The Gift of Love

We are continuing our Christmas series here at the church, talking about the gifts of God. Today, we're discussing the gifts of love. Please turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 13. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We will open this morning to begin our study together in the New Testament book of 1st Corinthians. If you open near the end of your Bible and go to the left, you'll find 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

Let's stand together for the reading of the Scriptures. We will begin in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, starting at verse 1. This may be somewhat familiar to some of you. The Apostle Paul writes, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

God, I pray that you would give us insight and wisdom as we consider your gifts today. The gift we are thinking about as we come to 1st Corinthians chapter 13 is the gift of love. I pray, God, that you would minister to us as we reflect on the truth of the gift of love. Help us to understand the way that you have loved us, what your love for us means, what it does in us, and what you desire to accomplish through us as a result of it.

So, God, would you speak to us today? We pray that you would meet us here. We trust, just as you said, Jesus, that wherever two or more are gathered in your name, there you are in the midst. We are grateful that you are here, and we pray, God, that you would administer your grace as we minister to you. We pray this in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

1st Corinthians chapter 13 is a well-known passage of Scripture, even to people who may not read the Bible very often. They may have heard it at a wedding or seen it on a poster or a bookmark. It is a familiar passage, but it finds itself right in the middle of a section where the Apostle Paul, who wrote this passage, is dealing with what are called the gifts of the Spirit.

When we talk about the gifts of God, as we are in this series right now, a lot of times what comes to mind are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In 1st Corinthians chapter 12, Paul begins discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, prophecy, miracles, and many other things that he lists there. While we are not focusing on those in this series, we do believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still in use today. Here at Cross-Connection Church, we believe in continuationism, which means that God continues to work by His Holy Spirit.

Paul sets the stage in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 regarding what the gifts are, and then in 1st Corinthians chapter 14, he talks about the exercise or use of those gifts within the church. Right in between those two passages is what we find in 1st Corinthians chapter 13. If you look at the verse that comes immediately before 1st Corinthians chapter 13, which is 1st Corinthians chapter 12, verse 31, Paul says, "But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way." He then leads right into discussing what I would say is perhaps the best gift, the most excellent way, which is the gift of love.

As we approach this Christmas season, just ten days away, we are talking about the gifts of God. Pastor Jason began this series discussing the gift of gratitude a couple of weeks ago, and today, obviously, we will be talking about the gift of love. I shared last week that the gifts of God are good gifts that He has given to us. Every good and perfect gift comes from above; it comes from our Father in Heaven. These gifts are given to us for our enjoyment, for the praise and glory of God, and so that we can...

Be with those gifts a blessing to other people. We saw that with gratitude a couple of weeks ago as Pastor Jason was talking about it. We're going to discuss that a little bit today as it relates to love. As a grounding statement for this passage, which has to do with love, let me propose that love is a good gift that God has demonstrated and given to us. He has given it to us for our joy, to bring praise and glory to Him, and to be a blessing to others as well.

Before we get into what the Bible has to say about love, I want to rewind for a moment and consider our culture. We live in the West, and over the last four or five hundred years, as a result of Renaissance and Enlightenment thinking, we have developed a highly scientifically oriented culture that is very scientifically reductionistic. What I mean by that is we tend to break down just about anything we can think of in life into its constituent parts, trying to explain it naturalistically. We attempt to explain virtually everything with a naturalistic mindset.

When it comes to love, we have a way of reducing it to biomechanical and biochemical mechanisms. This past week, as I was thinking about this, I went onto Google and typed in the question, "What is love?" The first thing that pops up is a really terrible song from 1993 by a guy named Haddaway called "What Is Love." The lyrics go, "Baby, don't hurt me, baby, don't hurt me no more." You know this song; it's quite terrible.

After that, however, a whole bunch of scientific articles about love appear. I started reading from Harvard Medical on love, and it's interesting science trying to explain it. You can be the judge of whether or not they do a good job of it. According to science, love can be broken down into three categories, each characterized by its own set of hormones. The first is lust, characterized by testosterone and estrogen. The second is attraction, characterized by dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The third is attachment, characterized by oxytocin and vasopressin.

So, what is love?

According to science, love is just the biomechanical interactions in your body and your brain's response and reaction to the presence of these chemicals and hormones. That is love, and it explains it all perfectly, right? I mean, that answers the deep question of what love is in every way. Or does it?

