The Greatest of These is Love

1 Corinthians 13:13

Introduction.

  1. The biggest concept, the strongest command, and the entire theme of the Bible is love.

    1. Some books make it their central premise (e.g. 1 John).

    2. But underlying every passage, every command, every jot and tittle of Scripture is love.

    3. It is such a universal concept that binds so much of Scripture together.

    4. Paul even informs us that when it comes to faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love.

    5. Jesus emphasizes the two greatest commands of the Bible “on which hang all the Law and the Prophets”: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:36-40).

    6. My point is there is no way I can adequately cover love in one sermon.

  2. Peter uses this love as a capstone to what we must add to our faith (2 Pet. 1:5-7).

    1. It is implied based on the context that this is concerning love for your neighbor.

    2. If we add this to our faith, along with the other traits listed, we will have precise and correct knowledge of our Lord.

    3. Recall, the knowledge mentioned in vs. 8 is ἐπίγνωσις, stronger than the knowledge in vs. 5-6, which is merely γνῶσις (general intelligence and understanding).

    4. Adding love to our lives helps us to know and truly understand Jesus better.

    5. Because of His love for us, He laid down His life for us (John 15:12-14).

    6. It’s like understanding your parents better after you become a parent.

  3. Preview: Define; Christ’s Love; Our Love.

Body.

  1. Love Defined.

    1. As noted last week, Greek has several different words for love.

      1. There is ἔρος – love and desire; closer to lust, though word is not in the NT.

      2. There is στοργή – love and affection, as between members of a family; used only as compound words in the NT (e.g. Rom. 1:31; 12:10).

      3. There is φιλέω – to love as friends; used frequently in the NT.

      4. There is ἀγάπη/ἀγαπάω – the purest form of love, KJV translates the noun form as charity about a quarter of the time; used most frequently in the NT, but hardly found in other Greek literatue before NT.

    2. Various definitions and understandings of ἀγαπή.

      1. Affection, goodwill, love, benevolence.

      2. To have preference for, to wish well, to regard the welfare of.

      3. To take pleasure in something, to prize it above other things, to be unwilling to abandon it or do without it.

      4. To welcome with desire, to long for.

      5. Agape is a love founded in admiration, veneration, and esteem.

      6. It is found in some form 321 times in the NT.

      7. Thayer states that Christ commanded us to love (ἀγαπάω) our enemies, not to love (φιλέω) them, “because love as an emotion (φιλέω) cannot be commanded, but only love as a choice (ἀγαπάω).”

      8. So, this love is not based on emotion, but is a choice.

      9. In some sense or another, all love is a choice, but ἀγαπή love is much more intentional.

    3. So Christ’s love for us in His sacrifice for us on the cross was a choice and intentional.

    4. Learning about what He did for us will help us picture the love that we ought to show others.

  2. Christ’s Love For Us.

    1. He was willing to humble Himself and live among us (Phil. 2:5-8).

      1. Think of the best time in your life: your wedding, a great vacation, spending time with your kids, when you were baptized, etc.

      2. Now amplify that great feeling by a factor of 100 and you feel like that forever.

      3. What would it take for you to leave all that behind?

      4. Jesus did, not only to live on this earth as a poor carpenter turned preacher, but He came to suffer and die (Heb. 2:9).

      5. He left His throne in heaven to live as a pauper on earth.

    2. He was willing to be tempted (Heb. 4:15).

      1. We know of at least three times He was tempted in the wilderness.

      2. Satan tried to tempt Him with food while He was fasting, with power, and safety.

      3. If He succumbed to any of these temptations, He would have sinned.

      4. He would have broken His vow to fast, He would have worshiped Satan, or He would have tested God.

      5. He was willing to go through physical trials here, but also spiritual ones.

    3. Jesus knew He was going to die, but let it happen anyway.

      1. Really, we all know we are going to die one day.

      2. But the way Jesus talked about it, He knew He would suffer so much when He died and be rejected by their leaders (Mark 8:31).

