Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
1 John 3:16 (NIV)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
CONSIDER
Without a doubt the most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16. In case you need reminding, here it is: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (KJ21).
This verse is the clear banner and battle cry for what I call the first half of the gospel. It is the initial decision to trust Jesus by confession, repentance, and baptism.
But have you ever considered 1 John 3:16?
I am on a campaign to make 1 John 3:16 the banner verse and battle cry of the second half of the gospel, or the rest of the gospel, as I like to say. By that I mean the ongoing process of abandoning one’s life to Jesus Christ in love for the sake of others coming to know him. It is the movement from believing the love of God in Jesus Christ to becoming the love of God in Jesus Christ. It’s why I also like to say, “The rest of the gospel is the best of the gospel.”
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
So why this text as the banner for the second half of the gospel? Because it clearly and simply and profoundly defines what God means by love. Why do we need that? Here’s an example of how the dictionary defines love:
love: (1) a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person. (2) attraction that includes sexual desire: the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship. (3) the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration.
The world’s translation of today’s text might look like this:
This is how we know what love is: a feeling of strong or constant affection, attraction, or sexual desire for a person.
Now compare again with the Bible’s definition:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
I’m not knocking feelings of strong or constant affection or attraction or romance. I’m saying that for the sake of clarity we should probably refer to that as feelings of strong or constant affection or attraction or romance rather than calling it love.
Nothing is more beautiful or winsome or powerful than people laying down their interests and agendas and needs and desires for the best interests of others. In fact, the most descriptive word for this kind of love is holy. At Seedbed we often pair the words together to distinguish the kind of love for which we want to raise a banner: holy love.
How about it? Will you join the campaign? 1 John 3:16. I’m loading it into my “rememberizer” today. Let’s raise a banner.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
PRAY
Lord Jesus, you laid down your life for us, and you were gloriously raised from the dead. You call us to follow you in this way of the cross. Why is this so hard for us? Reveal what keeps me so stuck in my own self-interest. Break me free so I can live in freedom as one who gives without measure or calculation. Take me to a place of death to myself that I might be raised to a life of more aliveness to others. In your name I pray, Jesus. Amen.
