Before I Go: John 15:1-17

When I was a kid, I thought that quicksand was

going to be a way bigger problem than it is.

Right? Like, it could be around any corner. And

if you're not paying attention, it's just going

to get you and pull you down. And as an adult,

I've never once had to worry about quicksand.

I don't know about you, but there are these funny

things that when you're a kid, you think they're

going to be a big deal or you think about them

all the time. And then you grow up and it just

doesn't take up a whole lot of mental space.

For me, one of those things was the zoo. Everyone

was talking about the zoo when I was a kid. What

are the animals? What sounds do they make? How

many at a time do they hang out with? And we'd

go to the zoo and we'd hang out. And as an adult,

I kind of stopped going to the zoo. And then

I had kids. And we started going to the zoo again.

And about a year ago, a little over that, we

went to the zoo. And my oldest daughter, Daisy,

was around two. And if you've been to the Reed

Park Zoo here in town, you know that the giraffe

exhibit is like the center of the universe, right?

Like everything really revolves. around the giraffe

exhibit. And so we walked up and people were

feeding the giraffes. And over next to it, there

was like some goat thing. And we're like, oh,

you want to see the goats, Daisy? And no goat

showed up. And I was kind of paying attention.

I heard there was some commotion over at the

giraffe exhibit. And I looked over there and

I walked over. I was like, Grace, Grace is my

wife. I was like, what's going on? She's like,

that duck flew from over there. And there's a

duck pond in the giraffe exhibit. She said that

duck flew over there and it picked a fight with

another duck. And they started fighting and the

fight came out. middle of the giraffe exhibit,

and that baby giraffe, it just kind of like waved

its foot at it, and now I think that duck's neck

is broken. I'm like, oh, no. And sure enough,

like, the duck is, like, something is catastrophically

wrong with this poor duck, right? And, like,

kids are looking. People are like, hey, is there

a zookeeper out there? Like, this is getting

kind of weird. And the baby giraffe that kind

of waved its foot at it is looking at it. And

then the big male giraffe walks up and starts

looking at the duck, too. And we're like, what

are they going to do? And the male giraffe is

looking at it. And it picks up its foot and it

hovers it over the duck. And I'm like, there's

no way. And it slowly starts to snuff out the

duck right there in front of God and everybody.

And we're like, what is, oh my gosh. And Daisy's

like, Daddy, what's happening? I'm like, circle

of life, baby girl. The trap pulls its foot off

and it didn't finish the job. And it takes this

other foot and it does it again. And I cannot

make this up. At that moment, there was a field

trip of eight -year -olds walking by. And I heard

one kid go, hey, what's happening to the duck?

There's a kid on the other side of the exhibit

crying, right? Like the teacher's like, we need

a zookeeper to the giraffe exhibit immediately.

And I was like straight up, I could not stop

laughing. It was the most appalling, shocking

thing I ever imagined I would see at a zoo. To

see a giraffe mercy kill a duck? Like, what?

That was not on my bingo card for that day. And,

like, the point is, like, we don't like to really

talk, right, about, like, when stuff dies because

it's, like, weird and it's awkward. And, like,

yeah, like, it was a duck. It was sad. But, like,

you know, it was a duck. But the fact of the

matter is that... there are things in our lives

that we encounter and we don't like to talk about

like, yeah, maybe that thing needs to be put

to death, right? And I'm not talking about like

the family dog, right? I'm not saying like, hey,

your family dog is too old. I'm gonna take it

to the vet. I'm not talking about that. What

I'm talking about are things that are actually

more covert and things that we have the tendency

to keep around long after they've proven that

they need to die off. And specifically, I'm talking

about ideas, beliefs, and habits that tend to

work like decay and disease in our lives. As

we go about our lives and we go about our days

and we collect information, we collect ideas

and voices, sometimes some of those are no good.

And sometimes they need to be dragged out and

cut out of our lives. And here's the thing. We

like to think of ourselves as rational. autonomous

human beings. In other words, we like to think

that when I make decisions on what to do and

what to think, I'm doing it by an objective measure.

I'm analyzing all of the data and I'm deciding

this is what's good and this is what's bad based

on objective data that is inarguable. But the

truth is that that is actually a complete fallacy.

