We have come to the end of our series, “Collide.” So far, we laid the foundation of STANDING FIRM in our faith when the world attempts to convince us of a different value system.
Next, we talked about the importance of allowing God to TRANSFORM our minds and our hearts.
Then last week, we spoke about receiving the TRUTH of God’s Word, while both HOLDING ONTO it and GIVING it away.
Today, as we close out this series, I believe standing firm in our faith must include the over-arching four-letter word “LOVE” … in the context that we must…
Love What Matters Most.
The Bible talks seriously about the importance of CHOOSING to spend time with God in order to grow in our love of God.
Because as we spend time with Him, we will be drawn closer to Him rather than closer to the things of this world. For example, in our text verses for today, the apostle John say this about “love what matters most”…
(let’s read these text verses together)
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17
John is talking about a CRAVING here in this passage. He says we are tempted to crave the things of this world as we fall into sin.
So, let’s talk about the first step in DEVELOPING and GROWING a love “for what matters most”.
That step involves…
Correcting the Craving
We have already highlighted different worldly desires in this series, but in our text today the Apostle John names cravings of ours that have to do with our flesh.
For example, he addresses things like “physical pleasure.” The desire for physical intimacy and connection are not wrong desires. However, John says we are often tempted to fulfill these desires in the wrong places.
Perhaps it happens when you are randomly scanning the internet and you stop on a sexually explicit site, and you find yourself staring at the site. You may even be tempted to keep going back to the same site because it fulfills your physical desires, at least for a few moments.
That is an example of what the Apostle John is describing in our text as the “lust of the flesh”.
He next lists out a craving for everything we see around us … thus, the “lust of the eyes.” Many things in this world look glamorous to us at first glance. For you, maybe your desire is to be famous, to have many people know your name, or recognize you wherever you go.
Fortunately, many years ago I recognized the obvious trap a pastor could fall into. It seems he is always in front of a lot of people, and he may get asked to be involved in things.
If he is not conscience of this “lust of the eyes”, which is a craving to be the center of attention, to be recognized and famous. If he does not recognize this, he will most assuredly fail because his motivation no longer honors God. He is no longer God centered, instead he becomes self-centered..
I have concluded over the years that fame only looks glamorous BEFORE someone has it. Let’s look at famous singers or movie stars for instance. Although their fame has made them rich in worldly terms, they cannot even leave their homes without being photographed and stormed by fans. This kind of lifestyle is not what it seems from our point of view, IS IT?
You see, God knows that once we get things like fame and status, they will only temporarily satisfy or fulfill us. But the good news is, they were never made to do that.
There is only one thing made to that can satisfy our CRAVING for deep abiding intimacy and connection and that is the LOVE of God!
God wants to correct our craving.
He wants us to hunger after something more than what this world can give us, and that IS His love. And the way in which we find God’s love, is first by finding…
God’s Favor
Elsewhere in 1 John, he tells us that God IS Love, meaning when we find God, we find true love.
In the verse we read together a few moments ago, we must pay attention to how John ends this section of scripture. He says the things of the world, even the world itself, will one day PASS AWAY.
To close out his teaching, John says, “…anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” Just let those words sink in for a moment, “…anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”
EVERYTHING in this world, one day, WILL pass away.
Dr Luke says in his Gospel…
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Luke 21:33
Jesus is telling us simply that ONE DAY heaven and earth will both BE GONE.
BUT, God’s word will LAST forever. Throughout the Bible, God shows us how to live as He desires us to live.
He tells us the things we are to say, the ways we are to act, and it all comes down to the LOVE we are to SHOW THOSE AROUND US.
The world’s love is most often what one would call “conditional.” What I mean by that is this … conditional love means that you are only showing love to those who you believe DESERVE IT.
For example, those who are in your family, maybe those who agree with you on certain topics, or those who you would consider your friends.
But as soon as someone hurts you, or says something rude to you, or causes you pain in some way, they are no longer WORTHY of love. At least, according to the world’s love.
That’s the narrative of love that God wants to REWRITE. His love is “unconditional.” And here, in a nut shell, is how we know love is unconditional … NONE of us here today deserves to be loved by God.
Paul tells us this very succinctly in Romans 3 when he shows us some tough love…
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23
Even with this being true, God DECIDED or He CHOSE to show us His love, grace, and mercy anyway, because we are His children.
The key point is that God has ALREADY MADE THE DECISION to love you and me, and it is not based on anything we have done. And He will never change His mind. God does not change.
So, the only question left is this, “Will we make the decision to love Him back?” Will we choose to respond to His love?
For you see, if we do, our love must be a…
Daily Decision
Some people may believe that once you invite Jesus to be the king of your heart and life, that you are good to go forever.
However, I want us to understand that any decision to follow Christ with our lives must be made every single day. There is no such thing as a one-time acceptance of Jesus, and then, all is good forever.
Because every day, we will be confronted with innumerable worldly temptations to give our lives to something else. John knew that we would be confronted with these worldly temptations when he wrote our text for today.
Jesus knew we would be confronted with these temptations. That is why He gave us His Word as a guide. Here is a question we must ask ourselves each day…
“Do the decisions I daily make align with the word of God?”
“Do my daily actions reflect that I am a disciple of Christ?”
God sent His one and only Son into the world to redeem the world. You could say that Jesus was sent on a collision course with the world and its worldly values.
Jesus’ desire, as we see in 2 Peter is simply this…
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
But we seem to so easily go astray and get distracted, don’t we? The negative and lifeless messaging of the world is INCESSANT, PERVASIVE, and ENTICING.
But I believe we are able and capable to make a conscious decision each day to say “no” to the things of this world. And instead, say “yes” to the love of God … say yes to the things of God.
If we do that on a regular basis, we WILL be able to live the fruitful, and abundant life that Jesus came to bring us.
If we will invest in the word, in the fellowship, in Christ-centered teaching, in prayer, then we CAN continually renew our minds with the things of the Kingdom of God.
It really all comes down to this, “When you find that the world’s values collide with the kingdom’s values in your life, you must make the decision to choose the path of Christ?”
Have you ever intentionally thought about what some minor adjustments you could make in your life now that will have major consequences in your future?
For example, how about some of these ideas…
• Daily time in the Bible
• Joining a Bible class
• Volunteering in church activities
• Spending time with other Christians
• Cutting off destructive habits and tendencies
And the list of minor adjustments which can really help us in the future could go on and on.
The point is, there IS SPACE FOR YOU in the kingdom of god … You have a place at the Lord’s table.
The only remaining question is, “Will you make space for the kingdom of God in you?” I pray so. Amen