November 17, 2002 I Corinthians 13:8-13
¡§The supremacy of Love¡¨
INTRODUCTION
In the book, ¡§Children¡¦s Letters to God: The New Collection¡¨, a little girl named, Nan, writes this letter: ¡§Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only four people in our family and I have trouble loving them!¡¨ Love is never easy. But it is absolutely necessary. It is the glue that holds all of us together in the body of Christ. It motivates us to work together and use our differences as a way to make us stronger rather than to tear us apart. It causes us to focus on one another and our world rather than on ourselves and the fulfillment of our own personal desires.
We have been talking about God¡¦s kind of love for the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, we talked about substitutes for love ¡V things that we put in place of real love. They include words, spiritual activity, and sacrificial giving. And we learned that without love, all of these are futile. We say nothing, we are nothing, and we gain nothing if we attempt to do anything for God without love. Then, last week, we talked about the substance of God¡¦s love. We saw that it is active, decisive, it behaves in a certain way, and it can best be understood by looking at the character and actions of Jesus.
This morning, we are going to finish our examination of this beautiful chapter. We¡¦re going to look at 5 reasons that God considers love to be supreme above all other desirable characteristics in the Christian life.
1. Love is supreme because it never leaves us. (vs. 8)
On Christmas morning, the focus of a child¡¦s attention is on the gifts that they receive. In that moment on Christmas morning, those gifts are the most important things in their lives. Nothing is more important than them and those gifts even though many of those gifts will be broken by the end of the day, more by the end of the week, and all will be forgotten by the end of the year. They are temporary. At that moment, the children don¡¦t care about grandma, mom or dad who gave them those gifts. And they certainly don¡¦t care about loving their sisters and brothers at that time. Gifts can make you very selfish.
God has given us many gifts too. We have spent time talking about them and their role in the church over the last month or so. Of all God¡¦s gifts, the greatest is love. One reason is that love never fails.
That¡¦s what Paul says here in vs. 8. The word that is translated ¡§fails¡¨ is ¡§used of a flower or leaf that falls to the ground, withers and decays.¡¨ ¡V MacArthur, p. 358 Ben and I were studying about trees for a science quiz the other day. We learned the difference between evergreen trees and deciduous trees. Deciduous trees are the trees that were so beautiful with the fall colors a couple of weeks ago. Their leaves change colors in the fall, they wither and they die, and they fall. Evergreens on the other hand remain green all year long regardless of the circumstances that surround them. That is the character of love. It never falls; it never ends; it is permanent regardless of the circumstances that surround it.
Love will never end, but something else will end ¡V spiritual gifts. Paul talks about 3 in particular ¡V prophecy, tongues and the gift of knowledge. The Corinthians were putting all of their focus and attention on temporary spiritual gifts when permanent love should have been the focus of what they were doing. Focus needs to be on eternal things not temporary ¡V not on a building, not on finances, not on your job. The only things that are permanent are God and people. Humans spend too much time concentrating on what is temporary falsely thinking that temporary things will satisfy their greatest needs. Instead, they should be seeking what is eternal, for only what is eternal can satisfy.
My responsibility for loving you and your responsibility for loving me will never end. But my responsibility of communicating God¡¦s revealed truth to you ¡V which is what the gift of prophecy is all about ¡V will end. (Jer 31:34 KJV) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD¡K When we are in the presence of God, He will communicate His truth perfectly. There will be no need for a middleman. The need for me to use unknown languages to communicate with God or man will no longer be a reality. I will speak God¡¦s language, which means that I can clearly communicate with Him, and you will speak it too, so we can clearly communicate with each other. The need for me to communicate knowledge will be gone as well because all of us will have an inexhaustible capacity to learn from the greatest Teacher of all! When all of my earthly responsibilities end, I will still have the responsibility to love.
Paul is using these three gifts to communicate that all of the gifts of the Spirit are temporary empowerment for service to the body of Christ. None of them will be necessary when we are in the presence of Jesus. But love is permanent. It is our driving force both for this life and the next.
2. Love is supreme because it completes us. (vs. 9-10)
The focus of chapter 12 was that there are many parts within the body of Christ. No part is superior or inferior to any other part. All parts are necessary in order for the body to function to its fullest capacity. As important and as good as these parts are, they are incomplete. Alone, they cannot bring us fulfillment or effectiveness in the body. They are like our own righteousness. It may be good, but it is incomplete. Our goodness can never measure up to the standards of God.
