October 8, 2025 • 36 mins
Jesus tells us three times in the Gospels that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. But what does that mean? How does that look? In today's episode I talk about how Jesus Himself showed us how to fulfill that commandment in the example He gives us. And though we won't do it perfectly like He did, He has given us everything we need to love the Lord with all we are and how that then shapes how we love others as we love ourselves.
Scriptures talked about today (check out BibleHub.com!):
- Matthew 22:35-40
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
- Hebrews 1
- Matthew 4
- Luke 4
- Mark 12:28-34
- Luke 10:25-29
- Matthew 11:28-30
- Luke 2:41-52
- Philippians 2:1-11
- John 12:23-28
- Luke 22:39-44
- John 14:10 (I said John 5 but it’s John 14!)
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
- Micah 6:8
- Jude 20-22
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Questions? Comments? Email me at: carrie@ps8116.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Hey everyone, how are you doing today?
I hope you are doing alright.
Welcome to episode two of Honeyfrom the Rock.
I am so glad you're here with metoday.
And before I jump into the topicof today's episode, I just want
to take a moment and say thankyou.
There were so many people whomessaged me or emailed me, um,
(00:28):
contacted me on Facebook,Instagram, encouraging me in
what I'm doing with thispodcast.
And while we often need to stepout in obedience to the Lord
alone, the faithfulness of Jesusin the people that he gives us
to encourage us and be excitedabout the things that we're
doing, it touched my heart.
(00:51):
I have, I really have for awords person, I really have no
words uh for how overwhelmed Iwas by the kindness of my
community and the just theencouragement.
It it touched my heart in such adeep way and encouraged me to
keep going.
And so I just want to say thankyou.
Um, and in that vein, encourageyou.
(01:14):
If there are things that youknow Jesus is calling you to do,
things that He has put on yourheart.
I just keep saying as I talk topeople about this podcast, it's
better to be obedient and and doit scared than to stay in
comfort and disobedience and andsometimes wonder what would have
happened if you had just donewhat the Lord had called you to
(01:35):
do for a lot of reasons.
Um, so again, just thank you somuch.
Thank you, thank you, thank youfrom the bottom of my heart.
I am a blessed woman in thetruest meaning of that word with
the people that Jesus has put inmy life to encourage me and to
lift me up in prayer.
(01:55):
And uh, it just meant a lot.
So speaking of community, um,this episode today and the next
few episodes come out of thingsthat I am seeing online and also
things that the Lord has reallymade um clear to me in my life
(02:16):
in different seasons, um uh inregards to love.
So love is a word that we loveto talk about a lot.
Um, it's also a word I thinkthat has lost a lot of its true
meaning, right?
Because we we talk about love umin that deep sense, love for the
Lord, love for one another.
(02:37):
Um, but we also then toss itaround like, oh my gosh, I love
my brand new sandals, or I lovethis tiny adorable otter on
Instagram, which you know, thatwas definitely me.
I love otters, they're adorable.
Uh, but I just in thinking aboutthe Christian walk, thinking
about discipleship, sitting withthe Lord, what is what does love
(02:59):
really mean?
And obviously, first andforemost, we have the very
definition of love in the triuneGod, Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
right?
In in the personification, inthe incarnate God coming to be
man in the person of JesusChrist, his crucifixion, his
gospel.
(03:20):
But one thing I've been seeing,especially in the last month,
and it's been a theme off andon, I see a lot of people
talking about how we need tolove one another, which we
absolutely do.
It is the second commandment,how we need to treat one another
with dignity and respect and notscream at each other online.
Yes, and amen.
Absolutely.
(03:40):
But the more that I've looked atit and just seen so many
conversations and so mucharguing and and just so much
disunity, um, the thing that Ihave that has really hit me is I
don't necessarily think that wehave a love problem for one
another, first and foremost.
I think the way that we seepeople interact online, the way
(04:04):
that we are watching how wetreat one another unfold is not
necessarily first and foremostour lack of love for one
another, but it is our lack oflove for the Lord.
And I'm talking specifically inthe Christian community and and
know that as I am talking aboutthis, first and foremost, it is
something that Jesus hasconvicted me about in my own
(04:25):
life.
And that our love for oneanother actually has to grow out
of our love for the Lord.
And that's what I want to talkabout today is the first
commandment.
Because if we don't have a noteven a grasp, but but if that
first commandment, which Jesussays is the first and foremost
commandment, if that is not theabsolute bedrock foundation of
(04:50):
our life, then nothing elseworks right.
If our love for the Lord is notparamount in our life, if we
aren't seeking to give himeverything, heart, mind, soul,
and strength, then everythingelse will lack in our life.
(05:10):
Because Jesus, the Father, theHoly Spirit, they have to be
first and foremost everything tous.
And our our love, our love forthem has to be the foundation of
everything that we do.
Because Jesus says the secondcommandment is like to the
first, but it's not the first.
(05:32):
Jesus says that the firstcommandment is is first and
foremost, it is paramount.
And and so today that's what Iwant to talk about.
Because in loving Jesus, in thiscommandment that he has given
us, Jesus never asks us to doanything that he hasn't first
done, that he hasn't firstcompletely fulfilled in the
(05:55):
perfection of his person.
And so we're going to examinethe first commandment.
Um, if you are listening alongwith me, I would encourage you
to get out your Bible as youlisten.
I'll have all of the scriptureslisted in the show notes.
Uh, but to examine things in theword that show us not only what
(06:16):
does Jesus mean when he tells usthat we need to love him, heart,
mind, soul, and strength, buthow did he model that?
How did Jesus himself show uswhat it means to love the Lord
our God with everything that isin us?
So let's jump right in.
I want to read Matthew 22, 35through 40, and I am reading out
(06:39):
of the ESV.
But when the Pharisees heardthat Jesus had silenced the
Sadducees, they gatheredtogether, and one of them, a
lawyer, asked him a question,testing him.
Teacher, what is the greatcommandment in the law?
And he said to him, You shalllove the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all yoursoul and with all your mind.
(07:00):
This is the great and foremostcommandment.
The second is like unto it, youshall love your neighbor as
yourself.
Upon these two commandments hangthe whole law and the prophets.
So here Jesus says heart, soul,mind.
In I believe Mark 12, he says,heart, mind, soul, and strength.
(07:21):
And I believe he also referencesthat in Luke 10.
So what does it mean to love theLord?
I mean, he says heart, mind,soul, and strength.
What does this mean?
And how did Jesus show us how tolive this out, right?
Because like I said earlier,Jesus never commands us to do
something that he hasn't alreadydone.
(07:42):
He has perfectly walked thislife before us.
And everything that he commandsus to do outside of repenting,
because Jesus never had torepent because he is perfect.
Uh, he has shown us.
He has shown us, oh man, what isgood, right?
And what the Lord requires ofus.
And so again, we need to examineJesus.
(08:04):
He is our, he's not only ourexample, but he is the one who
is supposed to be resurrectingin us, and he is the one to whom
our image must be taken away,right?
