - not experiencing all I am meant to experience

Our faith comes with rules or commandments - just like everything else. - this is good

It allows us to experience life and faith with boundaries that keep us safe and focused on what is important

Unlike every other faith there is a foundational element - Something different than all others

That difference is Jesus - our suffering Messiah

I hope you have seen or sensed the difference over the last few weeks -

Jesus was and is who said He is - God in flesh - the Messiah

The heart He has for marriage and family and the desire that this relationship is enabled through direct communication through prayer

There are still the rules - in fact the Jews were obligated to obey 613 precepts in the Law

Today I want to talk about them - not all of them at once, but what is the bottom line

what is the most important or the greatest

Mark 12:28–34 CSB

One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

Let’s pray

Love is the Bottom line

Love is the greatest

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Nine: The Servant in Jerusalem (Mark 11:1–12:44)

If we love God, we will experience His love within and will express that love to others. We do not live by rules but by relationships, a loving relationship to God that enables us to have a loving relationship with others.

But we have cheapened that word and we need to understand what it is and is not

What Love is Not:

Love is not about our feelings

Jeremiah 17:9 CSB

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?

Love is not just a warm fuzzy - yes it is emotion but it is more - it is driving force in our lives

What Love is Not:

Love is not about our beliefs

James 2:19 CSB

You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.

You can know about Jesus without knowing Him

It is not about saying the right prayers or going to church or giving

It is not about believing, it is about surrendering . It is about transformation

If we have got the true love of God shed abroad in our hearts, we will show it in our lives. We will not have to go up and down the earth proclaiming it. We will show it in everything we say or do. - Dwight L. Moody

What Love IS:

Love is a choice backed by actions

John 14:15 CSB

“If you love me, you will keep my commands.

If we love we see as Jesus did, look like Jesus did, and do like Jesus did

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. - Augustine

The way we live and what we do will be marked by love

What Love IS:

Love is a response

1 John 4:19 CSB

We love because he first loved us.

I love because I was loved

I am not capable of loving my wife, my kids, or any of you the way I should if the love of God is not in me

I cannot love you as I love myself until I love God as I ought to love Him. - Jack Hyles

The Greatest is Love

Every command comes down to these Love God and love others

Everything we do should be motivated by the fact we have been loved by God and we want o love others

We give, we serve, we sacrifice, we forgive - because we love

We loved because He has lavished on us such a great love

If your life does not look like this - then you do not know this love

The world does not understand theology or dogma, but it understands love and sympathy.

- Dwight L. Moody

If you know this love then live live it

If you don’t, then why not today

Let’s pray