Loved by Christ: Loving each other - John 15:9-17
Basil Howlett -
The disciples were dejected as they walked with Jesus to the
A. An Affirmation of His love (verse 9). There’s no better remedy for
dejected Christians than to be reminded of Christ’s love for us.
Think of who he is. He’s the eternal Son of God (verse 9). He’s the
Sinless Son of God (verse 10). He refers here in verse 10 to the way he had
obeyed all his father’s commandments. He has never done or said or thought
anything sinful. He is altogether pure. And he’s the almighty Son of God - the
life giving vine (verses 1 & 5).
Think of who we are. We are frail sinful people but he still loves us.
B. The Nature of his love (verse 9). The fact that Christ loves us at all,
is staggering enough, but to read that he loves us in the same way that the
Father loves him, is almost impossible to believe!
It’s an eternal love (see John 17:24). Way back in the farthest reaches
of eternity past, the Father loved the Son and that is the kind of love that
Christ has for us as Christians. A love which stretches back
into the past, before ever we were converted; when we were rebels; before we
were born. Way back in eternity he loved us and chose us (verse 16) and
planned our salvation (see Jeremiah 31:3).
It’s an endless love. It stretches from all eternity in the past, to all
eternity in the future. God the Father will never, never stop loving his Son
and his Son will never stop loving us.
It’s an unchangeable love (Romans 8:35-39).
It’s an immeasurable love. We will never be able to understand, leave
alone describe, the depth of love which God the Father had and has for His Son.
In the same way it is impossible for us to tell how much Christ loves us.
What mystery here! The immortal dies
Who can explore his strange design
In vain the highest angel tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
It’s a mysterious love. God allowed certain things to happen to his Son
which we find hard to understand. Christ’s love for us is also mysterious. Sometimes
he allows things to happen to us which we struggle to square with his love.
It’s a generous love. The Father has given all things to his Son (3:35,
Hebrews 1:3) . Christ’s love for us is like that and
has given priceless gifts; pardon, peace, joy. Most of all he gave his own life
for us (verse 13).
C. The Friendship of Love. He regards those whom he loves as his friends
(verses 13-14). Many a man will say of his wife ‘She is my greatest friend.’ We
often speak about Jesus as our friend (Luke 7:34, S of S 5:16) but it’s even
more amazing that he calls us his friends. In fact (verse 16) he has
chosen us to be his friends, He treats us with special love:
He tells us his secrets (verse 15). Way back in eternity God the Father
told the Son what things he could reveal to his chosen friends and he has done
so. Spiritual secrets and mysteries which are hidden from the world have been
revealed to us (Psalm 25:14).
He entrusts us with his affairs (verse 16, 1 Thessalonians 2:4).
D. The Appeal of Love. Having seen this wonderful affirmation of his
love and friendship, we need to notice the appeal Jesus makes, in the light of
it, to his original disciples and us (verse 9). He appeals to us to remain in
his love. He means:-
‘Remember it’ The devil does his best to make
us forget that Christ loves us, either by filling our winds with doubts or
distractions. We need to remind ourselves of it every day, every moment of the
day.
‘Rest in it’. When trials come, don’t
get alarmed but rest your soul in the fact that he will never let you go.
What’s the use of knowing that Christ loves us with an eternal love,
if we are still torn apart with worry. ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and
to enjoy him for ever’.
‘Go deeper into his love’. The AV translated this word in verse 9 as
‘continue’. The word ‘remain’ is too static. The word ‘continue’ indicates
movement and progress. We should long for a deeper understanding and experience
of it (Ephesians 3:18-19).
E. HOW we can continue in his love? We must obey him (verse 10).
Obedience and holiness are essential. If we want to keep the love of Christ
fresh in our minds, enjoy it and be thrilled by it. Sin and disobedience harden
our hearts against the love of Christ. Jesus continued in the enjoyment of his
Father’s love by a life of obedience and holiness (verse 10) and we must do the
same.
In particular (verse 12) we must obey his command to love one another See also
verse 17), Nothing so spoils our enjoyment of Christ’s love than a loveless
feud with another believer. Christ loves us with a generous, sacrificial,
unfailing love and we should show the same kind of love to our fellow believers.