This human, fleshy thing that welive in, and he is who we are
conformed into, right?
We are to be conformed into theimage of Jesus, as Paul tells us
(08:26):
in Romans.
So, how did how did Jesus liveout loving the Father, loving
the Holy Spirit with witheverything, with his own heart,
mind, soul, and strength?
So, a couple of things to thinkabout before we get into those
individual spheres.
Jesus's first act of love washis submission to the Father and
(08:51):
coming down to earth, right?
The incarnate God, the Word whowas with the Father, who through
him all things were made.
There was nothing with him,within him, like he has made
everything, right?
I was about to really poorlyparaphrase John 1.
But Jesus is the word, and inhim all things were made.
(09:14):
He is the expression, right, ofthe Father.
Paul has such beautiful thingsto say about Jesus being the
glory, the glory of the Fatherin the face of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1.
Read Hebrews 1 and just and andmarvel at the expression, the
very nature of Jesus as theFather.
(09:35):
And that when the Father said, Ineed to redeem my creation, I
need to redeem people, thereneeds to be a way for people,
the the humans that I havecreated in my own image to be
reconciled to me.
Son, will will you be theperfect sacrifice?
And Jesus says, Yes.
(09:57):
First and foremost, because heloves the father, and then
because he loves us.
So he came down.
He came down and he became man.
And as he became man, he lovedthe father in every single step
that he took on earth.
Consider just a few of theseways that he loved the father.
(10:21):
He loved the father inresistance to temptation.
We see that in Matthew 4 andLuke 4, right?
He stood against the lies of thedevil.
And not only did he standagainst them, he refuted them
and overcame them by the word ofthe Lord, by the very word that
he is, and said, I'm not goingto worship anybody else but the
Lord.
(10:41):
I'm not going to tempt my God.
I'm not going to try and sustainmyself.
I'm going to live completelydependent on my Father, knowing
that He will provide for meevery single need.
He spoke what the Father gavehim, preaching and embodying the
gospel, right?
In John 5, Jesus says, The wordthat you hear me speak is not my
(11:04):
word.
It is the word of my father.
And in obedience, I preach hisword.
I preach, not only do I preachhis gospel, but I live it.
I'm the living embodiment ofwhat the Father wants us to see
about his character.
He drank the cup to its fulldregs, right?
We see that in the garden beforehis crucifixion.
He asked the Father to take thecup and then says, Not my will,
(11:26):
Lord, but yours, and drinks itfully.
His submission to death on thecross and the glory and joy of
resurrection, those two thingswork together.
There is no resurrection,there's no joy, there's no hope
without the cross.
The cross being so necessarybecause of our sin and because
of what we are, and Jesuswillingly laying down his life
(11:47):
for us.
So when Jesus calls us to lovehim, to love the Father, to love
the Holy Spirit with heart,mind, soul, and strength, what
does that really mean?
And how does Jesus show us that?
Well, first and foremost, thebasis of love, the basis of love
(12:10):
in Scripture, love for the Lordis an active, willing submission
to the Lord.
And that is what Jesus shows us.
Jesus did nothing out of his owninterest.
He was always working andwalking and worshiping for the
(12:31):
glory of the Father.
That was his whole focus.
And so when he tells us to lovehim with all of our heart, what
does that mean?
And what is the heart?
The heart is the seat of ouremotions, right?
It's it's the scripture talksabout the heart.
Um, a lot of times in theHebrew, especially, you'll see
heart translated as the kidneys,um, which basically just means
(12:54):
talking about the the deepest,most inner part of you.
It is where the seat of youraffections and and all of those
things live in you.
And so, what do we know aboutthe heart of Jesus?
Well, in the Gospels we see somuch about the heart of Jesus,
but Jesus actually tells us inMatthew 11, when he tells us to
(13:14):
come to him because we're wearyand we're heavy laden and that
he wants to give us rest, totake his yoke upon us, he tells
us he is meek and lowly inheart.
What does that mean?
What is the what do we need toknow about the heart of Jesus
being meek and lowly?
And a lot of times, you know,people think about like meek and
lowly, and you know, it's kindof like this sad sack walking
(13:37):
around, you know, I'm just sohumble, you know.
It's like, and and nobody everbelieves that.
And it and Jesus wasn't walkingaround like that.
I mean, you look you read thegospel, and Jesus was he was
kind and he was gentle, but hewas also strong, and he was
fierce in in a lot of ways, andand standing up for the justice
(13:57):
of the Lord and fighting forthose who were vulnerable and
and healing those who wereoppressed by the devil, all of
those things.
And so Jesus wasn't walkingaround like, look at me, I'm so
meek, I'm so lowly.
So let's consider what this wordactually means in the Greek.
So again, I went toBibleHub.com.
Again, that's not anadvertisement, it's literally my
(14:19):
favorite, favorite uh resourceonline.
And the helps word study onBible Hub, when talking about
this word lowly, it means Godreliance, not self-reliance.
Jesus loved the father by beingcompletely reliant on him in
everything by the power of theHoly Spirit.
He followed his leading in everystep.
(14:42):
I mean, you think about Jesustaking time away, he would go on
the mountain to pray with thefather, um, healing, all of it.
He was completely dependent onthe father.
And then um the topical lexiconalso says, so the the Greek
number for this word is 5011.
(15:04):
And and you say it tapinos.
Oh, if there are any Greekscholars listening to this or
anybody who's taken Greek,please, please just forgive me.
Please have please have somegrace for my terrible
pronunciation.
But this word, it's it's thebiblical virtue of humility,
it's the inner loneliness thatgladly submits to God's
sovereign rule and seeks thewelfare of others.
(15:26):
So again, see this word thatJesus uses to describe his
heart.
It's not only submission toGod's sovereign rule, but it's
how we love others.
This is the kind, this is theheart of Jesus, and this is the
heart that's supposed to be inus.
First, loving the Lord.
So it's far from promotingself-deprecation.
(15:48):
Scripture presents Tapanos asthe proper self-assessment of
creatures before their creatorand redeemer.
The term consistently stands inantithesis to pride, locating
the heart attitude that the resthat receives grace finds
exaltation in God's timing andembodies the mind of Christ.
And obviously, you know, Jesuswas not created.
(16:09):
He's the um, he is the onlybegotten son of the Father.
Um, but he he walk in in hishumanity, he walked in this
lowliness of heart.
And so to love the Lord with ourheart, Jesus shows us it is a it
is a submission.
It is a it's a face in theground submission to the Lord
(16:31):
for us.
Um, it's it's a humility thatcuts away our pride and says,
Lord, I love you.
I give you my heart.
I want you to have all of myaffection, and I want you to
rightly order it.
That's what Jesus shows us in inbeing meek and lonely in heart
and loving the Lord with all ourheart.
Lord, I want you to have yourcomplete and total way.
(16:55):
And I will love you no matterwhat you choose to do.
So then let's consider the mindof Jesus.
Ah, when I was working throughthis, Lord, where in the gospel
do we see your mind active?