That scientific explanation doesn't really produce any sort of hormone response that elicits any desire, like, "Oh, that's wonderful." It leaves something to be desired. As I was reading through that, what came to my mind was something I had read many years ago. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, in 1964, was writing a court opinion as the court was trying to make a decision regarding obscenity and pornography. When he was discussing obscenity, he made the statement in his opinion at that time: "It's not easy to describe or define, but I know it when I see it."

I think there is some truth to that as it relates to love as well. If we were to ask every single person in this room this morning, "What is love?" and we went around to talk about it, there would be a lot of different ideas. None of us would probably have a very good definition or description of what love is. That's why science probably has a difficult time trying to explain it. A lot of times, they are just looking at the facts; they are just observing what they can see.

However, it is very hard to describe what is happening in our soul. We believe that there is an immaterial part of humanity called the soul, and that is where we experience these things called love or the emotions that we feel. These things are very difficult to describe or define, but we know it when we see it or when we experience it. We know love when we feel the love of others towards us, and we know love when we extend that love to other people. Even though we may not be able to clearly articulate exactly what it is, reducing it down to what we see happening within the brain or within the body biochemically does not answer it at all.

The Bible, interestingly, speaks of love in three categories, much like science. When you start to look at this concept of love scripturally, you find that it also has three categories in which it talks about love.

The first category is identical to what we see in science: lust. In the New Testament, we do see this form of love. The Greek word often used is "epidemia," and sometimes we encounter the Greek word "eros," from which we get our English word "erotic." This represents romantic love. We see this category of love in the Scriptures as a deep desire, a longing, or a lust, which may not perfectly describe it, but it captures the essence.

The second category of love we find in the Bible is what we might call affection. There are two Greek words that describe affection. One of them is used frequently in the Bible: "phileo." Phileo refers to brotherly love or tender-hearted affection. A very similar word in ancient Greek, though not used in the Bible, is "storge," which speaks of familial love—the kind of affection you have for brothers, sisters, and family members. So, we have lust and then we have affection.

The third form of love mentioned in the Bible is the love spoken of in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where Paul emphasizes the importance of this more excellent form of love. This third form is devotion, and the Greek word used for this kind of love is "agape." If you look at a King James Version of the Bible and read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, it does not say "love suffers long and is kind" in verse 4; instead, it says "charity." The word expressing this devotion is a self-sacrificial sort of devotion, and Paul speaks of it as the highest form of love.

When you examine the Scriptures, you see these three different categories of love: lust, which is that longing and desire (epidemia or eros); affection, which includes brotherly kindness or brotherly love (phileo and storge); and agape, which represents deep devotion and self-sacrifice.

Devotion is essential. In the last century, C.S. Lewis, a great philosopher, author, and professor at Oxford, wrote a book called "The Four Loves." In this book, he makes a fascinating point: without eros, or lust, none of us would have been conceived. Without eros, none of us would have been conceived, and without affection, none of us would have been raised. There is so much truth in this. He emphasizes that all forms of love are important.

Sometimes, we can dismiss these ideas and even say that lust is wrong and bad, suggesting we need to eliminate it. However, there is a sense in which, within the confines of marriage, it is very important and good. Without it, none of us would have been conceived. Additionally, without the tender-hearted affection of brotherly love, or phileo, none of us would have been raised. I would add that without agape, or devotion, all of us would be damned; none of us would be saved.

When we start to look at the concept of love—not just scientifically or culturally, but biblically—we find that the gift of love is essential for life. I believe this is true from the initial act of creation and for every true act of procreation. The gift of love is essential for life. God created, I would suggest, as an expression of His nature. In Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2, the Bible states that everything that is seen or unseen is created by God. He created as an expression of His nature, and in 1 John chapter 4, we are told that God's essential nature is love. God is love.

Therefore, God creates as an expression of His nature. There would be no creation and no life if it were not for God's love for all things. Procreation, too, is an act and an expression of love. That is why we call it "making love." The fruit of two individuals coming together in marriage, the fruit of their love, is children. Thus, we see that every act of procreation is an expression of love. It is clearly true to say that the gift of love is essential for life.