¡§in part¡¨ ¡V not complete, not full, not mature. ¡§We know only a portion of the truth, and what we know about God is always incomplete¡¨ (1 Cor. 13:9, The Message)
¡§when perfection comes¡¨ ¡V Many suggestions have been made concerning what Paul had in mind when he talked about ¡§perfection¡¨. One suggestion is that Paul was talking about the Bible. When the Bible was complete, then there would be no more need for the spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues or knowledge. The major problem with this theory is that Scripture clearly says that there will be prophets during the tribulation. Another theory is that ¡§the perfection¡¨ is talking about when Jesus returns to the earth. Again, the problem here is that there will still be prophets after the second coming of Christ. The most logical interpretation is that Paul is talking about that time in our lives when we stand before God complete. When you and I have been completed and are just like Jesus in His character, there will be no more need for gifts which are inherently incomplete.
Still, Paul may not have anything specific in mind when he talks about that which is perfect or imperfect. He could just be talking about a general principle. For example, when a broken bone is completely healed (the perfect), then you do away with the cast (the imperfect). When a tree is strong enough to stand on its own (the perfect), you take away the rod that you had tied it to to support it (the imperfect).
Some may use the excuse, ¡§I don¡¦t have the gift of evangelism, so I don¡¦t have to tell people about Jesus.¡¨ The lack of that gift may give you some level of excuse for not evangelizing, but love will not excuse you. Even if I don¡¦t have the gift of evangelism, love compels me to tell people about Jesus. Even if I don¡¦t have the gift of mercy, love causes me to be merciful.
The gift of prophecy may motivate you to speak God¡¦s truth. But God wants us to do more than just speak the truth. He wants us to speak the truth in love. Turn with me to Eph. 4:11 ¡V 15. [Read it making comments] God gave gifts to prepare the church for works of service until we become mature (like Jesus). Infants are tossed back and forth by different doctrines. But when we know the truth and speak the truth in love, that¡¦s when we show that we are truly grown up.
3. Love is supreme because it matures us. (vs. 11)
When I was a child¡K
„X Talked like a child ¡V conversation was about childish things, selfish things (¡§I, my, mine¡¨), incomplete sentences, garbled speech, small vocabulary, unable to communicate what was going on inside
Two sisters I know, Joanne and Linda, when they were much younger, were playing at home one day. Joanne, the older of the two became irritated with her younger sister, Linda, and said to her. "You¡¦re getting uglier and uglier every day." Later that same day or was the next day, their gramdma came by for a visit. Without knowing what Joanne earlier that day had said to her little sister, she commented to Linda, "You¡¦re getting to look more like your big sister all the time."...
„X Thought like a child ¡V the world revolves around me, think about toys, pleasure, food, comfort (change my diaper ¡V clean up the mess that I made for myself), very concrete terms
A little kid who was told a story in his Sunday morning Bible class. After church on way home mom asks him what they talked about in Bible class, the little boy told her that they talked about the creation story and how God had taken a rib from mans side and made a wife for him. After lunch, the mother found him doubled over in pain. When the mother asked what was wrong, the little boys says; ¡§My side hurts mommy, I think I¡¦m having a wife.¡¨
Another four-year-old little girl went to the doctor¡¦s office with a fever. The doctor looked in her ears and said, "Who¡¦s in there? Donald Duck?" She said, "No." He looked in her nose and said, "Who¡¦s in there? Mickey Mouse?" Again she said, "No." He put his stethoscope on her heart and said, "Who¡¦s in there? Barney?" Amanda replied, "No, Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear." - Carol Leet, New York. ¡§Today¡¦s Christian Woman¡¨, Vol. 18, no. 4.
„X Reasoned like a child ¡V A child has to know why, gets angry when he doesn¡¦t get his own way, stubbornly refuses to do what authorities in his life tell him to do, exercises very little self-control (over his emotions or bodily functions), is limited in knowledge (which is part of the reason that he refuses to be obedient), doesn¡¦t understand that what he is told to do is best for him and those around him. If you stand in the way of getting what I want, then you are the enemy; based on here and now not the future (i.e. Ben can¡¦t understand that temporary sacrifice will bring eventual reward. He doesn¡¦t understand that doing his homework without complaining or getting up when he is called will get him more play time or possibly a later bedtime. Of the things that I just listed as characterizing children, how many of them characterize you as an adult? Many ¡§adults¡¨ would still rather spend today and not think about the consequences tomorrow. (smoking, over-eating, failing to exercise, immoral lifestyle)
Now I lay me down to rest
I hope to pass tomorrow¡¦s test.
