This week is the second week of advent. We discussed last week that the word advent means coming. As we celebrate advent today, we will be looking at the reason for the coming of the Messiah.
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Our church’s purpose statement is “Love God, Love Others, For His Glory.”
Where do we get this from?
Read Matthew 22:34-40.
So, Jesus said, that loving
God and loving your neighbor are the most important commandments. Does this mean that the other commandments
don’t matter?
No, vs. 40 says that
all the other commandments depend on these two. Instead, of lessening the importance of the
other commandments, these verses simply show what our motivation should be for obeying
all of God’s commandments which is our love for God.
According to these verses
who are we supposed to love?
1.
God-
Matthew 22:37 also says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
2. We
are also to love our neighbor.
Who
does God consider as our neighbor?
Ephesians 5:1 says that
we should be imitators of Christ. So, to answer this question we can look at
who God loves.
Read
John 3:16.
Who
does God love? Everyone
Read
Romans 5:8-10.
Who
do these verses say God loved?
God
loved us when we were sinners and his enemies.
This is why, as imitators
of Christ we are told in Matthew 5:44 to “love [our] enemies and pray for those
who persecute [us].”
Read
Romans 3:10-12.
This
is man’s nature from birth. We do not do good and we do not seek God.
Does
this sound like we deserve God’s love?
No.
But God loves us because God is love.
What
does this mean for us as believers?
We should love others even if it seems like they
don’t deserve it.
So,
what did Jesus mean when he said we are to love?
According to Oxford
Dictionary love is “an intense
feeling of deep affection” or “a great interest and pleasure in something.”
By these definitions we can
use the word “love” to describe our feelings toward many things. We love our
parents. We love music. We love dancing. We love chocolate.
Clearly, we don’t love all
these different types of things in the same way and our love for these things
can change. Our English word for love can be confusing because it isn’t very
specific.
Bible authors, however,
did not use English when writing the Bible. They used Hebrew and Greek. In these
languages they could use different words to describe different kinds of love. For
example, Romans 12:10 says “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one
another above yourselves” (NIV). The Greek word used here for love is “phileo”
which describes a brotherly love. This is why in some translations of the Bible
the verse says, “love one another with brotherly
affection” (ESV). So “phileo”
love is the type of love you will have for your friends.
“Phileo” love, however,
is not the kind of love that Jesus had in
mind in Matthew 23: 34-40 when Jesus
tells us to love God and love others. In these verses the original Greek word
used here for “love” is “agape.” Agape love describes an unconditional, steadfast
love that delights in giving. Agape love is more than a feeling. It requires action.
Let’s take a look at a
few verses to see what types of actions show agape love to others.
Read
1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
What
actions towards others show that we apapao
them?
· We show them patience and kindness
· We don’t envy them or boast to them
· We are not arrogant or rude to them
· We don’t have to have things our way
· We are not irritable or resentful
· We do not accept and applaud the things
they or we do that are sinful
· We share in their burdens
· Our love for them does not end
It is important to
note that showing love toward someone does not mean we should never correct
them if there is sin in their lives. Hebrews 12:10 says that God himself disciplines
us for our good and in Galatians 6:1 we are told that “if anyone is caught
in any transgression” we “should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” This
means we have to make them aware of the sin so that they can repent and be
restored.
Read
Lamentations 3:22-23 and Romans 8:38-39.
What
do you notice about “agape” love?
It
is steadfast meaning it lasts forever. It never changes.
1
Corinthians 13:13 says “now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the
greatest of these is love.”
One
day we will no longer need faith and hope because we will see Jesus who we have
believed in without seeing and we will receive the eternal life that we now
hope for. Love, however, will still remain.
Read
1 John 5:3.
What
else does agape love require?
We must obey God’s commands to show our love for
him and others, just as Jesus was obedient to the Father even to the point of
death (Philippians 2:8).
Read
John 15:13.
According
to this verse what is the greatest expression of love?
Agape love is a sacrificial
love. This means you will put someone else’s needs and wants above your own,
even to the point of your death.
Have
you experienced this type of love?
Every
believer understands that Jesus has shown this love towards them.
Read
1 John 4:9.
God sent Jesus into the
world to pay the penalty for our sins. Romans 6:23 says “for the wages of sin
is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus received the death we deserved for our
sins and in return we receive eternal life.
This wonderful gift is
free for anyone to take but each person has to make the choice to take it.
Read
John 3:36.
What
do you have to do to receive the gift of eternal life that God has offered us
because He loves us?
You
must believe in the Son, Jesus, meaning you must believe what Jesus has said
and do what he commands.
Jesus says
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.”
How
can we, as believers, love like God loves us?
We
can’t do it alone. We can only love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
God is the source of all love (1 John 4:7).
Read
Galatians 5:22-23.
Love is a fruit of the Spirit. In order to love others,
the way God wants us to, we must have the Holy Spirit which is given to every believer
(Acts 5:32).
As we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, we should
remember the great love that God showed in sending us Jesus and in response, as
believers, our lives should be characterized by love. In John 13:35, Jesus said,
“by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for
on another.”
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Going Deeper:
Take some time to think about how you might show agape love to someone this week and then
do it.
Love Came Down at Christmas
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