Vital Signs: Loving Your Brother
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7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
No New Commandment
No New Commandment
You have had this from the beginning
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Lev
5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
This was not a new commandment. The message and content of the commandment has been there from the beginning, “embedded” as it were, in the law of God. But . . . as verse 8 says
8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
A New Commandment
A New Commandment
It is new in the sense that we are now able to see it in a new way. Because of Christ’s example, we are now seeing what it means to love our brother/neighbor in a new way.
John
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Having the light of life, will by default cause us to walk as Jesus walked and love like Jesus loved!
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the LIGHT, the ONLY WAY, the Truth, the Life.
And John takes us back to a previously discussed vital sign, which is Walking in the Light. Which cannot be true if you aren’t loving your brother or if you hate your brother.
9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
Whoever hates his brother is going to walk around in darkness.
That is not a good thing to do. It is too easy to get tripped up in the dark.
On the contrary. . . look what John says next.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
Whoever loves their close relative/neighbor will not need to worry about stumbling because they are walking in the light, abiding in Christ and logically we can say that as they love their brothers and sister and neighbors, their path will be easily discerned.
Now John reiterates the danger of hating and not loving. It is foolish.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Turn in your Bibles to - “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34
How did Christ love?
Humbly
Submissively
Sacrificially
Last week, as we considered obedience to God as a vital sign, we identified a few ways that Christ walked. We saw that Christ humbled himself, and we will discuss this further in a few moments. He also submitted himself to His father’s will and He did in such a way that He not only suffered, He willingly suffered well.
The way Christ walked is directly connected to the way Christ loved, which is what John is getting at in this section of 1 John.
This commandment isn’t new, it is the command that was given from the beginning but it has now been exemplified through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so in that sense it is a new commandment. The fulfillment of the commandment has been lived out in front of us so we now know exactly what loving our brother/neighbor looks like.
Christ taught about this while he walked the earth in the flesh.
Now turn to ,
In the sermon on the mount, he began teaching this “new” command, and shortly after He would live out the very principles that He taught.
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Mt 5:21-22
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
If you call
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.
Matt 5:
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Jesus raised the bar, but He did not just raise the bar, He exemplified the love of God with perfection and He did not just exemplify the Love of God perfectly, He is Love perfectly!
Remember though, as we saw in , The Love of God is perfected in us, as we obey and as we walk like Christ, as we love our fellows Christians, brothers and sisters, as Christ loved.
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Let’s get a little critical in our thinking for a minute or two.
Let’s allow ourselves to be a bit cynical for a while.
Let’s ask some difficult questions about this idea of loving your brother as Christ loved.
What did Christ have to give to show us His love? Is it like a millionaire, giving a penny to a beggar?
Did He really suffer? Did He really give up anything for us?
He laid down His life, but He knew that He would pick Himself back up, resurrected and living again.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Christ gave up everything, and I mean literally everything. He willingly withheld the use of some of His attributes, He took on human form and walked this earth as a man, but He gave up so much more. On the cross, Jesus gave up His innocence, He gave up His fellowship with the Father. Jesus is quoting . He is experiencing the absolute worst thing anyone could ever experience.
One day is as a thousand years to the Lord. Those three days in the grave, must have been horrendous.
The infinite perfect matchless son of God, took on the sins of finite man, in obedience to the Father, displaying a selfless love to wretched, vile and selfish men, like you and me.
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
Vital Sign: Loving your Brother as Christ loved!
For King & Country “There’s a kind of love that God only knows” God only knows what you’ve been through, God only knows what they say about you, God only knows the real you, but there’s a kind of love that God only knows. This is true on multiple levels. First, he loves perfectly, completely and righteously, all the time. Second, Christ suffered far greater a sacrifice than any one of us could ever imagine, and yet He loves us, and understood the joy that was to come, as a result of His very costly gift to us.
According to ,
Christ was tempted in any and every way that we are able to be tempted, yet He did not sin. He never gave in to His fleshly desire for comfort, or selfishly chose to ignore
However, we might be tempted to rationalize our failure to love. Listen to one such example
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answers by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. This is a familiar story. But Jesus doesn’t directly answer the question. His answer in the end, is that your neighbor is anyone who needs your help.
In chapter 4 we will delve into topic of love, the source and motive from which genuine love flows, the benefit and blessing of it and also be reminded by John’s repetitiveness that if we don’t love love our brother, we are not abiding in the truth.
But listen to some of the things Paul says in about brotherly love, about brotherly affection. This is the same kind of love that John is speaking of hear and of course this is right after Paul instructs the believers in Rome to offer themselves as a living sacrifice, which is their reasonable act of worship.
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Here in Romans we see some additional qualities and characteristics of the love that are to have for our brothers and sisters in Christ and the love we are to have for strangers as well.
Genuinely showing, care and concern
Passionately abhorring evil, and grasping to morality
Brotherly affectionate
rotherly affections
Eagerly and Increasingly honoring others
Persistently serving the Lord
Happily expectant of our salvation
Patiently bearing with our struggles
Continualy in prayer
Generously giving to the needs of strangers
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
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