Towels and Rights | Sunday, December 27, 2020

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

The greatest manifestation of love ever given to the world began in a manger and culminated at the cross.

The Most Famous Verse and Its Companions

Without question, the most well-known verse of Scripture is John 3:16. Closely connected to it is Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And connected to both is 1 John 3:16: "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." You are sensible people, so you see the theme running through each of these verses.

The Advent of Love

Over the last four weeks we have returned to familiar themes of the Christmas season. In more traditional or liturgical expressions of Christianity, this season is called Advent. On the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, many Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Catholic churches observe it. It may not be as well known among Baptists and non-denominational camps, but it is nevertheless very important. Traditionally, the church zeroes in on the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love.

That is exactly what I have done. Three weeks ago I shared that the coming of Jesus is the advent of joy. Two weeks ago, the coming of hope. Last week, the coming of peace. So this week I want to remind you—or perhaps inform you for the very first time—that the advent of Jesus is the arrival of love. It is a simple point, but an important one.

Things We Don't Just Want, But Need

The advent of Jesus is the arrival of many things we desire and many things we desperately need. Hope, peace, joy, and love are not just things we want—they are things we need. I don't believe you can really live, not in any abundant way, without them. When people lose hope, peace, joy, and love, their well-being decreases sharply and goes downhill very quickly.

Some of you know this experientially. For some watching right now, it was the loss of one or more of these things that pushed you to seek and ultimately find Christ. Perhaps you are watching today and currently seeking, and the journey you're on began with the loss of one of these four things. I want to encourage you with what Jesus said in Luke 11:9:

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Love at the Core of the Incarnation

The arrival of Jesus 2,000 years ago is the greatest manifestation and expression of love we could ever comprehend. At the core of the incarnation—a big theological word for an even bigger concept, God becoming a man—was love. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son. Jesus came to this world because of love.

He came for a specific purpose, motivated by love and meant to be a demonstration of God's love: to be a sacrificial lamb to take away the sin of the world. That is exactly how He was introduced. When John the Baptist was baptizing and Jesus came to him, John said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Tina Turner asked, "What's love got to do with it?" As it relates to the coming of Jesus, the Scriptures answer: love has everything to do with it.

A Very Special Kind of Love

What do I mean by a very special kind of love? We use the word love in both formal and casual ways. We may say we love Chick-fil-A, or our house, or our spouse—but we understand your love for a chicken sandwich is on a different level than your love for your spouse. We grasp this intuitively, and science demonstrates it too. Science breaks love into three categories, each with its own hormones: lust (testosterone and estrogen), attraction (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin), and attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin).

The Scriptures also acknowledge categories of love. The New Testament was originally written in koine Greek, and several different words are translated "love" in English, each identifying a different kind. For a great resource, I highly recommend C.S. Lewis's book The Four Loves. The four Greek words are Eros, Storge, Philea, and Agape.

Eros is intense longing or lust, connected to our English word "erotic." Storge is natural, instinctual affection—the love a mom has for the little baby growing in her womb the moment she learns of it. Philea is brotherly kindness; the word is in "Philadelphia," the city of brotherly love. And Agape is considered the highest form of love, the one most frequently used in the New Testament. Its greatest description is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8:

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful or proud. It is not rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance... Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever.

Agape Is the Nature of God

This is the highest form of love, and it is the very nature of God. In his first letter, the Apostle John tells us that God is love—and that word for love is Agape. All four expressions are important; without Eros, Storge, and Philea, I'm not sure there would be any continuation of human life on earth. But understand this: there would be no abundant or eternal life if it were not for God's Agape love.

The advent happened because of God's love. Jesus coming to this world was motivated by and a demonstration of His Agape love. Earthly life depends upon earthly expressions of love; eternal and heavenly life depends upon God's heavenly Agape love. There is no ultimate or abundant life without an abundant outpouring of God's ultimate love, and Christmas is the entry point of that love coming to this world. As we read:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Love That Compels Us to Share

Over the last few weeks we have talked about joy, peace, and hope—all of which I believe are the results of God's love given to us in Jesus Christ. We have sure and steadfast hope because of His justifying grace at the cross. We have increasing joy unto abundance forever, because in His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. And we have a peace that surpasses understanding to guard our hearts and minds. All of these are connected to love, and as 1 Corinthians 13 says, the greatest of these is love.

The love of Christ—manifested in the incarnation, demonstrated on the cross, given through the resurrection, and shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit—should compel us to share this great love with others. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says it is the love of Christ that compels us. This is the great blessing and opportunity Christmas affords: to share the love of Christ with others. That is evangelism—to share the love of God you have freely received and give it to other people.

Make the Most of This Opportunity

The gift of God's love in Christ is meant to be shared with all people. I hope you will make the most of the next five days leading up to Christmas. What your friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors need more than anything is the joy, hope, and peace that God's love in Christ brings. Looking around our culture, it's clear people are lacking these things, and core to all of them is the love of God in Christ Jesus.

When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, the little baby laid in a manger came as an expression of God's love, motivated by God's love, to demonstrate God's love, so that you and I could have joy, peace, and hope. It is my prayer that the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit would compel you to speak that love to others. However you are doing Christmas this year—even by a Zoom call—this is a great opportunity to share. People need hope, joy, and peace right now, and it is available in Jesus Christ. Since we have it abundantly, we should share it.

A Prayer for Boldness

Father God, I pray that You would be working in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters, that You would enable us by Your grace to be bold by Your Holy Spirit to share the good news of Your love that brings joy and peace and hope to all people. Give us boldness to speak up and share this good news, because this is what people want and desperately need. Cause Your church to shine brightly like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, that we would let our light so shine before men that they would see our good works and glorify You, our Father in heaven. Give my brothers and sisters opportunities this week to share Your grace, love, peace, joy, and hope with their neighbors, coworkers, family members, and friends. Make Your love flow forth from our lives to other people. In Jesus' name, amen.

Communion: Remembering His Love

As we consider John 3:16, God reveals how great His love is for us. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. All of your sins and mine were placed upon Him, and He was crucified in our place as our substitute, the propitiation for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and experience His love, joy, peace, and hope.

On the night before He was crucified, the night He would be betrayed, Jesus gathered with His disciples for the Passover meal—a clearly scripted meal the Jewish people had observed for over a thousand years. But Jesus did something different. Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians 11:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you."

I hope you have a cracker or some bread to partake with. We want to remember Jesus' body broken for us. If you have bread, partake with me now.

In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission or forgiveness of sins. His blood had to be shed so your sins could be dealt with. If you have the grape juice, partake with me as we remember His blood shed for us.

Communion Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank You for the demonstration of Your love on the cross 2,000 years ago—and Your love is demonstrated not just in the cross but in the fact that You came to the earth as that little child. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. You came so that we could have grace, forgiveness, and salvation from our sins, and that we could experience Your love, joy, peace, and hope. We remember Your body broken for us and Your blood shed for us. Keep us mindful of these things, not just today or through Christmas, but every single day. Remind us of Your grace for us. We thank You and praise You for Your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.

Benediction

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. The God of peace be with you all.