      3. He also knew He would rise again.

      4. He knew it was coming, but did nothing to stop it.

      5. Sure, He prayed that this cup pass from Him, but He did not fight or flee or use His power to free Himself.

      6. He waited in the Garden of Gethsemane for Judas to come betray Him.

      7. When Peter pulled out a sword to defend Jesus, He told him to put it away, saying, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53) – that’s about 60k angels, far more than the 10k we sing about.

      8. Jesus continued to say, “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” (Matt. 26:54).

    4. Why was He willing to go through all this?

      1. To fulfill the Scriptures.

      2. To obey the Father (Matt. 26:39).

      3. Because He loved us, even while we were His enemies (John 15:12-14; Rom. 5:8-10).

      4. He knew this was the only way our sins could be truly forgiven (Heb. 9:26-28).

      5. He knew it was the only way His Creation could have true fellowship with Him.

    5. We can truly know Christ if we show love like He showed love.

  3. Our Love for Others.

    1. Embedded in the mention that He died for us is the command that we should love as He loved (John 15:12).

    2. We should be willing to humble ourselves (Phil. 2:1-5).

      1. We should “let this mind be in [us] which was also in Christ Jesus.”

      2. We should be united in goals and purpose, not thinking we are above anyone else.

      3. Instead, we are to be humble (lowliness of mind).

      4. In doing so, we need to esteem others better, look after the interests of others.

      5. Christ did this when He came to live among us and die horribly.

      6. He cared about us more than He cared about sitting in His throne in heaven, comfortable and safe.

      7. We have much less to lose than He did, so why not esteem others, loving them.

      8. He also loved His enemies even on that cross, just as we should love ours, looking out for them.

    3. Christ went through trials on this earth as we should be willing to go through trials with others.

      1. Paul tells us we should rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15) – we should empathize with others, showing love!

      2. This includes bearing one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:1-2).

      3. We should work not to be tempted when we do so, but help where we can.

      4. Christ could and did withstand those temptations—we can, but often don’t.

      5. We need to take heed, lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12).

      6. Whatever the case, helping our brethren is showing them the love of Christ.

    4. Should we be willing to die for our brethren?

      1. I pray we never have to make that choice.

      2. With the number of church shootings taking place lately, it may come to that.

      3. The latest one that made the news was a church of Christ in Texas last Sunday during Communion.

      4. One elderly man, when he heard the gunfire, pulled his wife from her wheelchair to protect her, using his body as a shield—he embodied the command that a man is to love his wife as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25).

      5. I don’t want to discourage you from attending worship—the early church risked their lives gathering together during the height of persecution.

      6. And in that persecution Hebrews 10:25 was written—the command not to forsake the assembly.

      7. Christians all over the world risk their lives every week to worship God in spirit and in truth.

      8. Whatever the case, if Christ loved us so much He died for us, what should we do for each other?

    5. And why should we do all this?

      1. To obey our Lord: love your neighbor.

      2. Adding love to our faith helps to make our call and election sure.

      3. It helps us to truly know Christ.

      4. Because Christ loved us, and we should show that love to others.

Conclusion.

  1. The love that Christ showed us is so pure and amazing.

    1. He expected nothing in return for His love.

    2. “What do you mean? We do this, that, and the other for Him.”

    3. True, but think of all those He died for who don’t.

    4. We love Him because He first loved us; He loved us simply because.

    5. So because of His amazing love for us, let us “love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).

  2. In this series of lessons on the Christian Graces, we have learned ways to help make our call and election sure (2 Pet. 1:8-11).

    1. These things are so important, that if we lack them, we become blind and forgetful.

    2. If we practice these things, we are told we will never stumble.

    3. That doesn’t mean we’ll never stumble—it means if we do these things, we will never stumble.

    4. These things are often hard to practice: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and ultimately love.

    5. So let us work on these characteristics, so that “an entrance will be supplied to [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11).

  3. If you want a chance to have that entrance supplied to you, there are a few things you must do first—become a Christian.