Christ’s Love Controls Us

Sermon Transcript

I recently re-watched the movie As Good as it Gets. It’s a Jack Nicholson classic. The movie is about a best-selling romance novelist named Melvin Udall who hates people and has severe obsessive–compulsive disorder; he uses soap bars and gloves only once, avoids stepping on sidewalk cracks while walking through NYC, and eats his breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant. He takes an interest in his waitress, Carol Connelly, the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his behavior. Despite his severe OCD, Melvin won’t make appointments with his psychiatrist or take his medication. Long story short, Melvin falls in love with Carol the waitress. The very first time they go out to dinner together Melvin says something typically awful and insulting to Carol. And she says to him, “Melvin, pay me a compliment, I really need one.” Melvin tells her how much he hates and refuses to take his OCD medication. But then he tells her that after some interaction they had together at the restaurant, he started taking his pills. Carol says, “I don’t understand how that’s a compliment for me.” Nicholson looks at her and he says this really iconic line to try and explain. He says, “you make me want to be a better man.” It’s really powerful because it explains why he’s beginning to change. It’s her love that controls him, compels him, and makes him want to be a better man.

That moment in the movie reminded me why we do all this. That one line reminded me why we’re making joyful and sacrificial generosity commitments next Sunday. That one line reminded me why we want a facility where we can grow in the gospel and more people can come to saving faith in Jesus. Melvin wanted to be a better man because Carol’s love controlled him. And we want to do all this because Christ’s far greater love controls us. Please stand with me and we’ll read 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 together. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 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. Let’s put these verses in their context so we can really understand it. 2 Corinthians is probably Paul’s most autobiographical letter. In the letter, Paul is trying to win the Corinthians back to himself from false-teachers who claim that Paul can’t be a real apostle because he suffers so much. The main message of the letter is that far from disqualifying him from being an apostle, Paul’s suffering and setbacks as an apostle make all the sense in the world because he serves a Savior who suffered for our sins before he was raised. In 2 Corinthians 4-5, Paul is explaining why he doesn’t get discouraged and lose heart when he experiences suffering and setbacks on the journey of pouring it all out for Jesus. Why doesn’t Paul lose heart? Why does he gladly give himself to Jesus’ cause? Why do we and why will we for years to come? Why do we do all this? The answer is the big idea of our passage: Christ’s love controls us. Christ’s love is why, it’s his love that controls us, it’s his love that makes us want to pour it all out for him. This morning we are going to look at Christ’s love that controls us from three angles in our passage: (1) The proof of His love (2) The power of His love (3) The purpose of His love.

THE PROOF OF HIS LOVE

My son Soren is a thinker. When I do devotions with him or we have family worship, he’ll sometimes ask, “Dad, where is the proof?” Where is the proof that Christ really loves us? The truth is that Christ’s love will never control us, his love will never compel us toward joyful and sacrificial generosity, his love will never cause us to pour it all out for him unless we’re convinced that he loves us. As Soren says, “what’s the proof?” The proof that Christ loves us is in verse 14 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all… The proof that Christ truly loves all who believe in Him is his death on the cross for us. The cross is the proof of Christ’s love. Paul has already told us in Romans 5:8 – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And now we learn it’s not just the Father’s, but it’s the Son’s love for us that is proven at the cross.

Think for a moment about Christ’s love put on display at the cross. Certainly the physical horror of the cross proves Christ’s love for you. He willingly endured the false-accusations, a corrupt trial, the humiliating mockery, the brutal beating, the merciless whipping, the heavy cross, the steel nails, the suffocating asphyxia, and the lonely death for you. He loves you! The physical agony of his death proves his love for you, but there is even more to his love proven at the cross. It wasn’t just a crown of thorns bearing down on the Lord Jesus’ head that Friday afternoon, it was the wrath of God that crushed him. On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ died in our place, for our sins. The sinless one endured the wrath of God that our sins deserve. Our sin has created an eternal debt, but at the cross Jesus paid it all. His dying words were “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” The proof of his love is that he was forsaken by God on the cross so that we would not be God forsaken forever. Some of you are enduring the most discouraging setbacks and suffering in this season. Your sin, the sin of others against you, this fallen world, and the Devil have got you wondering if Christ really loves you. You’re looking in the wrong place. As Sinclair Ferguson says, “The reason we lack assurance of his grace is because we fail to focus on that spot where he has revealed it.” Look to the cross. The cross – not your circumstances – is the objective proof that Christ loves you. And this is why we do all this. The reason why we are pouring it all out to set down deep roots and bear lasting fruit through a long-term facility is because Christ’s love controls us and the cross is the proof that he really does love and really will be with us as we pour it all out. Ok – we have seen the proof of his love, but for us to be truly controlled by it, we now have to see…

