There seems to be a great fascination in our culture today with the idea of going back in time. Back in the mid eighties a whole series of movies came out called “Back to the Future” starring Michael J. Fox. And I’m sure those type of movies prompted many of us to speculate about how cool it might be to go back in time. My daughter told me the other day that she would like to go back to the fifties. I think she would last about a half a day and be begging to come back. That’s the problem with movies. They make the old days look so cool, but they weren’t really all that special.
While it may be fun to imagine going back in time and having all this advanced knowledge of the future, the fact is that no one has been able to go back in time. But there was one person that existed before time, outside of time, He existed from eternity, and yet He supernaturally came to earth 2000 years ago to a tiny country called Israel. Of course, I’m talking about Jesus Christ. John 1 says that “in the beginning was the Word (that is Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made which was made.” Skipping down a few verses it then says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
But isn’t it interesting that the Creator of the universe comes to earth from outside of time and space, He knows the future and He knows the past, and yet in the 33 years He spent on earth He never tells us how to make penicillin. He never explains how to design a car or an airplane or how to conduct electricity. I mean, He made the Sun and hung it and all the stars in space and so making electricity would have been nothing for Him. Just imagine how Jesus could have helped out all those millions of people that lived through the centuries since. Millions of people could have been spared from disease if He had shared some knowledge of medicine.
Thinking in those terms then should provoke the question, then what did Jesus come to Earth to tell us? If He didn’t come to share the secrets of medicine or technology, or science which might have alleviated the sufferings of millions of people, then what could have been more important? In fact, why worship Him at all? It seems He withheld vital information that could have benefited society.
Well, Luke is answering that question of why Jesus came in his gospel through a careful relation of specific events. And what Luke is progressively revealing is that Jesus Christ came for one purpose; to make it possible for man to be reconciled to God. Because the reality of the situation on Earth was then and still is, that all it’s citizens are doomed to death. Since the fall the whole planet has been under the curse of sin and the Bible says that sin produced death. Physical death comes to us all sooner or later, but even more importantly spiritual death has been passed from man to man, from generation to generation, so that all of mankind has been cut off from God and condemned to spiritual death which is the Lake of Fire.
In the beginning God made the world and all that is in it, and man was given a choice to choose between obeying God’s word or obeying Satan’s word. And man chose Satan’s word. And so Romans 5:12 says, that through Adam “sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
So Jesus came to Earth to be the antidote for sin. He came to reconcile man back to God. Paul says in 1 Tim. 1:18, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”
Now that concept is important to understand. Because many people through the centuries have looked at the passage we have before us today in Luke and decided that Jesus was a nice guy, a great teacher, a Gandhi type of person who was teaching men how to live together, how to get along. He came to live as an example of passivism and compassion, and if society can just model themselves after men like Jesus, then the world we be a better place.
But the Bible doesn’t teach that. As I said earlier, Earth became a fallen world because of sin. And all men are under the curse of sin and therefore separated from God. Man was originally created to live eternally with God in His presence. He wasn’t made to just live a few years and then die, having passed on the same genes, the same natural sin nature to his children, who will also die a premature death. No, the reason that Jesus came to Earth was to show God’s love for the world, so that the world might be saved and given life. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
So in Luke 6, we have been looking at the sermon that Jesus preached which is sometimes called, “the Sermon on the Plain.” It is the manifesto of the Kingdom of God. God is declaring through Jesus Christ the truth that will accomplish this reconciliation of man to God. And folks, I have to tell you that the wisdom of God is a mystery. It is a mystery to the natural man. It was a problem for the Jews listening to Jesus 2000 years ago, and it’s a problem for many of you here today. We try to make sense of the things of God that Jesus is speaking of, and we can’t seem to really understand it correctly. Because 1Cor. 2:14 says that the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” In our natural wisdom, the wisdom of God is foolishness. We can’t understand it.
And so as Christ is preaching this message, there is a certain degree to which these principles are going right over their heads. Because until Christ had died on the cross and rose from the dead, even the Apostles didn’t understand completely what Jesus was talking about. That’s why Jesus speaks so much in parables. And why He would take the Apostles to the side and explain to them what they meant. There was a mystery that was being revealed, but it wasn’t yet revealed perfectly, it was still veiled.
That’s why Jesus told the Apostles that it would be to their advantage for Him to go back to the Father, because then He would send them the Holy Spirit, whom He called the Helper. And the Helper would teach them what Jesus was talking about. And through the Apostles God gave us the epistles. The epistles explain to us the gospels. And the gospels explains to us the Old Testament. The Bible is understood best reading from the back to the front, and in like manner, Jesus teaching is understood better on this side of Calvary than on the other side.
So as we look at this message that Jesus is preaching, I would encourage you to think of it as a painting that He is painting of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is presenting a picture of the Kingdom, but it’s like looking at a painting on a large canvas. If you stand too close to it, then everything looks blurred and there doesn’t seem to be much definition. But as you step back from it and look at the entire piece, then you can see the picture clearly.
