Jesus Is The True Vine

The latest message from Griffith First Christian Church in Griffith, Indiana. This message is based on John 15:1-17.

How We Treat Others

Good Wednesday morning to you! At the end of 1 Peter 1, the apostle Peter says that we have been born again. This means that, through Jesus, we have been mad new through the living Word of God. So how are we to then live? Peter writes:

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. – 1 Peter 2:1 (NIV)

These character traits that we are to rid ourselves of have to do with how we treat other people. Malice is ill-intent toward others. Deceit is lying to others. Hypocrisy is trying to fool others into believing you’re something that you’re not. Envy is wanting what others have. Slander is trying to ruin another’s reputation. If we truly love one another deeply from the heart, we will not treat one another in these ways. We’ll treat them the way that we want to be treated. We will sincerely love them like Jesus loves them.

Faith That Overcomes

Faith in Jesus Christ gives the believer power to overcome the world. The Apostle John wrote:

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. – 1 John 5:3-5 (NIV)

The commands of God – to believe in His Son and to love one another – are not burdensome. When we are born again by grace through faith, we are filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us power to overcome the world. This is a continuous overcoming of the world. It’s not a one time thing. We must continue to believe and continue to love until we enter the gates of Heaven. Stay faithful to Jesus and your faith will overcome the world.

Loving God’s Children

When we express our faith in Jesus by believing in Him, repenting from sin, confessing our faith and being baptized, we are born again and made children of God. If we say that we love God, then we must love His other children, too. John wrote:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. – 1 John 5:1-2 (NIV)

The way that we show that we love God is by obeying His commands. Jesus gave His disciples one last command on the night before He was crucified: love one another. When we love one another, we demonstrate our love for God. When we love one another, we show that we belong to Jesus. When we love one another, we show the world that He is real. Only Jesus could bring so many different and diverse people together in love. Let’s love God today by loving one another.

God’s Presence In Us

How do you know if God is living in you? How do you know if His presence in you is real? The evidence of God’s love and presence in our lives is when we love one another. The Apostle John wrote:

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. – 1 John 4:12 (NIV)

It is so incredibly important that we love each other in the church. Jesus said that everyone would know that we are His followers when we love one another unconditionally. It’s not enough to sit next to someone at a pot-luck. It’s got to be more than just shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries on a Sunday morning. We need to go deeper with one another and truly reach out in love to one another. Even if we disagree on so many topics, we can agree on one – Jesus is the risen Lord. If we can agree on that and love each other in spite of our differences, we can show the world the love of God.

It’s Not So Complicated

What if being a Christian isn’t as hard as we make it? What if it is less complicated than we think it is? Listen to what John says:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. – 1 John 3:21-23 (NIV)

John boils it all down to faith and love. That’s it! Believe in Jesus and love one another. If we do these things, then we can approach God in confidence knowing that He has forgiven us and welcomes us into His presence. Not only that, but He will answer the prayers we pray according to His perfect will. Faith and love, my friends, are all you really need. Don’t let anyone complicate being a follower of Jesus more than is necessary. Believe in Jesus and love people and you’ll be on the right track.

The Old/New Commandment

If we are going to live as Jesus did, we have to live a life of love. Jesus told His disciples repeatedly to “love one another.” The apostles passed this command on to the early church. John wrote:

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. – 1 John 2:7-8 (NIV)

The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is found in the Old Testament and Jesus reiterated it in the Gospels. But Jesus did not merely tell His followers to love one another, He demonstrated this kind of love. To live as Jesus lived is to love people – ALL people – as you love yourself. When we have this unconditional love for the world in our hearts, then we will truly be living as Jesus lived.

The Tidal Wave Of God’s Love

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³ We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. – 1 John 4:7-21 (NIV)

In the last part of 1 John 4, the Apostle John really defines his theology of love.  Look at what he says:

• Love comes from God (vs. 7)
• Those who love are born of God (vs. 7)
• Those who love know God (vs. 7)
• God is love (vv. 8 and 16)
• God demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son (vs. 9)
• Love begins with God sending Jesus (vs. 10)
• Because God loved us, we ought to love one another (vs. 11)
• If we love, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us (vs. 12)
• If you live in love, you live in God (vs. 16)
• God’s love drives out fear (vs. 17)
• If we love God, we must love our brothers and sisters in Christ (vs. 21)

Whew!  That’s a whole lot of love!  John makes it very clear, though, that God is love.  His love is perfect and unconditional.  Our love for each other must mirror God’s love for us.  We should love one another unconditionally.  This is how we know that we are truly filled with God’s love.  When His love overflows out of our lives to those around us, His love is made complete in us.  We cannot claim to be filled with God’s love and not love those around us.  Why?  Because God’s love is like a river that has swollen over its banks.  It is like a tidal wave.  It’s like a bathtub when someone forgets to turn off the water.  It just keeps pouring forth out of His heart into our hearts.  So don’t try to hold back the power of His love.  Receive His love today and pass it on.  It is only when we love others that the circle of God’s love is complete.  He loves us and we love others and we all love God in return.

So how can you show someone some unconditional love today?  Perhaps it is apologizing to someone you’ve hurt.  Maybe you need to forgive someone who hurt you.  Could you show an act of kindness to someone who really needs it?  What about mowing your elderly neighbor’s lawn on a hot day?  Maybe it is surprising a young family with some free babysitting so mom and dad can have a night out.  Buy some flowers for your spouse or a nice card that expresses your love for your husband or wife.  Think of one act of love and kindness you can do today to demonstrate your love for someone else.  Let them experience God’s love through you.