That we actually make decisions based on emotions

and hopes. and fears far more than we make them

on reason. And what's more is we are constantly

being shaped and fed ideas by external forces

all the time, mostly playing on our emotions,

hopes, and fears. Right? The world around you

knows how you work if you didn't already know.

The world around you that's designed to get your

attention and your resources knows that the way

that you make decisions is not always based on

just reason. In fact, most of the time it's not.

And so the messages that we often receive in

our day -to -day lives specifically play on these

parts of who we are, our emotions, our hopes,

and our fears. And it's our responsibility to

choose who and what we allow to influence how

we think. Our decisions matter in this world,

but our decisions rarely are, what am I going

to believe? Our decisions usually are, what am

I going to let influence what I believe? Right

now, the landscape of what life looks like is

changing really, really fast, and we all know

that, and I don't want to sound like unk for

anyone out there who knows what that means. Anyone

who's under the age of 19 knows what I mean.

Basically, I don't want to sound like an old

boomer who's like, you know, the internet's changing

stuff. Well, it is, right? Like, we live our

lives more and more and more online. The average

American spends about seven hours a day looking

at screens, right? And these screens have been

specifically designed to feed us outrageous,

fear -inducing, and gratuitous content to keep

us engaged for as long as possible. What we spend

our time doing is designed to feed us ideas to

influence the way that we think and we act. So

I have a responsibility to pay attention to what

I'm letting in my life. But the problem is, most

of these ideas actually lead to decay and destruction.

Decay in our minds, our bodies, our souls, and

the evidence... for this is clearly noticeable

to the world around us i probably don't need

to tell you all these things you already kind

of know them intuitively because you live in

the world and you pay attention but i'm gonna

tell you them anyway right like what we see right

now we see massive increases in anxiety depression

self self -harm and mental health disorders since

the introduction of smartphones and social media

specifically in kids and teenagers Social and

political tribalism on both sides of the ideological

spectrum has increased drastically, especially

in the last 10 years. One in three U .S. adults

say that they experience loneliness at least

weekly. And statistically, we have more acceptance

in our society of violence as an option to deal

with people of different ideologies. And none

of this comes out of thin air. It's introduced

in the form... of an idea that plays on our emotions,

hopes, or fears that is then given a place to

grow and live on as a part of us. Those things

need to be killed. And if we don't root out decaying

ideas, they will only fester and poison more

of our lives. One of the best ways to see this

and imagine this is with garden imagery. Preston

was up here a second ago, and he talked about

how we're in the middle of our Before I Go series.

You saw the bumper. We're talking about the final

discourse of Jesus with his disciples, right?

So Jesus knows that he's about to let himself

get taken and murdered. He's like, that's coming,

like tomorrow, right? So this... is the point

at which he's imparting all of his final words

of wisdom and encouragement and instruction in

his closest relationships, his disciples who

have spent three years of their lives living

like every day together with him. And so where

we are here is before what we're about to talk

about here, before Jesus has already talked about

a couple things. Number one, he said, hey, it's

coming. I'm about to go away. I'm about to get

killed. Also, I promise I'm gonna take care of

you. Right? You're going to find ultimate fulfillment.

You're going to find your place with the creator

of the universe. Because I'm going to go before

you, I'm going to get it ready for you. And when

I'm gone, there's this thing that's going to

happen. You're going to get the Holy Spirit as

an advocate. And it's going to live with you

and is going to teach you in my absence. He's

already laid all this stuff out. Right? So a

basic question, all right, what's next? Okay.

So all this is going to happen. You're going

to leave. You're going to prepare your way. The

Holy Spirit is going to come. So, like, now what?