Now I spent a lot of time introducing again this message today even though we began it last week, because I realize that many of you here today will hear the message and then in your own strength try to make an attempt to become a more loving person, or to be nicer to people that aren’t always nice to you. But I don’t want you to lose sight of the main picture. Remember what 1Cor. 2:14 said that I quoted earlier, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” The overarching point that is being made by Jesus in this message is that man needs to be saved from that natural state. In the natural state we are cursed, blind, spiritually poor and unable to attain righteousness. We need to first be changed, transformed, and made spiritually alive in order to do what God requires. And that is why Christ came, and that is the purpose behind the painting.
Because in our natural, sinful condition we can’t keep God’s law. The purpose of the law wasn’t to provide a stepladder to God, but to teach us that we all fall short of God’s standard for righteousness. Gal. 3:24 says that “the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” The Jews listening that day knew the law very well. They were taught it from childhood. They studied it in school. But like so many people today, they thought that the way to heaven was gained by trying to keep the law. And so Jesus is showing through the explanation of the law, first that it was much higher standard than what they had interpreted it to be, and secondly that they were unable to attain to that standard. Therefore, the law teaches us that we need a Savior. That we are unable to attain to the standard of God’s law.
We looked at Luke 10:27 last week and we saw that even the Jewish religious lawyers agreed with Jesus that all the laws in the Bible could be summarized in just two commandments; "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
And so to illustrate man’s need for a Savior Jesus is taking the law of love and showing them what the actual standard of God is. See, everyone in the world thinks that they know about love. We hear about it in songs, we see it acted out in movies, we read about it in books. We think we understand love. It’s the most talked about, most desired principle in the world. But when the natural man talks about love, he is more than likely talking about one of two types. He is either talking about romantic love, or erotic love, which is from the Greek word eros, or he is talking about family love, or brotherly love which is from the Greek word phileo. But Jesus is using a different word for love. He is using the Greek word agape, which is the love of the will. It is the highest form of love. It’s a sacrificial kind of love that does for others without expecting a return. Agape love is the kind of love that God has for us. It’s not an emotional response to a romantic or erotic love. It’s not the brotherly love that we might have for others in our family or on our sports team or in our social clubs. This love that God has, and that Jesus is establishing as the standard for our love, is not dependent upon affection, or upon likeability, or upon how someone may treat you, or upon how someone may look or dress or act, it is the love of will, of commitment. And Jesus is establishing that nothing less than this standard of love will do for the kingdom of Heaven.
And to illustrate that kind of agape love that God has for us, Jesus says in vs. 27, “but I say unto you, love your enemies.” The world’s standard of love is to have a physical desire, or a physical attraction. To love that which can love you back. We think we love God because we conjure up some emotional response to some sort of crisis we find ourselves in. We think we love our neighbor as long as they are likeable people, they are like us and we have something to gain by it. We love our girlfriend because we are attracted to her appearance or because she is nice to us. But God’s love is not dependent upon how we look, or what we can do for Him. God’s love was manifested towards us when we were enemies of God. And the Bible teaches that being sinners we were at enmity with God. Yet He loved us enough to send His only Son to take our place on the cross, so that we might be reconciled to God.
Then in vs. 31, Jesus sums up that agape love for your enemy. We have heard this verse called the Golden Rule. He says, “And just as you want men to treat you, treat them in the same way.” See, the world view of that rule is called karma. That is, if you do something good for someone it will come back to you, or if you do something bad to someone it will come back to you. So therefore, you should not do something bad if you don’t want to have it come back on you. That gives rise to the old adage: those that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.
But God’s standard of love is so much higher than that. He requires that we should do good things for people regardless of whether or not they can return the favor, or even because fate may somehow return the kindness. God’s standard of how you treat other people is how you would like to be treated. See, the Jews were familiar with the law that said you shall love your neighbor, but then they decided who would be considered a neighbor and excluded just about everyone in the process. But God said love your neighbor as yourself. We don’t have to be taught to love ourselves. We naturally love ourselves. It’ human nature. But it’s a divine nature to love those that hate you with the same love that you have for yourself.
As sinners, we cannot accomplish that righteous standard of God. The Bible says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. And what Jesus is teaching here is that in our naturally sinful state, all our love is selfishly motivated.
Look at the series of rhetorical questions that Jesus asks to illustrate that point. Vs.32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same.” That’s the sinful standard of love and that’s our natural standard of love and Jesus says that credits us nothing in regards to righteousness.