Love is essential for life. Without love, there is no life. It is important to call to mind that Christmas is an annual reminder for us, just as Easter is. We'll talk about that in several months, but Christmas serves as a reminder for each and every one of us of God's great love.

The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation. It is the celebration of God coming into this world to extend His life. The very fact that God came into this world in the form of Jesus Christ is an expression of God's love. You probably know the most famous verse of the Bible, John 3:16. It says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The fact that Jesus came into this world in the Incarnation, and for the crucifixion and the resurrection, is all an expression of God's love. John 3:16 states this clearly.

John reiterates this in 1 John 4. If you are in 1 Corinthians, keep your finger there, but turn to the right, closer to the end of the Bible, to 1 John 4. It's right near the end. Open to the very last book, Revelation, and turn back a few pages to find 1 John. In 1 John 4, we see again restated the truth that the coming of Jesus into this world—the Incarnation, which we celebrate at Christmas—is an expression or demonstration of God's love.

1 John 4:9 states, "In this, the love of God was manifested." Manifested means to be revealed. Just like when you have a Christmas gift and you don't know exactly what it is, you have to open it to reveal what's inside. Well, Jesus coming into this world is the revelation of God's love. The verse continues, "God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him."

Verse 10 says, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the payment, the propitiation for our sins." So, when we see Christmas and think of this holiday, which is the celebration of the coming of Jesus into this world, the Incarnation, it is an expression of God's love. It is the revelation of God's love for us.

Perfectly describing, defining, or explaining what love is can be challenging; however, we know it when we see it.

Point number two on your outline is that the gift of love shines in the Incarnation. The coming of Jesus, which we celebrate at Christmas, is the shining forth of God's love. It declares to the whole world just how much God loves us. Typically, when we think of God's love demonstrated, we call to mind the verse in Romans chapter 5, verse 8, which states that God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

A lot of times, when we're thinking about God's love demonstrated for us, we think about Easter, Good Friday, the crucifixion, and Resurrection Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. That is indeed a demonstration of God's love for us. However, it's worth noting that there would be no cross, no Good Friday, and no Resurrection Sunday without the Incarnation of Jesus coming into this world. The coming of Jesus as that little baby boy in Bethlehem is a beautiful demonstration of God's love for us.

So, what's love got to do with it? Tina Turner asked, and the answer is everything. It has everything to do with it; it's all about the love of God coming into this world. Jesus made Himself of no reputation, as Paul says in Philippians chapter 2. He took upon Himself the form of a servant, came in the likeness of man, and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. All of this is an expression of God's love for us.

Now, there are many Christians, and maybe you're one of them, who have a difficult time with the Christmas holiday because of the commercialization of Christmas. I can understand the concern, even if I don't entirely share it. Yesterday, my family celebrated our daughter Addison's 10th birthday. As part of the celebration, we went down to the Civic Theatre in San Diego to see the Nutcracker. The girls were really excited about that, while the boys were not so much. After the performance, as we were getting back into the suburban to come home, we had the little DVD player in the car, and the kids asked if they could put on the movie.

On the movie, what was on was "A Charlie Brown Christmas." How many of you know "Charlie Brown Christmas"? Of course! You may remember that I can't watch it because I'm driving. I was not watching the movie, but I was listening to the dialogue, and it reminded me of that scene in the movie. I can't see it; I don't know what it looks like, but I know what Charlie Brown says: "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas is all about?"

What is Charlie Brown frustrated about? He's frustrated about the commercialization of Christmas. This was made in 1958, so if you think this is new, it is not. It's gotten a lot worse, maybe exponentially so, every single year. Certainly, there are a lot of trappings and attachments that have been hung onto the Christmas holiday. Amidst all the joy and celebration of this holiday, we need to do our best to remind people that this holiday is all about the love of God as demonstrated in the coming forth of Jesus.

Point number three on your outline: the gift of love is the gift that is Jesus. It has become cliché, but the old saying is true: Jesus is the reason for the season. It's not necessarily a bad thing that it has become cliché because people at least somewhat know it, even if it's way at the back of their minds. The thing that's at the front of their minds is Amazon Prime and lines at Target, whatever it may be. All those other things can cloud this reality, but we who know this to be true and understand the implications of the coming of Jesus to this world need to do our best to bring that up to the people we interact with.

