Love God; Love People

Love God, Love People

Mark 12:28-31

Intro

As the craziness continues to unfold - it is important that we don’t allow the world to define who we are or what we stand for

I talked about taking a stand last week - and that’s what we need to do - but I want to follow that up with ensuring we know the way to stand that honors God

Hatred is being spread almost as fast as the COVID-19 - and it is very contagious which is why we must make sure we remember who we are and whose we are

In our passage today, we see Jesus is asked a question about which commandment is the most important of all and Jesus gives the answer

We will read it but I sum it up in four words which is the title of my message LOVE GOD; LOVE PEOPLE

Read Mark 12:28-31 / Pray

Loving God and loving people must be our mantra and mission in life personally and corporately as the church

Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:40 “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands”

Imagine that! The whole Law, The Prophets, 39 OT and 27 New Testament books; 1,189 chapters; 31,102 verses; 783,137 words; all can be summed into these two commands; these two verses; 38 words

You say How? Jesus was telling us that if we will love God and love people, we will fulfill and keep all the other stuff - and really without a whole lot of effort

All of scripture is an application of these ultimate commands

But that is much easier said than done - especially when someone does something against us; hates us; persecutes us; desires to get rid of us

TRANS: Jesus wouldn’t say this if it weren’t possible, so understand it is possible but not easy. Jesus says first…

1. WE LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR BEING

Jesus is quoting Deut 6:5 here when he says “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”

LOVE = Greek = Agapao - perfect love; God’s love

In other words Jesus is saying here to love God COMPLETELY with all of who we are

HEART = Greek = KAR-DAY-UH (kardia) - which literally means “the center of all physical and spiritual life (our modern day cardio when we talk about the heart)

SOUL = Greek = SUE-KAY (psyche) - the seating of feelings, desires, affections (modern day psychiatry when talking about mental health)

MIND = Greek = DYE-UH-NOYA (dianoia) - way of thinking and feeling; faculty of understanding

STRENGTH = Greek = IS-HOSE (ischys) - ability, force, strength, might

Jesus is saying that we should love God with all the vigor and energy of our physical life which is our heart and strength

As well as the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, and endeavors

We can do this because we see that He first loved us and saved us

We relate to God and express our love to Him through our obedience

We don’t obey to obtain His favor - we should obey because of His favor!

The more time you spend with Him and His word - the deeper your love for Him will be

TRANS: And then out of that Love for God, the second commandment is like it as Jesus says…

2. WE MUST LOVE OTHERS

It is impossible to know God and not love others -

1 John 4:8 “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love”

1 John 4:10 “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”

1 John 4:11 “Dear friends, if God loves us in this way, we ALSO must love one another”

1 John 4:19 “We love BECAUSE He first loved us” You cannot love others without first experiencing the the amazing love of God for yourself

Jeriamiah 31:3 “...I have loved your with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you”

How do we know that we are born of God? It is LOVE

1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, because LOVE IS FROM GOD, and everyone who loves HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD and knows God”

Jesus says Love your neighbor as yourself

NEIGHBOR = Greek = PLAY-SEE-ON (plesion) - thy fellow man irrespective of nation or religion

That means all races; nationalities; religions (Islam; Pagans; Athiests; all colors and creeds) from every nation and we know many of those hate us as believers of Jesus

TRANS: Why if they hate us does Jesus demand that we love them? Because...

3. LOVE IS THE GREAT AUTHENTICATOR