But look at God’s standard, vs. 35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
Now I want us to look at the remainder of these verses from two perspectives. But the key to understanding them is the phrase, “you will be sons of the Most High.” That’s the point of this whole exercise. That is the reason that Jesus came to Earth. To reconcile men to God. To rescue men from the kingdom of darkness, and transfer them to the kingdom of God, so that they might be made sons of God. But we already know that cannot be accomplished through keeping the law. Rom 3:20 tells us that “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”
The first perspective to understanding this passage is the phrase in vs. 35, “For He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” And that is where mercy comes in. God in His love has had compassion on our plight, our inability to keep the law perfectly, and so He has provided a substitute, One who would keep it perfectly for us. Jesus Christ became the substitute, keeping the law, living the perfect life, and through His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. So that those who trust in His substitionary atonement can receive mercy - that is the kindness of God.
Romans 2:4 says that the “kindness of God leads you to repentance.” This standard of God’s love is not designed to get us to hitch up our pants and try harder to be like Christ, or to turn over a new leaf, but it’s designed to bring us to our knees where we call out to God for mercy, repenting and weeping and mourning over our sinfulness. That’s what the law is designed to do. And that is what God has provided for. Because the next verse, 36, says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Listen, God is merciful. God’s love is a merciful love. He is offering us a way of escape from the condemnation of the law and the punishment of death. God is ready and willing to forgive those that are recognizant of the fact that they are a sinner, and willing to repent of that sin and ask for forgiveness. God is merciful. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. God is mercifully willing to forgive us our sin and the punishment that comes with sin. God’s mercy is illustrated in vs. 37, “"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” God is willing to not judge us when we deserved judgment. He is willing to not condemn us when we are deserving of condemnation. Instead of judgment and condemnation He is offering pardon.
But not only is God merciful, God is gracious. Grace is different than mercy. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. But grace is getting what we don’t deserve. And in vs.38 we see that illustrated. "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
God in His love and grace will pour out his benefits into the heart of the one who comes to God as a repentant sinner seeking mercy and forgiveness. And the first benefit we have already seen; He will make us sons of the Most High. We will become adopted into the family of God. We will become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. And His grace just keeps on pouring out blessing upon blessing, pressed down, shaken together and running over. He gives us eternal life. No more death. This body will drop off one day, but we will receive a glorified body that will never grow old and live for eternity with the Lord. And another benefit is the Holy Spirit, who is given as a deposit on our future glorified position with God, but also has an immediate benefit as well.
And that immediate benefit brings us to the second perspective. The second perspective on this passage is that for those who accepted Jesus as their Savior, and have been born again into the family of God, they receive the Holy Spirit, who you will remember Jesus called the Helper. And the Helper lives inside of us, dwelling in temples not made with hands, but in our hearts. And the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:15 what the Helper will do for us. “And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, "THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM," He then says, "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
See, the Holy Spirit is going to do something that the old law written on tablets of stone could never do. He is going to make it possible for us to keep the law. And He makes that possible by rewriting the law of God upon our hearts. That means we are supernaturally transformed from our sinful nature into the nature of Christ. The Helper is able to change our attitudes, He is able to change our minds, He is able to change our nature, so that our desire is to serve God, not ourselves. So that we might be able to be representatives of Jesus Christ to the world.
And that is the only way this law of God will be accomplished, folks. First of all, we have to recognize we can’t do it, we fall short of the righteous standard of God. But Christ was able to do it for us as our substitute. By trusting in Him and repenting of our sins, God is willing to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have a new purpose, that is to be like Christ. That is to be pleasing to God. And so we lay down our old way of life at the cross, and we follow in the footsteps and example of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. So that we might be a light to a dying world lost in darkness.
I read in the news last week of a town in Norway that sits so far down inside a ring of mountains that during the winter, from September to March, the town is in almost total darkness. They don’t have the light of the sun. You can imagine that would be a depressing town to live in. So the town fathers came up with this bright idea. (No pun intended.) They had these giant mirrors made which they are installing on top of the mountains so that they can reflect the sun’s rays into the center of the town. And so for the first time in history this town is looking forward this winter to having light beamed into the town square for several hours a day.
And I couldn’t help but think that was an apt illustration of what Christians as sons of God are supposed to be like. We are not going to be perfect like Jesus was perfect while we are in this body and this world, but we can reflect the light of Jesus Christ to the world when we act as He would have us act. As Christians we can love because He first loved us. We can love our enemies because we too were once enemies. We can do good to people who can’t return it because He was good to us when we couldn’t do anything good. We can be merciful because He was merciful to us. We can be gracious, because He showed grace to us. We can give to others what He gave to us; the message of the gospel, the good news; that Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am foremost of all.
You have heard the expression before; like father like son. Well, Jesus, the Son of God has shown us the Father. He accomplished His mission here on Earth. And through His sacrifice He has made it possible for us to become sons of God. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit has given us the power to act like sons of God. And if we will do that, then the world will see Jesus. That is our purpose here on Earth; to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It starts with being born all over again, born in the Spirit, having His laws written in our hearts, and then following in His footsteps by walking in the power of the Spirit. That the world living in darkness might see the light of God reflected in our lives.
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