Love Like Christ Series

Love like Christ

Keep Christ in Christmas

12/21-22/2013

Introduction

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Love.

Love is a word that is quite overused.

We love a lot of things.

We love our football, our cars, our houses, our kids.

We love our freedom, we love our guns.

We love our dogs, and even our cats.

We love chocolate and steaks and pizza.

We really do “love” a lot of things.

There have been over 75 movies that have love in the title.

There have been countless songs that have love as their subject.

In fact, we love so much that there are over 100 songs that were #1 hits that have the word love in the title.

Back in 1956, Elvis wanted people to “Love me Tender,” (1956) and then a few years later, he sang that that he “Can’t help falling in Love” (1962). Even though he couldn’t help falling in love, some obviously could because there were some who had “lost that lovin’ feelin’” according to the Righteous Brothers.

The Supremes wanted people to “Stop in the Name of Love” while the Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love.” A few years later, while The Partridge Family sang, “I think I love you,” Olivia Newton John could say, “I honestly Love you.”

In 1975, the Eagles were willing to give the “Best of my Love” and Captain and Tenille told us that “Love will keep us together.”

By 1976, Paul McCartney was decrying all the “Silly Love Songs,” but REO Speedwagon vowed in 1981 to “Keep on Lovin’ You.” In fact, It was the only thing they wanted to do.

Lionel Richie and Diana Ross knew that they would keep on loving because they sang about their “Endless love” in 1981 while Tina Turner wanted to know “What’s Love Got to do with it” in 1984.

In 1985, Whitney Houston was “Saving all my love for you” even as Foreigner said “I want to know what Love is.”

Love. When it is so overused, it tends to get watered down so that we don’t really know what it is.

Maybe you have never consciously wondered that, but as we talk about it, it does strike a chord with you. What is love? I want to know.

Well, as we continue in our series, talking about How to Keep Christ in Christmas, it is imperative that we know what love is as defined by God and it is absolutely imperative that we learn to love like Christ.

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To love like Christ it is essential that we are worshiping Christ like we spoke of a few weeks ago and that we are spending time in the presence of people, because real love requires that we are loving real people.

So, how does Christ love and how are we to love?

Turn with me to 1 John 3:16

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Not John 3:16, but first John 3:16.

It is interesting however that both John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 both talk about God’s love for us.

Here, however, the apostle John has a response to Foreigner who said “I want to know what love is”

Let’s read.

1 John 3:16-18 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Pray

This Scripture that we just read starts out by telling us what love is by showing us God’s love for us.

We see that

God’s love for Us is Sacrificial

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1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

God sacrificed his life for us.

The purpose of Christmas was for Jesus to come into this world so He could become a man and lay down his life for us.

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Hebrews 2:14, 17

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil—. …. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

God’s love for us caused Him to sacrifice His glory in heaven to be born as a baby into this dark and cold world, so that he could sacrifice his life for ours.

Consider His Sacrifice

I don’t know if you have ever really contemplated the greatness of God’s sacrifice for us.