Which obviously through thewhole gospel we see so many
things, but just really wantingto tackle how Jesus loved the
(17:16):
Father with all of his mind.
And the Lord led me to Luke 2,where Jesus, you know, Mary and
Joseph and Jesus, and probablyhis brothers and sisters at that
point, because Jesus was 12.
They go to Jerusalem forPassover, and then everybody
kind of gathers together andgoes on their merry way, and all
(17:37):
of a sudden Mary and Josephrealize that Jesus is not with
them.
And, you know, we read in Luke 2that that Mary and Joseph, a,
searched for him for three days,and B, searched for him with
great distress, which can youimagine?
I mean, literally freaking outbecause we've lost the son of
God.
Okay, great.
You know, we've been given thisdivine commandment to take care
(18:01):
of the son of God, and we'velost him.
We don't know where he is.
So I'm sure they were freakingout.
But they find Jesus in thetemple, not only listening and
asking questions, but alsoresponding.
And when, you know, they go tohim and they say, Son, we've
been looking for you everywhere.
Jesus says to them, Do you notknow that I would be about my
(18:25):
father's business?
Didn't you know where I wouldbe?
And I love that because it showsus that even at that age, even
at that age, Jesus wascompletely preoccupied in his
mind with the will of theFather.
And that is how we love the Lordwith our mind.
What is our preoccupation?
What do we think about?
(18:47):
What do we set our mind on whenthings happen?
Um, or when we're just livingour life, is is is our mind
completely focused on the Lordand preoccupied with what he is
doing?
And not in that, you know,people talk about you're so
heavenly minded that you're noearthly good.
You know, not in a religious,fake way, but but first and
(19:09):
foremost, in anything we do,Lord Jesus, what are you saying?
Where are you with this?
Lord, help me to follow yourleading.
Uh, Father, I want to know whatyou're doing.
Holy Spirit, I need you to helpme think these things through
biblically, scripturally, sothat I am not, I don't fall into
temptation.
I don't fall into the trap ofthe devil.
(19:30):
Uh, I don't fall into my own, myown thoughts, my own pathways of
reason.
And as I was studying itfurther, um, Philippians 2 came
to mind.
And I want to read it.
It's a long chunk of scripture,but I want to read it because I
think it's so important.
Because Paul really shows us inhis instruction to the
Philippian church what the mindof Jesus really is.
(19:54):
So, Philippians 2, we start atthe beginning of the chapter,
and again, this is this is fromthe ESV.
Therefore, if there is anyencouragement in Christ, any
consolation of love, anyfellowship of the spirit, if any
affection and compassion, makemy joy complete by being of the
same mind, maintaining the samelove, being united in spirit,
(20:19):
intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness orempty conceit, but with humility
consider one another moreimportant than yourselves.
Do not merely look out for yourown personal interests, but also
for the interests of others.
Have this attitude within you,which was also in Christ Jesus,
(20:40):
who, as he already existed inthe form of God, did not
consider equality with Godsomething to be grasped, but
emptied himself by taking on theform of a bond servant, and
being born in the likeness ofmen, and being found in
appearance as a man, he humbledhimself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, the death ofa cross.
(21:04):
For this reason also, God highlyexalted him and bestowed on him
the name which is above everyname, that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, those whoare in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and everytongue, every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ isLord to the glory of God the
Father.
So in this chunk of scripturehere, Paul shows us being of the
(21:26):
same mind, maintaining the samelove, and then he shows us the
very mind of Jesus.
He already existed as God, buthe did not consider.
How do we consider things?
We consider them in our mind.
Jesus didn't actively say, youknow what, Lord, I'm the Son of
God and I'll do this.
But when I go down there, I wantto be in the highest position.
(21:47):
I want to be wealthy, give mepower, give me resources, give
me all the things that I needtemporally to fulfill what
you're calling me to do.
No, no, he said, I will become aman in all of his weakness, in
all of his frailty, whereasdust.
(22:08):
And Jesus said, I will becomelike them fully.
And Lord, I will not take myequality with you here and now
down in there.
I will, I will become fully aman.
And as your son, Father, I will,I will walk out what you call me
to do.
This is the mind of Jesus.
Again, full submission,servanthood.
(22:31):
This is how we love the Lordwith our mind.
One of my favorite quotes is byA.
W.
Tozier, and it says, What comesinto our mind when we think
about God is the most importantthing about us.
And it's so true because wherethe mind goes is is really where
where the rest of us go, right?
It's why Paul talks aboutconsistently be transformed by
(22:52):
the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12, be transformed by thespirit of your mind, Ephesians
4.
As our mind, as we reason, as weas we logically think things
through, or illogicallysometimes, so the rest of life
goes.
And Jesus shows us that he lovedthe Father with his whole mind
in complete and total submissionto the Lord by not considering
(23:14):
his status of God, his equalitywith the Father, something to be
grasped, but willingly took onthe form of a spirit.
Or as a servant, excuse me.
So then loving the Lord with allof our soul.
Jesus in John 12 talks about thefact that as he he's he's done
his triumphal entry, he is um inthe temple.
(23:35):
Some Greek men want to talk tohim.
They've talked to Andrew,they've talked to Philip.
And instead of directlyanswering or talking directly to
this Greek men, it Jesus goesinto something where people are
like, What is he talking about?
He starts to talk about a grainof wheat falling to the ground.
And if it doesn't get buried, itcan't bear fruit.
But I want to kind of talk aboutthat portion of scripture in
(23:57):
reverse order.
Because Jesus says, Now my soulhas become troubled, and what am
I to say?
Father, save me from this hour,but for this purpose I came to
this hour.
Father, glorify your name.
And then a voice came out ofheaven.
I have both glorified it andwill glorify it again.
And Jesus says this after he hastalked about that grain of wheat
(24:19):
falling to the ground.
After he talks about literallyusing, again, a picture from
nature, which is so amazing.
This thing needs to be plantedinto the ground.
It needs to die and it needs tobe cracked open because in death
it's cracked open and that's howit bears bears fruit.
And then he says, the one wholoves his life will lose it, and
(24:40):
the one who hates his life inthis world will keep it.
We hate our lives by loving theLord with all of our soul.
The soul of Jesus was troubled.
It was troubled because he heknew what was coming.
But again, in an act ofsubmission, this is the climax,
right?
He's walking towards the climaxof everything that the Father
(25:01):
has called him to.
And he has laid down everything.
So what does that look like forus?
Our soul is the seed of ourpersonality.
It's everything that we are.
And to lay down everything forthe Lord, right?
It's it's it's a tension.
There's there's two kinds oftension, right?
Well, there's a lot of kinds oftension, but for this purpose,
(25:23):
the tension that I'm talkingabout is the now and not yet,
right?
A lot of theologians and andseminary professors talk about
the now and the now and not yet,that tension there.
And and how how I kind ofthought through it.
And I was actually talking withmy mom about this, and she said
this, and I just, it was sogood.