Like, what are we actually gonna do in the way

we interact with the Spirit and with each other

and live in the world if you're not gonna be

here, right? You've been pretty important to

us, Jesus. What's the deal? And so we pick up

in the beginning of John 15, and as Preston says,

if you're not familiar with this passage, this

is where, like he said, this is where we get

our name as a church. So Rob decided to leave

town before we talked about like the namesake

of our church. And he said, Joe, you're up? And

he said, you got a boss. No, I'm happy because

if you know, like if you've spent any amount

of your life reading the Bible, you know there

are like some greatest hits verses in the Bible,

right? Like, you know, like in the old days of

actually CDs, right? You'd go to the CD. the

CD store, they'd have the greatest hits of like

the Beatles or whatever, right? Like if there

was a greatest hits album of the Bible, this

would be on it. And it's for good reason. And

so we pick up in John 15, verse one, it says

this, I am the true grapevine, this is Jesus

talking, I'm the true grapevine and my father

is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of

mine that doesn't produce fruit and he prunes

the branches that do bear fruit. So that they

will produce even more. You have already been

pruned and purified by the message I have given

you. Remain in me and I will remain in you. For

a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed

from the vine. And you cannot be fruitful unless

you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine and you

are the branches. Those who remain in me and

I in them will produce much fruit. For apart

from me, you can do nothing. Anyone who does

not remain in me is thrown away like a useless

branch and withers. Such branches are gathered

into a pile and burned. But if you remain in

me and my words remain in you, you may ask for

anything you want and it will be granted. When

you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples

and this brings great glory to my Father. So

right away, Jesus hones in on this pruning and

cutting imagery. Something that's interesting

that stuck out to me a couple years ago when

I was reading this, he talks about dead branches

and he talks about living branches. See what

he did there? There it is. He talks about dead

branches. He talks about living branches. The

dead branches get cut off. The living branches

get pruned. They both get cut. So right away,

and I thought this was so interesting, I was

like, epiphany, no one's ever thought of this

before. They have. People have thought about

everything I've thought about before. But no

matter who you are, where you are, how connected

you are to Jesus, Right? Something is going to

get cut in your life. And I Googled. I just pounded

it into the Google machine. I was like, hey,

like this is the prompt. What are the consequences

of not? pruning a plant. And you're going to

see basically the unadulterated version of just

what Google will spit out at you. And the reason

why I didn't edit it is because it's such a good

picture, I think, of actually what we're talking

about here. The only thing I put in there is

in the parentheses. So, first, the consequences

of not pruning is, number one, is reduced blooming.

The plant produces fewer, smaller flowers. In

other words, the fruit or the good things that

the plant produces are of poor quality. Number

two, a weak and leggy structure. The shrub becomes

overgrown, unmanageable, and floppy with weak

stems that cannot support the blooms. In other

words, it has an inability to produce fruit at

all. Disease susceptibility, poor air circulation,

and buildup of old wood increase vulnerability

to pests and diseases. In other words, becomes

vulnerable. Or if we're the plant, we become

vulnerable to destructive ideas and beliefs.

There's pests and diseases. Reduced vigor. The

plant wastes energy on old, unproductive wood

rather than new growth. We have a decreased capacity

for good. And then there are also safety hazards.

Dead, broken, or diseased branches can accumulate,

potentially damaging the plant. There's pain

and suffering in our lives if we put ourselves

in that position. But Jesus' goal for us is that

our lives would produce good things or fruit

as he says in this imagery. But what are those

good things and how do we live our lives in a

way that will make those good things come out

of us? Well, we sang a song earlier. The second

song we sang was about abiding. In this translation,

it said, remain in me as I remain in you. Other

translations use the word abide. Unless you're

a big Lebowski fan, you probably don't hear the

word abide a whole lot. The dude abides. Really,

the word abide, the meaning here is closer to

make your home in. Right? Abide in me as I abide

in you. Make your home in me, and I'll make my

home in you is what Jesus tells us. Right? And

right here in John 15, 9 through 12, it says

this. It says, I have loved you even as the Father

has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey

my commandments, you remain in my love. You make

your home in my love. Just as I obey my father's

commandments and remain in his love, I've told

you these things so that you will be filled with

my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. And this

is my commandment, love each other in the same

way I have loved you. So the way that we are

pruned and the way that we are purified, as Jesus

puts it here, is by making our home in him, by

making our home in his love. And specifically,

right here in the passage we just read, Jesus

is actually making a commitment to his disciples

and asking for their loyalty in return. What

he's saying is, I will connect you to the Father,

right? He says, make your home in me, abide in

me, remain in me as I've remained in my Father.

