“We know love by
this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
What would the
Church look like if we lived in 1 John 3:16? What would we look like if we
lived as one Family, as one People? As Jesus says, “By this all men will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This
love is the love of Jesus, “That you love one another, even as I have loved
you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).
The standard and
quality and nature and expression of our love for one another is the very love
of Jesus Christ.
This must begin
in me, and it must begin in you. It must begin in our marriages, our families,
and our individual congregations and fellowships, it must begin in our
friendships. And here is the thing, even if you never see it elsewhere, you
must live it; I must live it. We must not wait to see it elsewhere,
we must follow Jesus now, and in following Jesus we must live the love of
Jesus, laying down our lives for the brethren, giving our lives for the people
of the world.
You may come to
the end of your life and not have much company, perhaps you will have no
company, perhaps you will walk alone in faithfulness to Jesus Christ; but how
could we possibly ever be truly alone knowing that Jesus assures us that He
will never leave us or forsake us?
When Jesus says,
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified
in truth,” (John 17:18), He calls us to that same commitment, that same life,
for as the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world
(John 17:18).
This then means
that neither you nor I can do what we want, it means that we must not take the
easy way, the broad way, the popular way, the cotton-candy American Christian
way. It means that we embrace the Cross and follow Jesus for the sake for
others (Mark 8:34 – 38).
It means that
neither you nor I can take the economic way (the way of money and possessions),
the political way, the way of nationalism, the way of pleasure, the way of
comfort, the way of entertainment, the popular “Christian” way which caters to
the “self” and avoids the Cross. It means that we clearly confess that our
kingdom, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, is not of this world, that we are
citizens of heaven, and that we are seeking the City whose Builder and Maker is
God (John 18:33 – 38; Phil. 3:20; Hebrews 11:8 – 16). It means that we glory in
Jesus Christ and are crucified to the world (1 Cor. 1:30 – 31; Gal. 2:20;
6:14).
We sanctify
ourselves, by the grace of God, out of our love for Jesus and also because we
love our brothers and sisters. If we truly love others, we will practice lives
of dedication to Christ, of separation to Christ; we will live as sacrificial
lambs, willing to be offered on the altar for others. When Christ our Good
Shepherd chooses us from the flock as sacrifices, we will joyfully yield
ourselves to His tender loving care, even in the midst of crucifixion, even as
the fire of God descends upon us to consume us for His glory on the altar of
the Cross.
This means,
among other things, that we cannot look at many things others look at, we
cannot listen to many things that others listen to, we cannot invest ourselves
in many things that others are heavily invested in. It means, in the
“Christian” realm, that we cannot join the crowds when they get excited about
the latest and greatest teachings, lyrics, and practices, for it means that we
must always be asking, “Where is the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of
Christ?” If we do not see Christ, if we do not see the Cross, then we must not
join the crowds, we must not acquiesce in the nonsense.
This can be
extremely lonely, let’s not gloss over this. The peer pressure to conform in
the world and in the professing church is terrible. Yet, in another sense there
is plenty of company, it is the “communion of the saints,” (Hebrews 12:1 – 3,
18 – 24). A welcoming crowd awaits us when we pass through the portal from this
age into the age to come, from time into eternity. And dear friends, since
eternity is indeed forever, is it not much better to pay a small price now to
gain an endless future of joy unspeakable and full of glory? Jesus asks, “What
does it profit a person, to gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?”
Do you know what
it is to be with a group of professing Christians who are talking about popular
television shows and not know what they are talking about? Do you know what it
is to be with Christians who take their conversational cues from the media – of
any persuasion – and find yourself listening to a strange language? Do you know
the heartache of wanting Christians to speak of Jesus, of their relationship
with Him, of what they are seeing in Hm, hearing from Him, of how they are
sharing Jesus with others…and yet they seldom speak of Him?
“Therefore I
urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”
(Romans 12:1 – 2).
If we truly love
others, if we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, if we love the people of
the world, then we cannot, we must not, be conformed to the world – this includes
the economic world and the political world, it includes the world of possessions
and popular entertainment, it most certainly includes the values and priorities
of the world. Our minds must not live in the realm in which the minds of the
world live, in which the minds of much of the professing church live.
We are to be
transformed by the renewing of our minds.
“Therefore if
you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not
on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with
Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1 -3).
For the sake of
others we must sanctify ourselves, setting ourselves apart unto Christ, seeking
to be completely devoted to Him so that we may be His Presence in the lives of
others. If we are not living in the peace of Jesus, we cannot help a church and
a world in chaos. If we are not living in the joy of Jesus, we cannot share His
joy with others. If we are not living in the assurance of His love, in the
fulness of His redemption and salvation, we cannot offer the Gospel to others
in word and deed.
“You are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
The nation to
which we belong is not of this world. The race to which we belong is not of
this world. The world…in any of its forms…does not own us. We are to
proclaim the glory of the excellencies of Jesus, the Father, and the Holy
Spirit – not the American Dream, nor any other dream or system of this
present age, but rather the Age that is Coming in Christ.
We, with Jesus
and as possessions of Jesus, confess that we are aliens, strangers,
pilgrims; that we are “seeking a country of our own,” a “heavenly country,” a “better
country,” a City “whose Architect and Builder is God,” (Hebrews 11:8 – 16). We do this not simply for our own sake, but
for the sake of others, that they might see Jesus.
If this seems strange,
it is an indictment of the professing church, for it ought to be our way of
life in Jesus Christ.
As we ponder
John 17:17 – 19, I hope we will see that this is our calling, the Way we ought
to be living, as individuals, as marriages, as families, as congregations, as
the People of God. We are to live this way toward God, we are to live this way
toward our brothers and sisters, and we are to live this way toward the people
of the world. This is who we ought to be in Jesus Christ.
We are not our
own, we have been bought with a price, with the blood of the Lamb; we are to no
longer to live for ourselves, but for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us…and
in living for Him, we also live for others.
“For the love of
Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all
died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for
themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians
5:14 – 15).
