Sunday, September 28, 2008
“I would give my life for you.” If you received the weekly email this week, you saw a few thoughts on that statement. If
you don’t receive the weekly email, that means I don’t have your email address – fill out that white sheet and get that
address to me. I want to break that statement down a little bit as we get started this morning. That is a statement that
sounds really good and romantic and centered on the other person. But I can imagine those words coming out of the
mouths of teenaged girls and boys to teenaged boys and girls not for the other person, but to bring about some self
centered desire or to fulfill some supposed need of validation. What do you notice about the statement? One thing I see is
that there is more “me” than “you.” “I” would give “my” life for “ you.” In fact, even the word “give” has a sense of “me”
in it – look how you-focused I am, I would GIVE my life for you – aren’t I great? I don’t know if I am just being cynical
or if there is truth to my assessment of this statement, but I don’t think anyone should fall for this one. But people do all the
time. It is very easy to say things, but what proves a statement like this? ACTION. Action makes it clear if what was said
or promised is true – but to say that up front and to believe it upfront would be – I think – foolish.
It almost sounds there in 1 John 3 that we are supposed to do the “I would give my life for you” thing. We’re going to look
at that today as we continue our series “Love IS Action, Love IN Action.” Last Sunday we saw how, in order to do the
impossible, to love the way God loves, it only happens by Christ in us. It has to be Jesus loving through us for it to be the
kind of love we saw there in 1 Corinthians 13. That’s the whole point of life. How do WE love like that? We allow our
lives to be filled with and controlled by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to continue to see this morning how we can
love with God’s love. Before we continue, let’s give our time and ourselves to Him. PRAY
What we saw there in 1 John 3 – we know love because Jesus laid down His life for us – is followed by “And we also
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” That is a repeated topic in the New Testament. Turn back to John 10:11.
READ. The Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. Look at John 15:13. READ. There is no greater
demonstration of love than to lay down your life for your friends. Then Jesus continues in John 15 to tell us that we are His
friends if we trust Him and do what He says. In all 3 of these passages and several others we may see later in our series, it
is the same Greek word – gave His life, lay down your life, laid down His life. The word literally means “to place in a
horizontal position.” PERSON COME UP How do you feel? Exposed? Vulnerable? Nervous? These verses say that
Jesus voluntarily placed Himself in that position – and that we ought to do the same for the brethren. Today we will look at
what that means for us and why we would even want to consider doing that.
So how do we lay down our lives? It is clear that to do that is to show love – how do we do it, then? The Word of God
is our guide and gives us not only great philosophical insight on how to love, but, even more important, great practical
insight – what to actually work on. Let’s look at the philosophical stuff first. Turn to Philippians 2:1-8. (Explain as we go)
Vss. 1 and 2 – Paul reminds the Philippians of the encouragement, love fellowship, care and mercy that God has given
them in Christ – because they have trusted Christ – and then instructs them to have the same kind of encouragement, love,
fellowship and care for one another. This is what Jesus did.
Vss. 3 and 4 – let NOTHING be done from selfish ambition or conceit. Maybe God didn’t know that 21st century
America would be coming – that’s about ALL we pursue. No, it is still just as much a command today as it was then –
maybe more needed. Let NOTHING be done based on self-promotion, self-glorification, and self-centeredness. Instead,
in lowliness of mind each one of us should esteem others as better than himself. Not just more important – better, held
above. To think and live like that doesn’t come naturally – and it won’t if we try to do it on our own power. But our life is
supposed to be “Christ in you.” Jesus can do it because He already did it, as we’ll see in a minute. Consider others better
than yourself. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in that issue.
Verse 4 goes on that shouldn’t watch out only for our own interests – we CAN watch out for our own interests – but we
should also watch out for the interests of others. The whole point is to lay down our lives for others. They take first place
and we move behind. This is love. Not easy, but God gives us the ultimate example in Jesus Christ, which is what He
brings up in verses 5 – 11.
Verses 5 and 6 – I don’t care for the NKJV here – especially the end phrase. This is a command – something God wants
us to obey. Have the same attitude about life and others that Jesus had, an attitude of love – Jesus, who for all eternity past
was and is God and was able to utilize abilities as God to accomplish His God-purposes. Even though that is what He was
and is, He did not hold on to it, grasp it, when it came down to what would be best for US when it came to love. Keep
reading.
Verse 7 – He didn’t hold on to what He knew was His and claim His rights over our benefit, but He “made Himself of no
reputation.” Again, a better translation of those words is that He emptied Himself, He set aside His abilities as God and
took the form of a bondservant and came in the likeness or appearance of a regular human being. Who was Jesus the
bondservant of? Definitely He was a bondservant, a slave of the Father. But He also became a slave of US – considered
US better than Himself, looked out for our interests. That’s the kind of attitude we are to have toward one another – love.
Verse 8 – giving up all His God abilities, His God powers, His God rights, He not only came and lived a human life, but He
took it all the way for us – He was obedient to God to the point of death. And it was death of the most gruesome kind –
death on a cross. Remember that we know love by the fact that Jesus laid down His life for us. That’s love. If we want to
love, we need to lay down our lives – set aside our rights, our place, our stuff and seek the best for others. We definitely
need Christ in us to make that happen.
Jesus Christ laid down His life – He placed it at our feet and said, “It’s yours.” From the moment He came as a baby to
the moment He left the ground in Acts 1, and even now as He is seated at the right hand of the Father and is our mediator,
He continues to say, “It’s yours.” He laid down His life for us – He love us.
