The Love of God

Aug 28

About this series

At the start of 2022 Russ, our Lead Elder, spoke about this being a year of ‘pruning for fruitfulness.’ The imagery comes from John 15 so we are going to preach through this chapter over seven Sundays.

The vine and branches are a wonderful and inspiring image but comes at a very intense point in Jesus’ journey to the cross.

There is also a clear Old Testament connection. In the OT “the vine” or “the vineyard” was a common picture of God’s people, and a symbol of the fruitfulness God intended for them. God had done all that was necessary for his people to be fruitful - chosen them, loved them, planted them in ‘fertile’ conditions - yet they continually turned away from him, and failed to be a prophetic witness to the nations of the one true God.

Fast-forward to John’s gospel where Jesus says, “I am the true vine” - I am the truly fruitful one sent by my Father, who himself is the gardener; stay intimately connected to me and dependent on me; your fruitfulness is directly related to that connection. It is by remaining in me that you will be enabled to be the distinct and faithful people of God and a prophetic witness of him.

We have a danger of immediately thinking of fruitfulness in terms of output, usefulness, and productivity - which is certainly part of what it means to be fruitful. But fruitfulness for God is the result of a life rooted in faithfulness to him. That is surely why God’s people produced bad fruit throughout the OT - because they had been unfaithful. Bearing good fruit is a matter of growth in godliness and character; it’s a holiness question as much as a usefulness one.

This series about abiding is not a set of seven ways to be fruitful but is a careful study in John 15. However, we hope that it is extremely practical, with the thread of abiding (as the way to be fruitful) weaving through it all. Each part of the series should help us consider how we can abide in Jesus.

For example

Through staying conscious of him at all times
Submitting our decisions to him
Keeping his glory as the goal
Connecting to fellow believers
Ensuring that we’re carving out time to be alone with him in personal devotions (prayer, Bible reading, worship, etc)
Growing in our understanding of who he is and who we are in him.

About this talk

Scripture: John 15:9-11

Such was his closeness to Jesus and so infused were his gospel and his letters with love that John became known in the church as ‘the apostle of love.’ Here he records Jesus proceeding to show what is the primary element in abiding - remaining in him means remaining in his love. It is the life of his love flowing through us that will lead us to be fruitful in loving both God and people.

Verse 9 affirms the extraordinary quality and measure of love that Jesus has for his disciples - the same love that his Father has for him. This is restated in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:26: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Our part is to “remain in my love.” The privilege of what we have been brought into is truly mind-blowing. The life and love shared by the Father and the Son is so closely paralleled to the life and love we share with the Father, the Son and the Spirit. No wonder Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” He has done everything for us; our part is to make sure our connection to the life and love of Jesus is not hindered. And the route to doing so is perhaps surprising - obedience. “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love.” What he surely doesn’t mean is that he will love us if / when we keep his commands - that would be to make his love dependent on our behaviour. What he means is that our experience of his love and of his life flowing to us, the branches, will depend on us staying obedient to him and thus connected to him. Which is exactly how he says he has remained in his Father’s love.

All of which works for our joy, v 11. But just as it is his life flowing through us, it will be his joy flowing through us - “so that my joy may be in you.” And if his joy fills us then our joy really will be complete. Obedience to Jesus keeps us in his love, the result of which is joy in him, which works to motivate us to be obedient - and so the cycle continues.

We look at:

The extraordinary nature of Jesus’ love for us.
The reality that knowing God’s love leads to obedience, which leads further into a desire to be obedient.
How we can keep ourselves conscious of God’s love for us?