Right? He's actually going to connect us with

the Creator. And now, what he says, he says,

obey my commandments. Now you must pour out this

same kind of love on one another. And right here

at the end of the passage we just read, he says,

this is my commandment, love each other in the

same way that I have loved you. And so if you're

following, what Jesus is saying is this, in the

life that you're gonna have to figure out and

make decisions about in my absence, you gotta

understand some things right at the top. There

are going to be pieces of your life that are

going to be dead and decaying, and if you leave

them there, it's gonna lead to death and destruction,

period. And if you want to get those out of your

life, you need to make your home in me. And if

you do that, if you make your home in me, I will

connect you to the creator, the one source of

life. Do you know how you make your home in me?

You obey what I tell you to do. And I'm telling

you to love one another the way that I have loved

you. So Jesus lays out a roadmap, right? He says,

Cut the stuff out of your life by loving me and

living my words. And the fruit he talks about

is based in this loving relationship. That is

what he's talking about. When he says bear much

fruit, and then he follows it up with obey my

commandments, love one another, what he is saying

is the fruit that I want you to bear, what I

want to come out of your lives, the way you're

gonna know that you're connected to me, is if

your relationships are built in love. But it's

a unique and particular kind of love. And he

goes on to explain it this way. In verses 13

through 17, he says, There is no greater love

than to lay down one's life for one's friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command.

I no longer call you slaves because a master

doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my

friends since I have told you everything the

Father told me. You didn't choose me. I chose

you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting

fruit so that the Father will give you whatever

you ask for using my name. This is my command.

Love each other. The greatest love is to lay

down your life for your friends. You know, I

heard someone say once, that doesn't seem like

the greatest kind of love because you already

like your friends. Like, wouldn't it make more

sense to say, like, the greatest kind of love,

like, truly self -sacrificing and, like, not

self -serving at all would be to lay down your

life for your enemies? Like, wouldn't that make

more sense? Right? But Jesus clearly says to

lay down your life for one's friends. Right?

Our world might say the greatest kind of love

is to lay down your life for one's spouse. Or

lay down your life for one's kids. Or lay down

your life for one's in -group. Or lay down your

life for one's political party. Or lay down your

life for one's social cause. Lay down your life

for the people that you really are connected

to. How can this be the greatest type of love,

to lay down your life for your friends? And what

we need to understand is the context in which

Jesus is talking to his disciples and using the

word friends. The word he uses here is the Greek

word phylos. So if you didn't know, the whole

New Testament is written in Greek, right, because

it was the language of the time that pretty much

everyone spoke. And the Greek word... For friends,

here's phylos. It's the same root word where

we get the name of Philadelphia, right? You hear

like brotherly love, right? Phylos. Well, the

Greeks had a specific idea of what friendship

was. The Greeks' idea, and this comes from Plato

and Aristotle, they're like, hey, friendship

is like you and me equals, equal level, arm and

arm. We make a mutual agreement. We are friends.

And that, in a lot of ways, is how we view what

friendship is. When I talk about my friends here

today, that's kind of like the natural way that

we, a lot of times, will view friendship. But

the Romans, the Romans were occupying. Jerusalem

at this time. The Roman culture was the way of

the land at this point. And the Romans viewed

friendship completely differently. The Romans

saw friendship not as equals, but all of the

Roman society was built in vertical relationships,

right? So you have different status in society,

which tells you how you can or cannot act, who

you can or cannot act with, what access you have,

right? It's very hierarchical social structure

here. And there's a system that the Romans had,

and it was called patronage. And essentially,

someone of a noble or royal class who had more

access and more ability to socially move about,

this noble or royal patron would basically sponsor

a client. So what that would do is the client

of a patron had a couple things. Number one,

they were a representative. Of the patron, right?

So, like, an action against the client was, in

essence, in a way, an action against the patron,

right? So you get some protection. Also, like,

the patron will broker deals for you, right?

Like, hey, let me talk to my people who are of

this higher class so maybe we can work something

out for you, right? The patron was able to get

better access for their clients. Also, the patron

would ask the clients to do stuff for them, right?

