John 15:12-14

No Greater Love – John 15:12-14

Human Friendships 

We all long for close friendships just as we fondly remember the close friendships we have had.

The important moments in our lives are often marked by our friendships. 

Jesus calls His disciples friends, and this can include us. 

Big Idea: When we think about the words of Jesus on a human level, we cannot help but contrast the friendship of Jesus toward us with the greatest earthly friends we have ever known. 

A biblical example of human friendship: David and Jonathan

 — We might think there was a great antagonism between the apparent rights of the one (Jonathan) and the supposed aspirations of the other (David). 

— Each sacrifice in order to put the interests of the other above their own

There are good friends, and then there are those who are friends that you would give your life for. 

Illustration: On a Boat in West Virgina 

Even the greatest stories of human sacrifice fall short compared to the love of Jesus for sinners. 

Jesus: Friend of Sinners

What makes Jesus’ sacrificial death greater than any human sacrifice? 

A.  Jesus Didn’t Have to Die

— Jesus is immortal — God of very God and did not have to die under any circumstances. 

B.  Jesus Knew that He was to Die

— Jesus’ death for sinners was more than a calculated risk. 

— Jesus knew that He was to die for every person that would believe in Him. 

C. Strickly Speaking: Are we really Jesus’ Friends? 

— We are the friends of Jesus because of His sacrificial death on our account

— In eternity past, Jesus determined to die for those who would come to Him in Faith.

–The Love of Jesus for us is both wonderful and undeserved and transcends human sacrificial love. 

To Grasp the love that God has for us, we must see ourselves as God sees us. 

How does God see us? 

Romans 1 tells us that all people have knowledge of God but have turned from it to worship a god of their own design.

Romans 1:21-23

There are certain consequences for giving up God in order to worship a God of Human design.

a. Sexual Impurity (Romans 1:24)

b. Shameful Lusts (Romans 1:26)

c. A Depraved Mind (Romans 1:28)

Total Depravity: Sin affects and taints everything about us — we are wholly corrupted by sin. 

D. The Death of Jesus was a Spiritual Death (Ours can only be physical) 

— It is impossible for us to die spiritually for another

— Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the Soul from God

Is Jesus your friend? 

Jesus is the friend of those who simply obey Him. We simply obey the one who loved us before the foundation of the earth, the one who knew He would die when He didn’t have to. We simply obey the one who died for us spiritually and experienced the separation from God so that we would not have to.