(25:43):
When you're loving Jesus withall of your soul, there's
tension between the twokingdoms, right?
Because we're here on earth,Jesus is in heaven, and there's
that tension between what isspiritual and what is earthly.
And so there are times where wewant what is eternal, right?
We want the fruit of the spirit,which is eternal.
We want, we want the things thatthe Lord promises us.
(26:06):
But we're trapped here on earthand and we yearn, you know.
Paul says, I would rather go andbe with the Lord, but I know I
need to stay here and continueto teach you and to continue to
shepherd you and and andinstruct you in the Lord's way.
But then there's also times whenwe desire what's here.
We want what's earthly, we craveearthly things.
(26:26):
And the Lord wants to sanctifythose desires so that then they
become eternal.
He wants to sanctify what wewant so that we can see
eternity, we can see the purposeof these things.
And there's tension, andsometimes we also don't want our
desires to be sanctified.
But to love the Lord with all ofour soul as Jesus did means that
(26:47):
in the hour of greatestdistress, and even when it's not
the hour of greatest distress,it is it is entrusting the very
core of who we are to Jesus,willingly laying it down,
willingly saying, Lord, I amwilling to be buried with you by
baptism.
I am willing to pick up my crossso that everything about me is
(27:09):
crucified, Lord.
The every gift you've given me,every everything, Lord, I lay it
down.
I lay it down and I take myhands off it, Lord, so that you
can pick it up and you can makeit what you want it to be.
You can put it to good good use.
You can put it to your perfecteternal use.
You can make it true and rightand good.
And then finally, to love theLord with all of our strength.
(27:33):
The most powerful example ofthis, I think, yes, is the
crucifixion.
Jesus is completely um submittedto the Lord in his body to be
crucified.
But the step before that is whenJesus is in the garden.
He is in the garden and he isresisting sin.
He is resisting temptation, andhe resists it to the point where
(27:56):
he sweats great drops of blood.
And that's why Hebrews tells usthat we've not yet resisted sin
unto blood.
We haven't done that.
But Jesus has.
(28:48):
I can't even imagine, and Idon't want to add to or take
away from scripture, but I can'teven imagine what Jesus
experienced in that garden toresist sin and temptation for us
to the point where and and ifyou read it in the Greek, read
it in the Greek.
Go and do a word study in theGreek.
The Lord's given us so manytools.
It's not just tiny rivulets ofblood going down his face.
(29:12):
It's clots.
It's clots of blood.
This is what Jesus has done.
This is how he loved the Lordwith all of his strength.
And we will never resist sinunto blood, right?
We are human and we are frailand we are sin in our nature.
But we can set our forehead, wecan set our mind and our heart
(29:33):
and our soul that this body thathe has given us, whatever body
he's given us, we can love theLord with the body that he's
given us, with the strength thathe's given us, to surrender it
in weakness and to determinethat this body, this temple will
be his.
(30:00):
Surrender ourselves to the Lordto have his strength.
What Jesus did in the garden iswhy he could later say to Paul,
My strength is made perfect inweakness.
Glory in this.
Glory in your weakness, becausemy strength is made perfect.
And how did Jesus know?
Because in his resistance of sinunto blood, the Father's
(30:21):
strength was made perfect inJesus to see his will all the
way through to the completeforsaking of the Father.
Taking on, right?
He was forsaken by the Father.
He took on all sin for all time.
He loved the Lord.
He loved the Father with hiswhole strength.
(30:42):
And that is why it brings thestatement of Jesus before he
dies when he is up there.
It is finished, the culminationof loving the Father, heart,
mind, soul, and strength.
It is finished.
Everything Jesus did brought itto its powerful and eternal
conclusion.
(31:03):
It's not only finished, it isperfect.
This is what it means to lovethe Lord our God with all of our
heart and mind and soul andstrength.
We will not do it perfectly.
We screw this up, but because ofwho Jesus is and what he has
(31:24):
done, we can repent, our sin canbe cleansed, and we can press
into him and show him.
And this isn't, I'm not talkingabout works.
I'm talking about the fullsubmission of all that we are to
Lord.
I want to love you.
You deserve everything you'vedone for me.
You deserve my love.
(31:45):
You deserve my complete andtotal devotion.
You deserve every single bit ofsubmission I can wring out of
this flesh.
You are worthy, Lord, and youhave shown us.
You have shown us.
Tie it into Micah 6.8.
You have shown us, right, Lord?
He says you have He has shownyou, O man, what is good and
what the Lord desires of you.
(32:06):
But to love mercy, do justly andwalk humbly with your God.
That is the literal fulfillmentof loving the Lord your God with
all of your heart, with all ofyour soul, with all of your
strength.
And again, just completelysurrendered in loving worship,
willing to give him everythinghe asks for.
We need to trust that whatever,whatever he chooses to do with
(32:30):
us is right and good and trueand best.
And we should give this life,heart, mind, soul, and strength
to him in gratitude and inworship.
Because loving the Father,heart, mind, soul, and strength
is exactly what Jesus did forus.
It is how then Jesus could loveus as he loves himself, which is
the commandment that he givesus.
(32:52):
Jesus also warned us what thecost of the submissive love is,
right?
We see Jesus completelypreoccupied with the will of the
Father, loving the Lord,preaching his gospel, going from
town to town.
It was persecution, it was hate,it was rejection.
That's what his wholeheartedlove of the Father cost him.
(33:12):
And it's the same for us.
But he also told us he wouldgive us a comforter, he would
give us a community, and hewould give us everything we need
to walk his narrow way.
And also just think about whatHebrews 12 says: the joy that
was set before Jesus allowed himto despise the shame of the
cross.
And that's the joy that's alsoput before us, which is complete
(33:34):
reconciliation with the Fatherin the person and blood of Jesus
through the gift and leading ofthe Holy Spirit.
This is the kind of radical lovethat we are called to first.
And if we don't practice thislove for the Lord, if this love
for the Father and the Son andthe Holy Spirit is not what we
(33:57):
are consumed with, then our lovefor our neighbor will never be
righteous.
And so we'll talk about lovingour neighbor as oursel next
week.
But I want us to think aboutthese things.
Think about what it really meansto love the Lord.
(34:17):
Ask the Lord to examine us.
Where, where, Lord, are youcalling me to love you in
submission and sacrifice?
And I'm not doing it.
Deal with me, Lord.
Show me, Lord Jesus.
Father, I don't want to offendyou.
I don't want to offend you.
I want you to know that you haveeverything.
Holy Spirit, I don't want togrieve you.
(34:38):
I want to follow you and I wantto know you.
And I and I want I want to showyou.
I want to show you that I loveyou.
And my worship and in mygratitude for the magnitude of
who all three of you are becauseof what you have done for me.
This is why loving the Lord isthe first and foremost
commandment, because out of itsprings everything else that we
(34:58):
do.
So as we go forward, I want toread this.
I'm going to bless you againevery week.
Pray a blessing of scriptureover you that we would walk with
Jesus and that we would knowhim.