If I should die before I wake,
That¡¦s one less test I¡¦ll have to take. ¡V Nelson¡¦s complete book of Stories¡K
{illustrates children¡¦s concern only for the moment}
As far as Paul was concerned the Corinthians were spiritual children. Paul couldn¡¦t talk to them as adults (mature) but only as children. He couldn¡¦t give them meat to eat but only milk. (1 Cor 3:1-4)
Childish = carnal (still worldly, not spiritual) They were attempting to use spiritual gifts that required spiritual maturity when they were far from spiritually mature. It¡¦s like a child trying to go hunting with a weapon designed for an adult and no adult supervision. He will end up doing damage to himself and those around him. (illus. Tom and Josh Smith are probably going to go hunting together soon. Do you really think that Tom would send Josh off by himself in the woods with a rifle or shotgun?)
For the Jewish boy, passing from childhood to adulthood was a point in time that happened on his 13th birthday at the bar mitzvah. In our society, a boy is considered a man on his 18th birthday. But whatever society¡¦s legal opinion of a person, a birthday is not what determines one¡¦s level of maturity. These Corinthians thought that they were spiritually mature because they had some outward gifts that they were expressing. But spiritual maturity is an inward reality not an outward show. There are some 12 yr. olds that are more mature than many 50 yr. olds.
"Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and Justice for all. Amen!" Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a remark, "That¡¦s what¡¦s wrong with this country. Kids today don¡¦t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream. Why, I never!"
Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, "Did I do it wrong?" Is God mad at me?" As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer." "Really?" my son asked. "Cross my heart." Then in a theatrical whisper he added, indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing, "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."
Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and without a word walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile, he told her: "Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes, and my soul is good already."
Children are controlled by the flesh. Spiritual children manifest the works of the flesh. Spiritual adults manifest the fruit of the Spirit (i.e. love¡K)
When I became a man¡K ¡§Just grow up!¡¨ Put away childish toys, childish ideas about the world and childish ways of dealing with people.
¡§Beauty and the Beast¡¨ ¡V the beast was transformed from a selfish spoiled brat into a self-sacrificing man by his love for Belle. Love caused him to see clearly. At first, the Beast only saw Belle as a means to overcome the curse that he and the castle had endured for so many years. But when he came to love her completely, rather than blinding him, it opened his eyes and caused him to see the world in the right way for the first time.
4. Love is supreme because it causes us to see clearly. (vs. 12)
¡§through a glass darkly¡¨ ¡V mirrors back then are not the clear reflections that we have today. They were pieces of smooth stone, pottery, water, or other smooth reflective surfaces. It made it hard to tell anything with any certainty about what exactly that you were looking at.
What is it that we can¡¦t see clearly? It is God. Sometimes it¡¦s hard to see the character and the working of God in the situations and circumstances of life. It¡¦s sometimes hard to see what God is doing.
What is it that we will fully know? Is it the why¡¦s of all those things that happened that we didn¡¦t understand? Will all the pieces finally fit together into a beautiful picture? I think it is God that we will fully know. Right now, God fully knows us. He knows all our weaknesses, our dreams, our goals, our potential ¡V and our sin. One day, we will fully know God. Right now, we do not fully know God. If we really knew God, we wouldn¡¦t worry, we wouldn¡¦t fear, we wouldn¡¦t sin.
¡§Face to face¡¨ ¡V one day, we will stand in the presence of Jesus, and then we will know God. We will know His love, His power, His wisdom. We will also finally get to see what a mature Christian is supposed to look like. Standing in front of Jesus will make all our spiritual antics look so childish, and our spiritual pride will melt away.
5. Love is supreme because it steadies us. (vs. 13)
Once we reach eternity, there will be no more need for faith or hope. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Everything that has been promised and therefore hoped for will be realized in eternity. We will not have to live by faith then. We can live by sight. Right now, we walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) But then, our faith will turn into sight.
¡§But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.¡¨ ¡V The Message, 1 Cor. 13:13
Love is not God, and it is not greater than God. But love is eternal like God because it is a part of His nature. It emanates from Him. (1 John 4:16 NIV) And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. What if God had caused John to write, ¡§God is eternal¡¨ of ¡§God is just¡¨ or ¡§God is truth¡¨? All of those are accurate descriptions of God, but all of them are cold. ¡§God is love¡¨ speaks of God¡¦s desire to enter into relationships.
