Weekly Reflection 9/4/24

Intentionality: The Intentional Love of Jesus

Intentionality

The desire for Living Hope is that we will be a local church full of disciples of Jesus who are making disciples of Jesus. This will not happen by chance, we will not stumble into it, it’s not going to happen accidentally. It will take intentionality. As you look at the life of Jesus you see how intentional He was in making disciples. Jesus had a plan, there was a strategy. 

For this intentionality to happen and not just be good intentions we need a rock-solid foundation, our roots must be deep. What is that foundation or ground that our roots need to go deep into if we are going to live with intentionality? What will enable us to persevere if we choose to give our lives to intentionally making disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus? What will keep us from giving up, getting discouraged, becoming distracted? I believe the answer is experiencing, knowing, and believing how much Jesus loves us.

Experience Jesus’ Love

We can experience His love for us through the Word of God and prayer by the power of the Holy Spirit. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians‬ 3‬:14‬-19‬ ESV‬‬

What He Gave to Love Us.

• First, we can see the depths of His love for us in what He gave to love us.
• “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians‬ 5‬:1‬-2‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” 1 John‬ 3‬:16‬ ESV ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• His love for you and I was strong enough that Jesus was willing to give up His life for us. 
• Not just give up some conveniences, but His life. 
• And not in an easy way, like a bullet to the head; but in the most horrible suffering, death on the cross.

How Little We Deserved It

• Secondly, you can see the depth of Christ’s love in how little we deserved it. 
• Here’s the way the Bible describes this in Romans 5: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Romans‬ 5‬:6‬-10‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• So, His love for us is deeper than any ordinary human love. (Verses 7 and 8)
• We were weak, ungodly, sinners, and we were enemies. And Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. 
• Don’t miss that it says, “at the right time.” The intentionality down to the exact time. 

The Generosity of His love. 

• Thirdly, we can see the depth of Christ’s love for us in the generosity of His love.
• “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John‬ 3‬:1‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• God loved us so much that He would not settle merely to save us from sin and give us forgiveness; but He adopts us as sons and daughters.
• “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans‬ 8‬:17‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” Ephesians‬ 1‬:3‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• The depth of His love is seen in the lavish display of His generosity toward us.

The intentionality of His love.

• Finally, you can experience the love of Jesus for you in the intentionality of His love.
• I want to add to the intentionality of Jesus that He freely desired to intentionally love us.
• In other words, Jesus was not forced into doing what He was not willing and eager to do. 
• We see the depth of Jesus’ love in the freedom of it—the willingness of it, the eagerness of it, and in all of that the intentionality of it.
• Jesus freely and intentionally loves us.

John 10:17-18

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” (John‬ 10‬:17‬ ESV)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ This means that there is a special delight that the Father has for the Son because of His willingness to lay down His life for His people and defeat death on their behalf. What this should say to us is this: the Father loves the Son for loving us. And what does that say to us about the love of the Father for us?

Now onto verse 18 and the freedom and intentionality of Christ in loving us: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John‬ 10‬:18‬ ESV) Now we need to let this sink in. “No one takes My life from Me.” What about the betrayal of Judas? What about the mob in the garden? And Annas the high priest? And the false witnesses that came against Him? And the crowds who cried, “Crucify Him”? And Herod who sent Him back to Pilate? And Pilate who handed Him over? And the soldiers who hammered the nails? What does Jesus mean, “No one takes my life from me”? He means, “At every point where it looks like I was under constraint, every moment where it looks like I was being forced to do what I did not want to do, I was not being forced. I was intentionally choosing it. I was embracing it. I and My Father were orchestrating it because We love you. No one takes My life from Me. I lay it down on My own initiative. My love is free and intentional.”

The Resurrection and Jesus’ Amazing Love

“No one takes my life from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” (John 10:18 ESV) Anybody who makes a statement like that is either mentally deranged, or lying, or God. “I have authority as a dead man, to take life back again, when I please.” 

Now what’s the point here? Well, which is harder, to control when you die, or to give yourself life again once you are dead? The answer is obvious. And that’s the point. If Jesus could—and He did—take His life back again from the dead, then He was free to intentionally give His life when He chose. If He controlled when He came out of the grave, He certainly controlled when He went into the grave. 

Jesus’ resurrection is a mighty shout of, “I love you!” It was intentional! It was free! He chose it. He embraced it. He was not caught. He was not cornered. It was all intentional love!

Jesus is now alive to spend eternity loving you with omnipotent resurrection love forever and ever. Therefore, when John says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16), we should feel the intensity of His love for us to the degree that we see His intentionality to suffer and die; and that should propel us to intentionally and freely lay down our lives for others. I pray that we will feel it profoundly. And may that profound experience of being loved by Christ have this effect on you:

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 2 Corinthians‬ 5‬:14‬-15‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians‬ 5‬:1‬-2‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” 1 John‬ 3‬:16‬ ESV ‬‬‬

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