Following Christ's Example of Love
Last Week: Kingdom Etiquette
Ephesians 4
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Following Christ's Example of Love:
Ephesians 5:
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Paul says for us to walk in love how Jesus walked in love.
But how did Jesus walk in love…. What did that look like?
CONTEXT:
Jesus in Matthew 4 was just tempted by the Devil and succeeds!
He then begins his ministry and picks his disciples.
His fame grows rapidly and multitudes followed him, leading to there “sermon on the mount”
Matthew 7:28,29
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he
was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Examples of Christ’s Love
1. Jesus Heals the Leper Mark 1:40-45 (ESV): Compassionate
40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me
clean." 41 Moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I
will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
2. The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:3-11) Merciful
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her
in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in
the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test
him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his
finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him
who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down
and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and
said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
3. The Healing of the Woman with the Issue of Blood Luke 8:43-48 Unconditional
43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had
spent all her living on physicians,[f] she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And
Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter[g] said, “Master, the crowds
surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive
that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came
trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had
touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your
faith has made you well; go in peace.”
4. The cross Sacrificial
Adam & Eve sinned…. Man spiraled…. God wrapped himself in flesh came as a baby through a
virgin Mary….. Garden of Gethsemane…. Took the wrath of the father so that we could be clean.
Takeaway: Christ’s love was: Compassionate, Merciful, Unconditional, Sacrificial
We should be:
Compassionate:
1 John 3:17 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?
Merciful:
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Unconditional:
Give love without expectation of return, even to those who are different
Sacrificial:
Deny ourselves for the sake of loving others:
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