One of the wonderful things about this time of year is the fact that we will end up at holiday parties, whether they are Christmas parties for work or family gatherings. It is highly likely that when you gather together with friends, family, or coworkers at this time of year, there are a number of those people who don't really know the truth of what this holiday is all about. I was watching a documentary about a year ago, and it was pretty interesting how in China, Christmas has become a really big business. They have been creating all this stuff that they've been shipping over here for us to buy for a really long time, and they have also gotten into the holiday cheer. They like this American holiday called Christmas, but over...

It's entirely about Santa Claus, bells, and Christmas trees. There are a lot of people who have no idea whatsoever what it's connected to. It was very striking. The whole point of this documentary was to point this out: here you have this retail industry in China, not just here but where they have totally bought into this American holiday, and they love this whole thing, but they have no idea what it is connected to.

I want to suggest to you that there are a whole lot of people here who have the same problem. They may have heard or known the story a little bit, but they don't know the real weight of what it's all about. We have an incredibly great opportunity, and I would encourage you, in a good way, to be opportunistic in looking for those opportunities to share with people. As you gather together, there are going to be people who just don't know the reality of what this is all about and that it is a demonstration of God's love.

You can say, "Listen, that whole thing that happened in Bethlehem, and you've seen the little nativity scene, and maybe you understand or know a little bit of the story in Luke, it's all about the love of God. God loves you." I think there are a lot of people who need to be reminded that God loves them. There are many people in our culture today who are rejecting a certain form of God that is an angry, upset, cranky old man in the sky. I reject that too. That's not how God is revealed or how God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures.

God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures as the God who loves, who loves us in spite of who we are. Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, God saved us according to His love—the manifold love of God. Read Ephesians chapter 2, and you will see it very clearly expressed in that passage.

Love is a good gift from our good God, demonstrated and given to us for our joy, for the praise and glory of God, and for the blessing of others. Jesus is the gift of God, the gift of love given for our joy. It's been a popular Christmas song for a very long time: "Joy to the world, the Lord has come; let earth receive her King." The advent of Jesus into this world is the advent of God's love coming to this world, bringing joy. It's the coming of joy.

This is most clearly pictured in one of the classic Bible passages in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 9. Would you turn there? If you could open to about the middle of your Bible, you'll probably be somewhere close.

Around the Psalms, if you turn to the right, you're going to find a big sixty-six chapter book called Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 9 is where we will begin reading. As you are turning there, let me provide a little context to set the story for what's going on. We will start reading at verse 1, but verses 6 and 7 are very classic Christmas verses. You may have seen them on a Christmas card before: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." That whole passage is a very classic Christmas passage, but the verses that precede it, beginning in verse 1, are really important.

This was written about 2,800 years ago by a man named Isaiah. He was a prophet in the nation of Israel, and at the time he wrote this, the nation of Israel was divided. The nation was split in two. There was a group of tribes; Israel was made up of twelve tribes. Ten of those tribes had broken off from the two tribes in the south. Those ten tribes were in the northern part of the nation of Israel and were called Israel, while the two tribes in the southern part were called Judah. Isaiah lived in Judah, and at the moment he was writing this, the northern ten tribes were about to go through a really bad period of time.

In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian armies moved into the northern ten tribes and completely obliterated the nation of Israel. They became what is called the Lost Tribes of Israel, exiled to Assyria and scattered all around the Assyrian Empire, effectively destroyed. The northern ten tribes, in the region of the nation of Israel called Galilee, were about to enter a really dark period of time.

Isaiah received this prophecy from the Lord. In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 1, we read: "Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles."

What Isaiah is saying is that darkness is going to come to the people in Galilee. Zebulun and Naphtali were two tribes of Israel that were in that part of the world at that time. He says darkness is about to come; the Assyrians are going to come and wipe these people out. However, that darkness is not going to be forever.

In verse 2, he continues: "The people who walked in darkness, those people who were in that oppressed part of the world, have seen a great light."

Darkness is not going to be forever because those people are going to see a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. Isaiah says they are going to go through a dark period of time; it’s going to be very oppressive and difficult. However, there is going to come a light that is going to shine. This is the first indication of this wonderful thing that is going to come: a light is going to shine to those who are in darkness.

