Supernatural Love
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Jesus has been teaching us to be counter cultural.
Followers of Jesus are not called to live like everyone else, we are called out for something higher and something more.
We are the salt of the earth, the city on a hill. We are called to stand from everything and everyone.
People live in the natural, we are called to live in the supernatural
Jesus gives us two paradime shifting passages
Principle of Non-Retaliation
Love our Enemy
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love pushes us to deal with problems not ignore them.
Love pushes us to deal with problems not ignore them.
How we look at people affects how we look at problems
How we look at people affects how we look at problems
When someone sins against us, we tend to turn into survivalists and think about how we have been hurt.
Natural Reaction - That dude slapped me!!....You’re Dead
Kingdom Question - How have they been hurt?
Natural Desire - Uphold my own honor and respect.
Kingdom Desire - Uphold God’s honor and glory
Three Examples
Slap - This is meant to embarrass you in front of everyone. This is emasculating.
Steal clothes - Implication is you will be naked.
Forced movement - someone has control over you.
Jesus calls us to immediately look into their life and see how the gospel might impact them.
Imagine if we did this in marriage.
I was talking with my wife about this and we both came to this conclusion that when there is pressure in a marriage both parties tend to separate a little bit. Communication stops because someone is offended and we tend to not deal with the problems.
Why do we do this? OUR FEELINGS ARE HURT!
Someone did something that affected me so I wont engage in a healthy way.
LOVE IS NOT A FEELING
The english language does not do the word LOVE a favor.
The only other word I could think of is LIKE and like, LIKE isn’t like, much better.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
“You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy”
This is not in the scriptures. Nowhere does the OT say hate your enemy.
What is Jesus doing?
During Jesus historical moment, the religious leaders and the people loved their people, but treated all outsiders as dogs. In fact some religious teachers taught that is actually honored God to despise the outsiders.
The Romans
The Jewish people were occupied by the Roman authorities or outsiders.
The Roman soldier had special privileges
Love must be driven by Compassion
Love must be driven by Compassion
We are called to have a love like Gods when it comes to our enemies.
HOW DO WE HAVE COMPASSION FOR OUR ENEMIES?
We understand they are broken, sinful people who have been deceived by the enemy of God.
The chaos in their lives are caused by the reality of sin in our world.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
Heart of Compassion - Often times translated mercy,
display of concern over another’s misfortune, pity, mercy, compassion
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 700). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
When you are dealing with an enemy and your heart is full of compassion, you view them differently.
Love directs our attitude and Actions
Love directs our attitude and Actions
Agape = Attitude, Action
As long as a man is living for himself, he is sensitive, watchful and jealous; he is envious and is therefore always reacting immediately to what others do....The only way to detach yourself from what others do to you is that you first of all detach yourself from yourself (Jones)
Detachment (It’s not about you)
When you detach yourself, you allow Christ to come in and do something supernatural.
We are called to be peacemakers for they will be called sons and daughters of God.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
JESUS
67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,
35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
The Romans put the cross on Jesus’ back and forced him to walk to the place of death.
When we see the reality of the cross we realize we were the enemies of God. We dishonor him by the way we live, by putting the focus on ourselves and what we want.
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