And this actually ties into theone I read last week, but it
fits perfectly with today.
(35:19):
So Jude 20, uh verse 20 through22.
But you beloved, buildingyourselves up on your most holy
faith, praying in the HolySpirit, keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking forward tothe mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to eternal life, andhave mercy on some who are
(35:40):
doubting.
And on some have mercy withfear, hating even the garment
polluted by the fresh flesh.
unknown (35:56):
Amen.
Hey everyone, how are you doing today?
I hope you are doing alright.
Welcome to episode two of Honeyfrom the Rock.
I am so glad you're here with metoday.
And before I jump into the topicof today's episode, I just want
to take a moment and say thankyou.
There were so many people whomessaged me or emailed me, um,
(00:28):
contacted me on Facebook,Instagram, encouraging me in
what I'm doing with thispodcast.
And while we often need to stepout in obedience to the Lord
alone, the faithfulness of Jesusin the people that he gives us
to encourage us and be excitedabout the things that we're
doing, it touched my heart.
(00:51):
I have, I really have for awords person, I really have no
words uh for how overwhelmed Iwas by the kindness of my
community and the just theencouragement.
It it touched my heart in such adeep way and encouraged me to
keep going.
And so I just want to say thankyou.
Um, and in that vein, encourageyou.
(01:14):
If there are things that youknow Jesus is calling you to do,
things that He has put on yourheart.
I just keep saying as I talk topeople about this podcast, it's
better to be obedient and and doit scared than to stay in
comfort and disobedience and andsometimes wonder what would have
happened if you had just donewhat the Lord had called you to
(01:35):
do for a lot of reasons.
Um, so again, just thank you somuch.
Thank you, thank you, thank youfrom the bottom of my heart.
I am a blessed woman in thetruest meaning of that word with
the people that Jesus has put inmy life to encourage me and to
lift me up in prayer.
(01:55):
And uh, it just meant a lot.
So speaking of community, um,this episode today and the next
few episodes come out of thingsthat I am seeing online and also
things that the Lord has reallymade um clear to me in my life
(02:16):
in different seasons, um uh inregards to love.
So love is a word that we loveto talk about a lot.
Um, it's also a word I thinkthat has lost a lot of its true
meaning, right?
Because we we talk about love umin that deep sense, love for the
Lord, love for one another.
(02:37):
Um, but we also then toss itaround like, oh my gosh, I love
my brand new sandals, or I lovethis tiny adorable otter on
Instagram, which you know, thatwas definitely me.
I love otters, they're adorable.
Uh, but I just in thinking aboutthe Christian walk, thinking
about discipleship, sitting withthe Lord, what is what does love
(02:59):
really mean?
And obviously, first andforemost, we have the very
definition of love in the triuneGod, Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
right?
In in the personification, inthe incarnate God coming to be
man in the person of JesusChrist, his crucifixion, his
gospel.
(03:20):
But one thing I've been seeing,especially in the last month,
and it's been a theme off andon, I see a lot of people
talking about how we need tolove one another, which we
absolutely do.
It is the second commandment,how we need to treat one another
with dignity and respect and notscream at each other online.
Yes, and amen.
Absolutely.
(03:40):
But the more that I've looked atit and just seen so many
conversations and so mucharguing and and just so much
disunity, um, the thing that Ihave that has really hit me is I
don't necessarily think that wehave a love problem for one
another, first and foremost.
I think the way that we seepeople interact online, the way
(04:04):
that we are watching how wetreat one another unfold is not
necessarily first and foremostour lack of love for one
another, but it is our lack oflove for the Lord.
And I'm talking specifically inthe Christian community and and
know that as I am talking aboutthis, first and foremost, it is
something that Jesus hasconvicted me about in my own
(04:25):
life.
And that our love for oneanother actually has to grow out
of our love for the Lord.
And that's what I want to talkabout today is the first
commandment.
Because if we don't have a noteven a grasp, but but if that
first commandment, which Jesussays is the first and foremost
commandment, if that is not theabsolute bedrock foundation of
(04:50):
our life, then nothing elseworks right.
If our love for the Lord is notparamount in our life, if we
aren't seeking to give himeverything, heart, mind, soul,
and strength, then everythingelse will lack in our life.
(05:10):
Because Jesus, the Father, theHoly Spirit, they have to be
first and foremost everything tous.
And our our love, our love forthem has to be the foundation of
everything that we do.
Because Jesus says the secondcommandment is like to the
first, but it's not the first.
(05:32):
Jesus says that the firstcommandment is is first and
foremost, it is paramount.
And and so today that's what Iwant to talk about.
Because in loving Jesus, in thiscommandment that he has given
us, Jesus never asks us to doanything that he hasn't first
done, that he hasn't firstcompletely fulfilled in the
(05:55):
perfection of his person.
And so we're going to examinethe first commandment.
Um, if you are listening alongwith me, I would encourage you
to get out your Bible as youlisten.
I'll have all of the scriptureslisted in the show notes.
Uh, but to examine things in theword that show us not only what
(06:16):
does Jesus mean when he tells usthat we need to love him, heart,
mind, soul, and strength, buthow did he model that?
How did Jesus himself show uswhat it means to love the Lord
our God with everything that isin us?
So let's jump right in.
I want to read Matthew 22, 35through 40, and I am reading out
(06:39):
of the ESV.
But when the Pharisees heardthat Jesus had silenced the
Sadducees, they gatheredtogether, and one of them, a
lawyer, asked him a question,testing him.
Teacher, what is the greatcommandment in the law?
And he said to him, You shalllove the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all yoursoul and with all your mind.
(07:00):
This is the great and foremostcommandment.
The second is like unto it, youshall love your neighbor as
yourself.
Upon these two commandments hangthe whole law and the prophets.
So here Jesus says heart, soul,mind.
In I believe Mark 12, he says,heart, mind, soul, and strength.
(07:21):
And I believe he also referencesthat in Luke 10.
So what does it mean to love theLord?
I mean, he says heart, mind,soul, and strength.
What does this mean?
And how did Jesus show us how tolive this out, right?
Because like I said earlier,Jesus never commands us to do
something that he hasn't alreadydone.
(07:42):
He has perfectly walked thislife before us.
And everything that he commandsus to do outside of repenting,
because Jesus never had torepent because he is perfect.
Uh, he has shown us.
He has shown us, oh man, what isgood, right?
And what the Lord requires ofus.
And so again, we need to examineJesus.
(08:04):
He is our, he's not only ourexample, but he is the one who
is supposed to be resurrectingin us, and he is the one to whom
our image must be taken away,right?
This human, fleshy thing that welive in, and he is who we are
conformed into, right?
We are to be conformed into theimage of Jesus, as Paul tells us
(08:26):
in Romans.
So, how did how did Jesus liveout loving the Father, loving
the Holy Spirit with witheverything, with his own heart,
mind, soul, and strength?
So, a couple of things to thinkabout before we get into those
individual spheres.
