At Christmas, we remember the birth of Jesus, our Saviour.
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Anyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life. — John 3:16
The reason Jesus was given to the world is love. God “so loved” the world that He gave!
This love of God brings us from “death in sin” to “life in Christ.”
However, coming into Christ is just the beginning of a new life in this “love-life.”
Question 1
• God so loved the world and gave.
• Are we willing to “so love the world” and give our time and resources for the salvation of the world, or do we keep away from the world?
Coming into Perfection
Today, having come into Christ, God’s goal for us is to grow into perfection or maturity. Just like a mother is excited when giving birth but doesn’t want the child to remain a toddler, God wants us to grow into responsible, mature people. The Bible attests to this:
Colossians 1:28 — Christ is the one we preach about. With all the wisdom we have, we warn and teach everyone. When we bring them to God, we want them to be like Christ. We want them to be grown up as people who belong to Christ.
Colossians 1:28 (KJV) — Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Key Words:
• Grown-up man
• Be like Christ
• Perfect in Christ Jesus
how on earth are we going to become like Christ or perfect?
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT)
17 Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesians 3:19 (NIRV) — And may you know His love, even though it can’t be known completely. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you.
• The knowledge of love brings you into the fullness of God and all that He has for you.
• This means that the full knowledge of love brings you into perfection, or becoming like Christ — all that God has for you or will ever have for you!
Question 2
How is secular love different from Christian love?
What Is This Love?
God not only illustrated this love by sending Jesus but actually defined this love:
John 15:12-14 — Here is my command: Love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Lessons from the Verses Above:
a. There are different kinds of love, but the “greater love” is giving your life for others.
Love is a “given life.”
b. Love, not “as yourself,” but “as I have loved you.”
c. His love was in giving His life for us.
This is not a call to literally die, but to live for others in Christ Jesus — what I call a “given life.” This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said:
Romans 12:1 — Brothers and sisters, God has shown you His mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to Him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping Him in the right way.
Lessons:
• We can offer up our bodies to God while we are still alive.
• Our bodies are offered as a sacrifice; a life given.
• Love is the proof of maturity.
• Love brings us into all that God has for us — perfection.
• Love is a life given in Christ for others.
Question 3
How do we practically give our lives to others as Christians?
Conclusion
No one can lay any other foundation than what has already been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 A person may build on it using gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But each person’s work will be shown for what it is. On judgment day, it will be brought to light. It will be put through fire. The fire will test how good each person’s work is. 14 If the building doesn’t burn up, God will give the builder a reward for the work. 15 If the building burns up, the builder will lose everything. The builder will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. — 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
This passage gives us a lot to think about. I’ll conclude with the story of a preacher who died and went to heaven. In heaven, he met the Lord, who went to show him his mansion. He was a popular preacher with a global ministry, so he assumed his mansion would be one of the biggest in heaven. To his surprise, his promised mansion was at the foundation. In shock, he asked the Lord why this was the case after having been in pastoral ministry for 30 years. The Lord explained that our labor on earth is rewarded in heaven as building materials for our mansion in heaven. However, the only labor that produces materials in heaven is one born out of love.