“LOVE IS THE PROOF” John 13:34-35
FBCF – 11/7/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – 1975 – The Captain & Tennille – #1 song, “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Best-selling single of 1975. And I think Tenille’s hairstyle was the best-selling teenage hairstyle of 1975, too!
Unfortunately, love didn’t keep “The Captain”, Daryl Dragon, & Toni Tennille together. Divorced in 2014 after nearly 40 years of marriage. Dragon died of renal failure in 2016 in Prescott, AZ. Sad, lonely end to his life.
The kind of love that the world has is not permanent. It will never last forever. But the love of God is permanent & WILL last forever!
- It’s a giving love – “For God so loved…that He gave…”
- It’s a forgiving love – “should not perish”
- It’s a living forever love – “have everlasting life.”
And this is the love Jesus is talking about in John 13:34-35.
EXPLANATION – Some form of “LOVE” used about 50 times in the Gospel of John. John’s Gospel def the Gospel of love. One of doctrines John teaches is that the Church is to be marked by love & unity.
John known as the “Beloved disciple.” Throughout the Gospel of the Beloved Disciple, Jesus emphasized love & pressed His followers to fully embrace His love. Made it abundantly clear that, if you made a commitment to follow Him, it was going to change the way you explain love, the way you experience love, & the way you express love.
- To the Jews who were opposing Him, He point-blank said, “You don’t have God’s love in you” (John 5:42 NCV) – Doesn’t matter how religious you are, how pious you are, how self-righteous you are – If you haven’t had a life-changing encounter w/ Jesus, the love of God isn’t in you.
- Nearly every reference to “love” in John is based on the Greek word agape’. It is the love that God has for us b/c His very nature is this love. God doesn’t just show love or express love – He IS love (1 John 4:8). He IS agape’. It is love that is unearned, unmerited, unconditional, & unbelievable! It always seeks the benefit of the one who whom it is shown.
- That means that, as Christ-followers, you & I are to always seek the welfare of others. This does not come naturally to us. One of 1st words a little child learns to say – “MINE!” Our sin nature screams that same thing all the time – “MINE! ME!”
- That means that we must be transformed through being saved. Salvation isn’t just about being saved from hell by the love of God. It is being saved by the love of God to love others with the love of God. It is being united w/ other believers in the love of God so we can show that we belong to Christ through the love of God.
APPLICATION – Loving like Jesus loves is proof that we are truly following Him.
What is it about this love that proves this?
IT’S A RADICAL LOVE – “A new commandment I give to you”
It’s not that this is the first time that anyone had ever heard anything about loving God.
- Right in middle of 10 Commandments – Ex. 20:6 – God said He would show “steadfast love” to thousands of generations of those who love who love Him & keep His commandments.
- Levitical Law – Leviticus 19:18 – “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (NIV).
- Psalmist – Psalm 31:23 – “O love the Lord, all you His godly ones” (NASB1995).
The new, radical commandment isn’t new in that the disciples had never heard that they should love others. But it’s radical b/c of the scope & the intensity of the love they are to show to others.
- The scope includes fellow believers – John 15:12 – “This is my commandment, that you love one another…”
- It also includes those who are in need – people we need to share the love of God with – Mark 12:31 – “Love your neighbor as yourself”
- It also includes our enemies – Matthew 5:44 – “love your enemies”
- The intensity means that we love those outside of our close circles – Good Samaritan – Luke 10
- The intensity means that we love so much that we are willing to lay down our lives for those we love – John 15:13 – “lay down his life for his friends”
It’s new. It’s radical. It’s different – even controversial.
- Pushes us outside our comfort zones
- Breaks down barriers
- Moves the focus off our ourselves to others
IT’S A REAL LOVE – “…just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” –
1 John 3:1 – His love is “lavished on us” (NIV), so we are to lavish it on each other.
It’s real b/c it’s not some sappy emotion that we work up. It’s real b/c it comes from Christ to us to others. It’s not an emotion – it’s the fruit of our relationship w/ Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit is “LOVE”.
Paul – 2 Corinthians 5:14 – “The love of Christ compels us.” His love is our motivation for loving & serving others. It’s the REAL Savior of the world pouring His REAL love into our lives which motivates us to love others in a REAL way.
- Sept. 1973 – 18 yr-old young man, Arthur Hinkley, lifted a 3000 lb tractor off a man who was trapped under it when it tipped over.
- Not saying that we will have superhuman physical strength. But the love of Christ motivates us to love others & run to them in their time of desperation, trapped beneath the load of sin, or beneath the load of life that has crashed down on them.
IT’S A REVEALING LOVE – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples”
The world does not know we are Jesus’ disciples just b/c we’ve got nice buildings, or b/c we go to church on Sundays & Wednesdays, or b/c we carry big study Bibles around w/ us, or b/c we go to FCA. The world does not know we are His disciples b/c we are members of FBCF, or b/c we are a deacon or a LG teacher, or b/c we sing in the choir or play in the praise band. Jesus says the thing that will reveal to the world that we are His disciples is our love for one another.
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS – How can you live this truth out this week in a tangible way? Are you actively proving that you’re following Jesus by the way you love others? Who needs to see & experience the love of Christ from you this week?