Jesus's first act of love washis submission to the Father and
(08:51):
coming down to earth, right?
The incarnate God, the Word whowas with the Father, who through
him all things were made.
There was nothing with him,within him, like he has made
everything, right?
I was about to really poorlyparaphrase John 1.
But Jesus is the word, and inhim all things were made.
(09:14):
He is the expression, right, ofthe Father.
Paul has such beautiful thingsto say about Jesus being the
glory, the glory of the Fatherin the face of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1.
Read Hebrews 1 and just and andmarvel at the expression, the
very nature of Jesus as theFather.
(09:35):
And that when the Father said, Ineed to redeem my creation, I
need to redeem people, thereneeds to be a way for people,
the the humans that I havecreated in my own image to be
reconciled to me.
Son, will will you be theperfect sacrifice?
And Jesus says, Yes.
(09:57):
First and foremost, because heloves the father, and then
because he loves us.
So he came down.
He came down and he became man.
And as he became man, he lovedthe father in every single step
that he took on earth.
Consider just a few of theseways that he loved the father.
(10:21):
He loved the father inresistance to temptation.
We see that in Matthew 4 andLuke 4, right?
He stood against the lies of thedevil.
And not only did he standagainst them, he refuted them
and overcame them by the word ofthe Lord, by the very word that
he is, and said, I'm not goingto worship anybody else but the
Lord.
(10:41):
I'm not going to tempt my God.
I'm not going to try and sustainmyself.
I'm going to live completelydependent on my Father, knowing
that He will provide for meevery single need.
He spoke what the Father gavehim, preaching and embodying the
gospel, right?
In John 5, Jesus says, The wordthat you hear me speak is not my
(11:04):
word.
It is the word of my father.
And in obedience, I preach hisword.
I preach, not only do I preachhis gospel, but I live it.
I'm the living embodiment ofwhat the Father wants us to see
about his character.
He drank the cup to its fulldregs, right?
We see that in the garden beforehis crucifixion.
He asked the Father to take thecup and then says, Not my will,
(11:26):
Lord, but yours, and drinks itfully.
His submission to death on thecross and the glory and joy of
resurrection, those two thingswork together.
There is no resurrection,there's no joy, there's no hope
without the cross.
The cross being so necessarybecause of our sin and because
of what we are, and Jesuswillingly laying down his life
(11:47):
for us.
So when Jesus calls us to lovehim, to love the Father, to love
the Holy Spirit with heart,mind, soul, and strength, what
does that really mean?
And how does Jesus show us that?
Well, first and foremost, thebasis of love, the basis of love
(12:10):
in Scripture, love for the Lordis an active, willing submission
to the Lord.
And that is what Jesus shows us.
Jesus did nothing out of his owninterest.
He was always working andwalking and worshiping for the
(12:31):
glory of the Father.
That was his whole focus.
And so when he tells us to lovehim with all of our heart, what
does that mean?
And what is the heart?
The heart is the seat of ouremotions, right?
It's it's the scripture talksabout the heart.
Um, a lot of times in theHebrew, especially, you'll see
heart translated as the kidneys,um, which basically just means
(12:54):
talking about the the deepest,most inner part of you.
It is where the seat of youraffections and and all of those
things live in you.
And so, what do we know aboutthe heart of Jesus?
Well, in the Gospels we see somuch about the heart of Jesus,
but Jesus actually tells us inMatthew 11, when he tells us to
(13:14):
come to him because we're wearyand we're heavy laden and that
he wants to give us rest, totake his yoke upon us, he tells
us he is meek and lowly inheart.
What does that mean?
What is the what do we need toknow about the heart of Jesus
being meek and lowly?
And a lot of times, you know,people think about like meek and
lowly, and you know, it's kindof like this sad sack walking
(13:37):
around, you know, I'm just sohumble, you know.
It's like, and and nobody everbelieves that.
And it and Jesus wasn't walkingaround like that.
I mean, you look you read thegospel, and Jesus was he was
kind and he was gentle, but hewas also strong, and he was
fierce in in a lot of ways, andand standing up for the justice
(13:57):
of the Lord and fighting forthose who were vulnerable and
and healing those who wereoppressed by the devil, all of
those things.
And so Jesus wasn't walkingaround like, look at me, I'm so
meek, I'm so lowly.
So let's consider what this wordactually means in the Greek.
So again, I went toBibleHub.com.
Again, that's not anadvertisement, it's literally my
(14:19):
favorite, favorite uh resourceonline.
And the helps word study onBible Hub, when talking about
this word lowly, it means Godreliance, not self-reliance.
Jesus loved the father by beingcompletely reliant on him in
everything by the power of theHoly Spirit.
He followed his leading in everystep.
(14:42):
I mean, you think about Jesustaking time away, he would go on
the mountain to pray with thefather, um, healing, all of it.
He was completely dependent onthe father.
And then um the topical lexiconalso says, so the the Greek
number for this word is 5011.
(15:04):
And and you say it tapinos.
Oh, if there are any Greekscholars listening to this or
anybody who's taken Greek,please, please just forgive me.
Please have please have somegrace for my terrible
pronunciation.
But this word, it's it's thebiblical virtue of humility,
it's the inner loneliness thatgladly submits to God's
sovereign rule and seeks thewelfare of others.
(15:26):
So again, see this word thatJesus uses to describe his
heart.
It's not only submission toGod's sovereign rule, but it's
how we love others.
This is the kind, this is theheart of Jesus, and this is the
heart that's supposed to be inus.
First, loving the Lord.
So it's far from promotingself-deprecation.
(15:48):
Scripture presents Tapanos asthe proper self-assessment of
creatures before their creatorand redeemer.
The term consistently stands inantithesis to pride, locating
the heart attitude that the resthat receives grace finds
exaltation in God's timing andembodies the mind of Christ.
And obviously, you know, Jesuswas not created.
(16:09):
He's the um, he is the onlybegotten son of the Father.
Um, but he he walk in in hishumanity, he walked in this
lowliness of heart.
And so to love the Lord with ourheart, Jesus shows us it is a it
is a submission.
It is a it's a face in theground submission to the Lord
(16:31):
for us.
Um, it's it's a humility thatcuts away our pride and says,
Lord, I love you.
I give you my heart.
I want you to have all of myaffection, and I want you to
rightly order it.
That's what Jesus shows us in inbeing meek and lonely in heart
and loving the Lord with all ourheart.
Lord, I want you to have yourcomplete and total way.
(16:55):
And I will love you no matterwhat you choose to do.
So then let's consider the mindof Jesus.
Ah, when I was working throughthis, Lord, where in the gospel
do we see your mind active?
Which obviously through thewhole gospel we see so many
things, but just really wantingto tackle how Jesus loved the
(17:16):
Father with all of his mind.
And the Lord led me to Luke 2,where Jesus, you know, Mary and
Joseph and Jesus, and probablyhis brothers and sisters at that
point, because Jesus was 12.
They go to Jerusalem forPassover, and then everybody
kind of gathers together andgoes on their merry way, and all
(17:37):
of a sudden Mary and Josephrealize that Jesus is not with
them.