THE POWER OF HIS LOVE

The proof of Christ’s love is his death, the power of his love is that in his death all believers die. verse 14: For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; The proof of Christ’s love is his death, the power of his love is that in his death all believers die to ourselves. The power of his love is that in his death we die to ourselves. We get a hint that Paul is referring to death to self, self-denial in the next sentence. Verse 15 – …and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves. When you receive and rest in Jesus Christ and his love alone for the forgiveness of sins, you die – you die to yourself in Christ. In Galatians 2:20, Paul puts it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” The power of Christ’s love is death to self.

One image that helps me understand the power of Christ’s love being death to self is childbirth. I’ve witnessed two child births. It looks very painful. Very. Painful. I can still remember when after hours of painful labor, the midwife placed Soren in Andrea’s arms and she describes it as one of the most euphoric experiences of joy and worship of her life. She forgot about herself, her pain, and her well-being because she was so wrapped up in love for our son. In a similar way, as we experience more and more of Christ’s all-consuming love for us, we forget about ourselves, we die to ourselves, we deny ourselves and it is the most joyful death imaginable. The great Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs once wrote, “There was never any man or woman so contented as a self-denying man or woman.” The power of his love is that in his death we die to ourselves, forget ourselves, and deny ourselves. And it’s in this death to self that we find the kind of contentment in Christ that frees us to be truly generous in pouring it all out for Jesus’ cause. We don’t have to be afraid of setbacks and suffering as we pour it all out because the power of his love has already lead to death to self. This is why we do all this! Christ’s love – it’s proof and power – control us. That brings us, finally, to…

THE PURPOSE OF LOVE

The purpose of Christ’s love is the positive side of the power. The power of his love is the death of living for ourselves, but the purpose of his love is to free us to live for him who for our sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:15 – 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. Not only does Christ’s love free us from the never-ending sadness of living for ourselves, but it frees us to live for Christ who for our sake died and was raised. Christ’s love gives our lives their ultimate purpose. His love frees us to live for and delight in the accomplishment of his purposes. Christ’s controls us – it frees us from the clutches of self, death, and Hell and frees us for the glorious purposes of pouring out our lives for the one who died and was raised.

One of my favorite narratives in the Bible that illustrates the purpose of Christ’s love is in John 12. A woman named Mary came up to Jesus with an entire alabaster flask of very expensive ointment. The pure nard was expensive, it was an heirloom, and it probably represented everything she had in this world. Since it was kept in an alabaster jar, the jar would have had to be broken to be poured out. Once broken open it was gone. Mary knew all that, but she had experienced Christ’s love and was controlled by it. So what did she do? She pushed her way right to Jesus and she quite literally poured it all out for Jesus. That’s the purpose of Christ’s love – it compels us to live for the purpose of pouring it all out for Jesus. This is why! This is why we are pouring it all out to have a long-term facility where we can set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations. Christ’s love controls us – so we pour it all out for Him. This is why.

CALL TO ACTION – SO WHAT?

Reiterate 3 possible commitments.
Speak to those who are finding fulfillment harder than typical.
Linda’s story.
What is your why? – Really big on one slide

VIDEO CONTENT

Continuing this is why series
New year – midway point – commitment Sunday
2 Cor. – why despite setbacks and sufferings does he pour it all out for Jesus
2 Cor. 5 – Christ’s love controls us