New Hope Notes
A Distinguishing Mark
Citizens And Sojourners
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
February 13, 2005 - W0507
An unknown writer wrote this letter describing Christians in the 2nd century A.D. This is what he wrote:
“Christians are not differentiated from others by a certain country, their language, or customs. They follow local customs and clothing and food, but at the same time, they have their own citizenship. They live in their own native lands, but they live as aliens. Every country to them is their native country, but a foreign country. They marry and have children just like anybody else, but they don’t kill unwanted children. They share a table; they don’t share a bed. They are passing their days on earth, but they are citizens of another world. They obey the appointed laws then go beyond the laws in their own life. They love everyone, but are persecuted by all. They are put to death, yet they gain life. They are poor, yet make many rich. They are dishonored, yet gain glory through their dishonor. Their names are blackened, yet they are cleared. They are mocked and blessed in return. They are treated outrageously, yet behave respectfully. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers. And when punished, they rejoice as being given new life. They are attached as aliens, persecuted by Greeks, yet those who hate them cannot find any reason for their hostility. These Christians are different people.”
Interesting! That’s a letter from the 2nd century. Can you see we live in a different world, yet share the same earth? What is the distinguishing mark that sets us apart? “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”. (Jn. 13:34-35). It is not just love for one another, but a certain quality of love.
In this world there are all kinds of love that may look like God’s love, but the distinguishing love that sets us apart is the quality of love that can only come from Heaven. The Bible says, this world is passing away and until people make a decision to die and be born again, they will never see the
In other words, it’s like God saying: “You’ve gone through death and resurrection. Who better to send as carriers of My message than you who have gone through it and know the way home?" That kind of selfless love will change the world. Giving back by ministering to those going through circumstances we’ve come through is one of the highest forms of love. But how do we learn …
A DIFFERENT LOVE:
1. LOVE PEOPLE AS GOD LOVES US.
“…love one another, even as I have loved you…” (Jn. 13:34)
The world’s love is one of condition. One must perform a certain way in order to receive a worldly kind of love. It is immature, fleeting, easily changed, and often broken. That’s why we need to learn God’s kind of unconditional love. But how do we learn how to love the way God loves us? The first point to remember is that…
· IT COMES FROM KNOWING JESUS.
“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little”. (Lk. 7:47)
Jesus was visiting Simon, the Pharisee when an immoral woman dropped to her knees before Him because she sensed His forgiveness. Simon felt Jesus was wrong for accepting the woman. So Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people, five hundred pieces of silver to one and fifty pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both canceling their debts. Who do you supposed loved him more after that?” (Lk. 8:41-42) Simon answered of course, the one who had the bigger debt. It is the same with us. Then Jesus said to him, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little”. (Lk. 7:47)
He loves us unconditionally. His love for us does not depend on how we respond to Him. However, the more we understand His love we come to know that forgiveness is a huge part of His love. Thus, when we realize the depth of His forgiveness for us, we are humbled into being able to love others as deeply.
So not only are we confident in being loved by God, He helps us to love greatly with a mature kind of love and thus…
· IT MAKES US MORE LIKE HIM.
It is not just love as a theoretical concept, but a love that absolutely transforms our hearts. Knowing about God’s love intellectually without making a change of heart leaves us vulnerable. For example, there was a preacher who lost his church because he was having an affair with his secretary. Though he preached God’s message daily, it hadn’t transformed him because he hadn’t accepted it within his heart. He was simply passing the words on.
You see, we become like whatever we love the most. If we are great fans of Black Belt Theater, we find ourselves doing kung fu kicks and high pitched shrieks. If we love tennis we wear tennis clothes. In the same way, if understand God’s love for us and we learn to love others with that same depth of love, we start to become more like Him.
“‘Teacher’, he asked, ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the greatest and the most important commandment’”. (Matt. 22:36-38). Our love starts to mature when we understand His love and just how much we’ve been delivered. -- The one who has been forgiven much loves much. So when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength then we can love our neighbors as ourselves. Although they are equally important, there is an order. There is a vertical love which then spills out into a horizontal expression.
So the more we know about His grace the more mature our love becomes. Yet if we are not careful, we can mis-define love and live it incorrectly and as a result we won’t become the person God wants us to be. So how do we define it?
2. WE MUST DEVELOP A KNOWLEDGEABLE LOVE.
It cannot be a casual or temporal love. Jesus said, “And this I pray, that you love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ”. (Phil. 1:9-10) In other words, our love must grow in knowledge and discernment. And if we lack that, we’ll be pulled towards that wrong kind of love and it will actually cause us to stray.
In fact, the world romanticizes that kind of love and it goes on everywhere. We tend to think that’s the kind of love that seems romantic, makes good songs, or movies. Yet that kind of love will not sustain us or change the world for better. In fact, a good example is the movie Titanic. It portrayed wrong morals and values as positive and the world loved it. The sad thing is that kind of immorality slips right by us because it is packaged with romance.
That’s why God says there’s a kind of love with a distinguishing mark and if we get it mixed up, we’ll loose our identity. So what’s some of the characteristics of a knowledgeable and discerning love? The first is…
· It is a love of character.
Of course it’s not the most popular kind of love, but it’s the most accurate. It’s a love of commitment and integrity. It includes emotion, but that is only a part of it. Love needs character. It is not simply the ‘feel good about something’ love. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out…” (1 Cor. 13:4-6 TEV)
The more we develop in character the more we will understand love. That’s why the best thing we can do for our spouse or for any relationship is to grow in character. And the best way to love Jesus is to grow in character. Of course that means that…
· It is a love of choice.
It’s a love of commitment. And even when things are not going right, we choose to love. Of course, it's not easy. "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable”. ((1 Pet. 2:18)
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them”. (Lk. 6:32) You see even those in the world have that kind of love and if we have the same kind of love, there is no difference. So when those are caught in the web of failing love, there will be no hope because we won’t have that distinguishing mark anymore.
But when we have the love of character and of choice, people will know we are different by the way we love. And it also means…
· It’s a love that grows.
“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins”. (1 Pet. 4:8) Fervent comes from the Greek meaning stretching and straining. That’s the certain kind of love that is able to stretch and strain without being broken. It is a quality of love that can cover a multitude of sins. And that’s the kind of love Jesus has for you and for me. Our love has to be the love of character. It’s not always easy, but it’s the kind of love that redeemed the world. The Lord said, what profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. Don’t forget who you are.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”. (Jn. 13:34-35). It is not just love for one another, but a certain quality of love
Questions:
1. Before you came to Christ, was forgiveness difficult or easy for you?
2. How has it changed since coming to know Him?
3. Do you keep record of sins committed against you?
4. How does being “submissive to your masters” apply if there is something illegal going on in your workplace?
5. Do you feel you represent the
6. How will you apply what your learned this week to your life from today's lesson?
Thank you to Leighton Loo our faithful volunteer writer who wears a distinguishing mark as a citizen of heaven by growing in His love.