Key Scriptures: Romans 5:8, 1John 3:16-17

Introduction:
            Last week we said that Jesus died for two reasons; for justice and for love. Justice means that somebody has to pay for an injustice. Someone must bear the consequence for a wrong done. Jesus died so that He might forgive us for the wrong we have done. Real forgiveness is costly suffering.
Ephesians 1:7- “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
Heb. 9:22- “…and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”
            Real forgiveness costs somebody something. For forgiveness to happen, somebody has to pay. Forgiveness means refusing to make the other pay for what they did.- in the sense of malice, revenge, or hatred. Forgiveness is a real form of suffering, is agonizing, and feels like a form of death. But forgiveness in this way is a death that leads to resurrection.
            Through His Son, Jesus, God absorbed all the pain, all the wrongs we have committed against Him, all the wrongs we have committed against others, and all the wrong that has been committed against us. The Christian message is: God determined to forgive us rather than punish us. He paid the price of forgiveness. Real forgiveness is costly suffering.

I. The 2nd reason Jesus had to die is: Real love is a personal exchange.

“In the real world of relationships it is impossible to love another without in some way sharing in their problem or need. Or even exchanging places with them. Real, life-changing love involves some form of this kind of personal exchange.” C.J. Mahaney- Living a Christ Centered Life
Real life-giving love is draining. It’s them or you. To lift up a person who is emotionally drained means becoming emotionally drained yourself.
You enter into their suffering in some form.
You enter into their despair in some form.
You enter into their confusion in some form.
To lift up a person who is physically weak means giving your strength to their weakness. As you become involved with them, their weaknesses flow toward you as your strength flows towards them.
Luke 10:25-37 –The Good Samaritan -This is all about love. He proved what love is. He gave of himself. V.33:
He took pity on him
He went to him
He took care of him
He paid for him
He had mercy on him
Parenting is an example of this kind of love. Children are completely dependent. As a parent you either give up your independence because of their dependence or they will not thrive. It’s your loss of independence so that they may gain independence. You can either sacrifice your freedom or theirs. If you only give yourself to them when it is convenient to you, they will grow up emotionally needy and troubled. It’s them or you. To love your children well, you must decrease so that they may increase.
It’s a stretching process. Sometimes it may even look like you’re compromising, but you are learning to love like God, in am ever increasing capacity. This personal exchange of love fills you up with more of the fullness of God’s love. (Eph. 3:19) Love means sacrificing yourself for another. Real love is a personal exchange.

II. Love involves suffering

Why do we have to give so much attention to the cross? Why can’t we just focus on God as a God of Love? Why do we have to speak of love in terms of suffering?

Answer: Because if you take away the suffering you don’t have a God of love. God is love. He defines what love is.
All real life-changing love towards another is a substitutional sacrifice. “Substitution is at the heart of the Christian message.” John Stott

How can God be a God of love? It is by entering into the suffering, rejection, oppression, grief, weakness, and pain that we all experience.
Christianity, alone among the great religions, makes the claim that God entered our world of pain and participated in it with us and for us.

Romans 5:8- “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
I John 3:16-18 –“By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in Him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.”
I John 4:10-12 – “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.”
Jesus not only suffered for us, He suffered with us. This is the great personal exchange of God with men.

III. The cross of love

Through the cross of love, Jesus reversed the spiral of evil. “On the cross, the kingdom of God triumphed over the kingdoms of this world by refusing to join in their spiral of violence.” N.T. Wright - The Cross of Love
Through the cross of love, Jesus established an alternate reality (kingdom) from this world’s. This is what the church is, a people living in and for an alternate reality that keeps reversing the spiral of evil.

Through the cross of love, divisiveness is defeated by laying our lives down for others.
On the cross Jesus wins through losing.
He triumphs through defeat.
He achieves power through weakness.
He is exalted through humility.
He is wealthy through giving all away.
Through the cross of love we understand that:
Love is not a convenience for us.
Love is not a short-term relationship.
Love is not about who I like and who I get along with.
In this new counter-culture:
Money is seen as something to give away.
The lack of money is seen as the way for God to provide.
Power, status, influence, and money are seen as the means for greater service.
The cross is a singular act in time, but also a pattern for all eternity. It’s an eternal counter-culture through those who will enter it and allow themselves to be transformed. Transformation comes by these seven words: “Not my will but thine be done.”

Discussion Questions:

Why is real love a personal exchange that involves suffering? Give a personal example.

Could God still be a God of love (as some believe) without Jesus suffering on the cross? (see Romans 5:8) Why or why not?

How should knowing the love of Christ affect our relationships with others? (see 1John 3:16-18 and 4:10-12)

How do you believe that we (Christian Fellowhip) are doing in the effort to demonstrate the love of God to those in great need? What are some ways that we might do better in this area?