Let’s see how we can do the same. Turn to Colossians 3:12-17. In these verses, we see some less philosophical stuff
(by that I mean things that talk about the underlying thought behind WHY we should love) and gets to what we might see
as more practical stuff – stuff we can DO. But remember, if we don’t have the right underlying principles motivating us, if
we are not fully devoted to Jesus and living for His things, we won’t get the full advantage and blessing out of doing things
His way. So the philosophy stuff is important. Let’s READ.
This sounds a lot like 1 Corinthians 13 – so obviously love is what is behind all this. I want to look at just a couple of
things here and then get REALLY practical. In verse 12 it says, “put on.” What do we put on? CLOTHES. That’s the
idea – get dressed in this stuff. These things are what your life and mine ought to be covered with. Look at verse 13
again. Here’s a practical thing we can do – forgiving one another – if anyone has a complaint against another. What is
missing in this situation? There’s no casting of blame. Loving forgiveness, laying down our life for another, is, “I have a
problem with something you’ve done, BUT, just like Jesus did for me when I did not deserve it, I forgive you and it’s
over.” Loving like that will keep us busy for the rest of our lives.
Verse 14 – above all. The most important thing to put on is love and love is what holds it all together perfectly – the whole
ensemble. These instructions are very practical for us – especially since we are the ones who are to put these things on – it
is our choice, our response. In the same way, verses 15 and 16 are very practical. LET the peace of God rule in your
hearts – LET the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Once again, it is our choice and our response. We let
those things happen by yielding our lives to Jesus Christ, giving Him control.
The verses that follow in Colossians 3 go straight to application of the philosophical truths we were just talking about.
Colossians 3:18-4:1. READ. In verses 17 and 23 we are commanded to do everything we do as if we are doing it for
the Lord Jesus – and obviously it is all wrapped in love. So wives, and I understand the Thursday women’s Bible study
had a pretty good study related to this very thing, wives, submit to your own husbands. That is love –that is laying down
your life. That is fitting. How can submission be loving? Think back to why God created the woman – Genesis 2, to
HELP the man become the man God meant him to be. Wives, as you submit to your husbands in love, you are helping
God make your man HIS man. And that is fitting – that is right.
Husbands, you have a part in doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus – love your wife. Why does the wife have to submit
and the husband only has to love? That seems unfair. It is NOT unfair – it is what we were created to do, it is God’s
order. Husbands, we all know that we are self-centered, self-important, self-absorbed creatures. When God says, “Love
your wife.” we need His power and His help to turn our attention to her and lay down our life for her. That is love. And
do not be bitter toward them. We all know that men and women are different. Women process things differently than
men. Men deal with things differently than women. Get over it and get used to it and realize this is God’s design.
Husbands, love your wives – she was given to you by GOD to help you become the man God wants you to be. Don’t be
bitter toward her – holding her God-given gifts against her. I heard a great quote out at convention about bitterness.
Bitterness is drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Don’t do that.
Children, you have a practical part in laying down you life. God gives parents the responsibility to raise children to be
godly and to become godly adults. Kids, that is a learning process – not just for you, but for your parents, too. So cut
them some slack and trust GOD – He is the one who is ultimately going to cause godliness in you. He has given your
parents the difficult task of helping you become godly. Would YOU want that job? So out of love, lay down your life and
obey them. It will only turn out for your good – God promises good things to children who do that.
Fathers, lay down your lives for your children – do not provoke them. Don’t stifle their creativity, their interests, their
curiosity. Don’t keep picking, picking, picking until they give up. Be the kind of father the Father God is to you –
constant, present, involved, loving, forgiving, teaching, patient, has a plan. That is love – that is laying down your life.
Notice, by the way, that this instruction was not given to mothers. The responsibility for the well-being of the home and
family does NOT rest on the wife and mother, it rests on the husband and father. That’s how God set it up. That’s how it
works best if it is under the shelter and control of the Lord Jesus.
Well, WHY would we want to love one another like this? Turn to 1 John 4:12. READ. No one has seen God ever – but
John says, here’s a way we CAN see Him. If we love one another God Himself abides, lives, takes up residence in us and
His love has been perfected, made complete and mature in us. If we love one another, we get to experience God Himself
living in us and others get to experience SEEING God in us. When we love out of a pure heart and seek the best for
others, one of the results is that we see God and others see God. Did you ever expect that you here in Plattsmouth,
Nebraska would have the opportunity to see God and allow others to see God in you? Why would God want to show
Himself in this little town? Because John 3:16 is true – God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son
that WHOEVER believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. God wants to show up here in Plattsmouth
because, 2 Peter 3:9, He is not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. God wants to
show up here in Plattsmouth because Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Matthew 18:11).
God certainly did not have to care about us. In many ways, as we saw in Jeremiah, we are just dirt – clay pots. We are
literally like a craft project in many ways. But God LOVES us. He loves us so much that He gave Jesus to make it
possible for us to have a living relationship with Him when it was not possible. He loves us so much that He allowed Jesus,
God Himself, to die for us. I would give My life for you. Jesus not only said it, He DID it, which proves His love for us
and shows us what love is. And now God calls us to love in the same way – to lay down our lives for others. We will talk
in the near future about WHO we are to love. But for now, let’s seek to give our lives to Jesus Christ, allowing Christ to
live His life in us and show His love through us.