And, you know, we read in Luke 2that that Mary and Joseph, a,
searched for him for three days,and B, searched for him with
great distress, which can youimagine?
I mean, literally freaking outbecause we've lost the son of
God.
Okay, great.
You know, we've been given thisdivine commandment to take care
(18:01):
of the son of God, and we'velost him.
We don't know where he is.
So I'm sure they were freakingout.
But they find Jesus in thetemple, not only listening and
asking questions, but alsoresponding.
And when, you know, they go tohim and they say, Son, we've
been looking for you everywhere.
Jesus says to them, Do you notknow that I would be about my
(18:25):
father's business?
Didn't you know where I wouldbe?
And I love that because it showsus that even at that age, even
at that age, Jesus wascompletely preoccupied in his
mind with the will of theFather.
And that is how we love the Lordwith our mind.
What is our preoccupation?
What do we think about?
(18:47):
What do we set our mind on whenthings happen?
Um, or when we're just livingour life, is is is our mind
completely focused on the Lordand preoccupied with what he is
doing?
And not in that, you know,people talk about you're so
heavenly minded that you're noearthly good.
You know, not in a religious,fake way, but but first and
(19:09):
foremost, in anything we do,Lord Jesus, what are you saying?
Where are you with this?
Lord, help me to follow yourleading.
Uh, Father, I want to know whatyou're doing.
Holy Spirit, I need you to helpme think these things through
biblically, scripturally, sothat I am not, I don't fall into
temptation.
I don't fall into the trap ofthe devil.
(19:30):
Uh, I don't fall into my own, myown thoughts, my own pathways of
reason.
And as I was studying itfurther, um, Philippians 2 came
to mind.
And I want to read it.
It's a long chunk of scripture,but I want to read it because I
think it's so important.
Because Paul really shows us inhis instruction to the
Philippian church what the mindof Jesus really is.
(19:54):
So, Philippians 2, we start atthe beginning of the chapter,
and again, this is this is fromthe ESV.
Therefore, if there is anyencouragement in Christ, any
consolation of love, anyfellowship of the spirit, if any
affection and compassion, makemy joy complete by being of the
same mind, maintaining the samelove, being united in spirit,
(20:19):
intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness orempty conceit, but with humility
consider one another moreimportant than yourselves.
Do not merely look out for yourown personal interests, but also
for the interests of others.
Have this attitude within you,which was also in Christ Jesus,
(20:40):
who, as he already existed inthe form of God, did not
consider equality with Godsomething to be grasped, but
emptied himself by taking on theform of a bond servant, and
being born in the likeness ofmen, and being found in
appearance as a man, he humbledhimself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, the death ofa cross.
(21:04):
For this reason also, God highlyexalted him and bestowed on him
the name which is above everyname, that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, those whoare in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and everytongue, every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ isLord to the glory of God the
Father.
So in this chunk of scripturehere, Paul shows us being of the
(21:26):
same mind, maintaining the samelove, and then he shows us the
very mind of Jesus.
He already existed as God, buthe did not consider.
How do we consider things?
We consider them in our mind.
Jesus didn't actively say, youknow what, Lord, I'm the Son of
God and I'll do this.
But when I go down there, I wantto be in the highest position.
(21:47):
I want to be wealthy, give mepower, give me resources, give
me all the things that I needtemporally to fulfill what
you're calling me to do.
No, no, he said, I will become aman in all of his weakness, in
all of his frailty, whereasdust.
(22:08):
And Jesus said, I will becomelike them fully.
And Lord, I will not take myequality with you here and now
down in there.
I will, I will become fully aman.
And as your son, Father, I will,I will walk out what you call me
to do.
This is the mind of Jesus.
Again, full submission,servanthood.
(22:31):
This is how we love the Lordwith our mind.
One of my favorite quotes is byA.
W.
Tozier, and it says, What comesinto our mind when we think
about God is the most importantthing about us.
And it's so true because wherethe mind goes is is really where
where the rest of us go, right?
It's why Paul talks aboutconsistently be transformed by
(22:52):
the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12, be transformed by thespirit of your mind, Ephesians
4.
As our mind, as we reason, as weas we logically think things
through, or illogicallysometimes, so the rest of life
goes.
And Jesus shows us that he lovedthe Father with his whole mind
in complete and total submissionto the Lord by not considering
(23:14):
his status of God, his equalitywith the Father, something to be
grasped, but willingly took onthe form of a spirit.
Or as a servant, excuse me.
So then loving the Lord with allof our soul.
Jesus in John 12 talks about thefact that as he he's he's done
his triumphal entry, he is um inthe temple.
(23:35):
Some Greek men want to talk tohim.
They've talked to Andrew,they've talked to Philip.
And instead of directlyanswering or talking directly to
this Greek men, it Jesus goesinto something where people are
like, What is he talking about?
He starts to talk about a grainof wheat falling to the ground.
And if it doesn't get buried, itcan't bear fruit.
But I want to kind of talk aboutthat portion of scripture in
(23:57):
reverse order.
Because Jesus says, Now my soulhas become troubled, and what am
I to say?
Father, save me from this hour,but for this purpose I came to
this hour.
Father, glorify your name.
And then a voice came out ofheaven.
I have both glorified it andwill glorify it again.
And Jesus says this after he hastalked about that grain of wheat
(24:19):
falling to the ground.
After he talks about literallyusing, again, a picture from
nature, which is so amazing.
This thing needs to be plantedinto the ground.
It needs to die and it needs tobe cracked open because in death
it's cracked open and that's howit bears bears fruit.
And then he says, the one wholoves his life will lose it, and
(24:40):
the one who hates his life inthis world will keep it.
We hate our lives by loving theLord with all of our soul.
The soul of Jesus was troubled.
It was troubled because he heknew what was coming.
But again, in an act ofsubmission, this is the climax,
right?
He's walking towards the climaxof everything that the Father
(25:01):
has called him to.
And he has laid down everything.
So what does that look like forus?
Our soul is the seed of ourpersonality.
It's everything that we are.
And to lay down everything forthe Lord, right?
It's it's it's a tension.
There's there's two kinds oftension, right?
Well, there's a lot of kinds oftension, but for this purpose,
(25:23):
the tension that I'm talkingabout is the now and not yet,
right?
A lot of theologians and andseminary professors talk about
the now and the now and not yet,that tension there.
And and how how I kind ofthought through it.
And I was actually talking withmy mom about this, and she said
this, and I just, it was sogood.
(25:43):
When you're loving Jesus withall of your soul, there's
tension between the twokingdoms, right?
Because we're here on earth,Jesus is in heaven, and there's
that tension between what isspiritual and what is earthly.
And so there are times where wewant what is eternal, right?
We want the fruit of the spirit,which is eternal.
We want, we want the things thatthe Lord promises us.
(26:06):
But we're trapped here on earthand and we yearn, you know.