In verse 3, it states, "You, God, have multiplied the nation and increased its joy." This light is going to shine to those who are in darkness, and it’s going to increase their joy. They rejoice before You, God, according to the joy of the harvest. What kind of joy is it going to be like when this light shines to those who are in darkness? It is the joy that is associated with the harvest.

It’s likely that there are not too many farmers in the room today, so connecting to harvests may be difficult for us to understand. But imagine for a moment that you received a really big Christmas bonus. Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t, but imagine it was a five-digit bonus. That kind of joy is like the joy of the harvest. This light is going to shine to those who are in darkness, and it is going to increase their joy, similar to receiving a huge bonus.

It’s not just like the joy of the harvest. In verse 3, it also says, "As men rejoice when they divide the spoil." Who receives the spoil? The victors go the spoils. Imagine if you are in a battle and you are on the winning side, bringing in the spoil. It’s going to be that kind of joy, and that kind of joy is going to come from this light that is going to shine to those who were in darkness.

What else is going to come? Verse 4 says, "For You, God, have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." God says, "Listen, you are in darkness now, but light is going to come and shine to you." This light is going to increase your joy exponentially, and this joy-increasing light is going to release you from the oppression of the enemy. All of these things are going to happen.

What is this light that brings joy and freedom from oppression? That is where verse 6 comes in: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder."

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, He will order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Who is the child that is born, the Son that is given? Clearly, that's Jesus. Jesus is the light that shines to those who are in darkness, freeing them from the oppression of the enemy and increasing their joy exponentially.

Point four on your outline: the gift of love in Christ brings great joy. That's why we sing, "Joy to the World! The Lord has come; let earth receive her King." The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace—He is the one who will bear a righteous reign for eternity.

This is why the message that the church has is called the Gospel. Gospel means good news. That's the message that you and I have; that's what we're able to bring when we interact with family members, friends, and co-workers who don't know the gift of Jesus. We have this good news of the Gospel. His coming means great joy. His coming means freedom from oppression. His coming means the endless reign of a righteous King.

The gift of Jesus is the gift of love that brings great joy, and this gift is not meant to be kept secret. This gift is meant to be shared.

Back, if you will, to 1st Corinthians chapter 13, where we started. In 1st Corinthians 13, Paul says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I have become like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

We can and do give good gifts at this time of year. We can have gifts and give gifts, but if we don't extend and share the love that this holiday is all about, we're missing the point. It is a wonderful thing to have some time off work, to celebrate with family members, and to give and receive gifts. All those things are joy-producing, happy, wonderful experiences. However, if we don't use the gifts we give to someone else to extend the good news of the Gospel, we are completely missing the essence of this holiday.

This Christmas, you may have a lot of gifts under your Christmas tree. If you're at my house, there are about 26 Christmas trees—I'm not kidding; it's like a forest! You might have a lot of gifts under a Christmas tree, and those things are wonderful. But we need to make sure that we share this great gift of the love of God, which brings great joy and freedom from oppression and sin.

Point number five on your outline: the gift of God's love in Christ is meant to be shared with all people. This is a great opportunity every single year at this time to take advantage of that opportunity. We cannot miss the importance of this season and what it means, as well as the opportunity it brings.

To ensure we never forget the greatness of God's love in Christ Jesus, we remember that on the night He would be betrayed by one of His followers, the day before He would be crucified, He had a meal with His disciples. He gave them what we refer to as a sacrament—an activity to observe regularly to remind them of His body that was broken and His blood that was shed to demonstrate love. We call it communion.

Today, we are going to partake of communion, the bread and the cup. Anthony and the worship leaders are going to come up and lead us in a song. Our ushers will distribute the bread and the cup in just a moment. I want you to hold on to the bread and the cup, and we will partake together.

Father, I pray as we now prepare our hearts for this time of communion that You would help us to have it fresh in our minds right now. May we always remember what this is all about and what it means. May it never become just a meaningless sort of thing that we observe.

Let us always be reminded of the greatness of Your body broken for us and Your blood shed for us so that we could be restored to a relationship with You. All of this is an expression of Your love and Your grace. Jesus, You came to this world, and we celebrate Your coming at Christmas. You came for the very purpose of demonstrating Your love on the cross.

We want to keep that fresh in our minds, especially since, Lord, You desire that we share that good news with other people, not just during this time of year but at all times. So, God, would You help us to have our hearts readied right now as we worship You? We pray this in Jesus' name.