Paul says, I would rather go andbe with the Lord, but I know I
need to stay here and continueto teach you and to continue to
shepherd you and and andinstruct you in the Lord's way.
But then there's also times whenwe desire what's here.
We want what's earthly, we craveearthly things.
(26:26):
And the Lord wants to sanctifythose desires so that then they
become eternal.
He wants to sanctify what wewant so that we can see
eternity, we can see the purposeof these things.
And there's tension, andsometimes we also don't want our
desires to be sanctified.
But to love the Lord with all ofour soul as Jesus did means that
(26:47):
in the hour of greatestdistress, and even when it's not
the hour of greatest distress,it is it is entrusting the very
core of who we are to Jesus,willingly laying it down,
willingly saying, Lord, I amwilling to be buried with you by
baptism.
I am willing to pick up my crossso that everything about me is
(27:09):
crucified, Lord.
The every gift you've given me,every everything, Lord, I lay it
down.
I lay it down and I take myhands off it, Lord, so that you
can pick it up and you can makeit what you want it to be.
You can put it to good good use.
You can put it to your perfecteternal use.
You can make it true and rightand good.
And then finally, to love theLord with all of our strength.
(27:33):
The most powerful example ofthis, I think, yes, is the
crucifixion.
Jesus is completely um submittedto the Lord in his body to be
crucified.
But the step before that is whenJesus is in the garden.
He is in the garden and he isresisting sin.
He is resisting temptation, andhe resists it to the point where
(27:56):
he sweats great drops of blood.
And that's why Hebrews tells usthat we've not yet resisted sin
unto blood.
We haven't done that.
But Jesus has.
(28:48):
I can't even imagine, and Idon't want to add to or take
away from scripture, but I can'teven imagine what Jesus
experienced in that garden toresist sin and temptation for us
to the point where and and ifyou read it in the Greek, read
it in the Greek.
Go and do a word study in theGreek.
The Lord's given us so manytools.
It's not just tiny rivulets ofblood going down his face.
(29:12):
It's clots.
It's clots of blood.
This is what Jesus has done.
This is how he loved the Lordwith all of his strength.
And we will never resist sinunto blood, right?
We are human and we are frailand we are sin in our nature.
But we can set our forehead, wecan set our mind and our heart
(29:33):
and our soul that this body thathe has given us, whatever body
he's given us, we can love theLord with the body that he's
given us, with the strength thathe's given us, to surrender it
in weakness and to determinethat this body, this temple will
be his.
(30:00):
Surrender ourselves to the Lordto have his strength.
What Jesus did in the garden iswhy he could later say to Paul,
My strength is made perfect inweakness.
Glory in this.
Glory in your weakness, becausemy strength is made perfect.
And how did Jesus know?
Because in his resistance of sinunto blood, the Father's
(30:21):
strength was made perfect inJesus to see his will all the
way through to the completeforsaking of the Father.
Taking on, right?
He was forsaken by the Father.
He took on all sin for all time.
He loved the Lord.
He loved the Father with hiswhole strength.
(30:42):
And that is why it brings thestatement of Jesus before he
dies when he is up there.
It is finished, the culminationof loving the Father, heart,
mind, soul, and strength.
It is finished.
Everything Jesus did brought itto its powerful and eternal
conclusion.
(31:03):
It's not only finished, it isperfect.
This is what it means to lovethe Lord our God with all of our
heart and mind and soul andstrength.
We will not do it perfectly.
We screw this up, but because ofwho Jesus is and what he has
(31:24):
done, we can repent, our sin canbe cleansed, and we can press
into him and show him.
And this isn't, I'm not talkingabout works.
I'm talking about the fullsubmission of all that we are to
Lord.
I want to love you.
You deserve everything you'vedone for me.
You deserve my love.
(31:45):
You deserve my complete andtotal devotion.
You deserve every single bit ofsubmission I can wring out of
this flesh.
You are worthy, Lord, and youhave shown us.
You have shown us.
Tie it into Micah 6.8.
You have shown us, right, Lord?
He says you have He has shownyou, O man, what is good and
what the Lord desires of you.
(32:06):
But to love mercy, do justly andwalk humbly with your God.
That is the literal fulfillmentof loving the Lord your God with
all of your heart, with all ofyour soul, with all of your
strength.
And again, just completelysurrendered in loving worship,
willing to give him everythinghe asks for.
We need to trust that whatever,whatever he chooses to do with
(32:30):
us is right and good and trueand best.
And we should give this life,heart, mind, soul, and strength
to him in gratitude and inworship.
Because loving the Father,heart, mind, soul, and strength
is exactly what Jesus did forus.
It is how then Jesus could loveus as he loves himself, which is
the commandment that he givesus.
(32:52):
Jesus also warned us what thecost of the submissive love is,
right?
We see Jesus completelypreoccupied with the will of the
Father, loving the Lord,preaching his gospel, going from
town to town.
It was persecution, it was hate,it was rejection.
That's what his wholeheartedlove of the Father cost him.
(33:12):
And it's the same for us.
But he also told us he wouldgive us a comforter, he would
give us a community, and hewould give us everything we need
to walk his narrow way.
And also just think about whatHebrews 12 says: the joy that
was set before Jesus allowed himto despise the shame of the
cross.
And that's the joy that's alsoput before us, which is complete
(33:34):
reconciliation with the Fatherin the person and blood of Jesus
through the gift and leading ofthe Holy Spirit.
This is the kind of radical lovethat we are called to first.
And if we don't practice thislove for the Lord, if this love
for the Father and the Son andthe Holy Spirit is not what we
(33:57):
are consumed with, then our lovefor our neighbor will never be
righteous.
And so we'll talk about lovingour neighbor as oursel next
week.
But I want us to think aboutthese things.
Think about what it really meansto love the Lord.
(34:17):
Ask the Lord to examine us.
Where, where, Lord, are youcalling me to love you in
submission and sacrifice?
And I'm not doing it.
Deal with me, Lord.
Show me, Lord Jesus.
Father, I don't want to offendyou.
I don't want to offend you.
I want you to know that you haveeverything.
Holy Spirit, I don't want togrieve you.
(34:38):
I want to follow you and I wantto know you.
And I and I want I want to showyou.
I want to show you that I loveyou.
And my worship and in mygratitude for the magnitude of
who all three of you are becauseof what you have done for me.
This is why loving the Lord isthe first and foremost
commandment, because out of itsprings everything else that we
(34:58):
do.
So as we go forward, I want toread this.
I'm going to bless you againevery week.
Pray a blessing of scriptureover you that we would walk with
Jesus and that we would knowhim.
And this actually ties into theone I read last week, but it
fits perfectly with today.
(35:19):
So Jude 20, uh verse 20 through22.
But you beloved, buildingyourselves up on your most holy
faith, praying in the HolySpirit, keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking forward tothe mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to eternal life, andhave mercy on some who are
(35:40):
doubting.
And on some have mercy withfear, hating even the garment
polluted by the fresh flesh.
unknown (35:56):
Amen.
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