Because you're my representative, so I need you

to be in this context and do this thing for me

to represent me, right? It was an asymmetrical

relationship based on longevity and reciprocity.

Basically, we're of different statuses, this

is a lifelong deal, and I give you something

and you give me something. That's patronage,

right? And what Jesus does here, as evidenced

by this metaphor of vine and branches, the vine

being that which sustains the branch, he's putting

himself in this unequal relationship, right?

Jesus right here is saying, like, I'm your patron

and you're my clients, right? And in the Roman

world, what the patrons would call their clients

were phylos. So when he says, you are my friends,

I'm your patron, you are my clients. And what

he does is he invites them into this lifelong

commitment with himself. Where Jesus, the patron,

acts as a broker for the clients and intercedes

with the father. And Jesus' friends are to act

as a proxy or an agent in his absence. But what's

different from the Roman system and novel is

this, that Jesus chooses us, not the other way

around. Because in the Roman system, if you wanted

someone to be your patron, you had to like pledge

fealty to them and like, will you accept, you

know, like you to be my patron? But Jesus says,

nope, you didn't choose me. I chose you. I want

you to benefit from the relationship that you're

going to have with me because of the relationship

that I have with my father. It lifts the client

up. And in this sentence, it's the first time

in the entire book of John that Jesus calls his

disciples friends, and it's the first time that

he calls them slaves. Right? He might use the

word servants or disciples, but friends and slaves.

It's the first time he's called them either one

right here. In the Roman culture, slavery was

a very common thing. It was very different than

how we imagine it in our American context and

chattel slavery in the 1700s and 1800s. It was

a different kind of deal. But a slave in the

Roman culture, you had no horizontal ability

socially. Your relationships really was just

with your master and it was a vertical relationship.

But oftentimes when masters would free their

slaves in the Roman culture, and then the slave,

would then come under the master. The master

is instead of their, now instead of their master,

they're their patron. Now instead of the slave,

they're a client or a phylos. And what this would

do if the master would change that type of relationship

is it would essentially resurrect and give new

social life to the former slave. Because now

as a client and no longer a slave, as a phylos,

as a friend, you now have horizontal access.

to interact with and have relationships with

and live life alongside the people on your same

level. And so what Jesus is doing, as he's saying,

because I am viewing you in this way, I am resurrecting

and I'm giving you new life, not just socially,

but spiritually. Because now you can interact

on the same level no matter what your physical

worldly status is. Because your spiritual one

is that of an equal playing field as defined

by me. Because I am standing in for you. And

I'm representing you. So when Jesus says the

greatest love is to lay down your life for your

friends, he's saying that... The greatest love

is to lay down your life for those who might

actually be beneath you. And there's no reason,

if you look at a worldly point of view, why you

would ever do this. And especially imagine this

Roman culture. They're beneath you. They can't

give you anything. There's no value practically

in it for you. But the only reason why anyone

would do something like this, to actually...

actually be willing to put their life on the

line to give up their life for someone of lower

status than them is simply out of love and recognizing

their value that they inherently have. Because

of the love, because of love, it only makes sense

in the context of Jesus first loving us. By Jesus

being willing to die for us, he declares that

all of us are of the highest value, and therefore

all people are equally deserving of love from

others, leveling the social playing field regardless

of social status. And this is why the rot and

the decay has got to get cut out, because the

ideas of the world will deteriorate the true

love of Jesus in our lives and keep us from bearing

the fruit of relationships built on love, the

one kind of fruit that lasts. Because if we have

the rot and decay and the ideas of how the world

works that are built on anything other than the

fact that the creator of the universe loves you

so much that he'd be willing to die for you even

though there's no reason why he ought to. Any

idea that is built on any foundation other than

that is going to fester and it's going to rot

and it's going to decay and it's going to lead

to destruction. So if you make your home in Jesus,

he'll kill the decay in your life. He promises

to be dependable if you pledge yourself to him.

And your pledge is to follow his command and

love as he loved. And his love is defined by

the willingness to go as far as to die for those

less than himself. And because he's killed the

decay in your life, you can now love as he loved

you, which creates lasting fruit. This fruit

is truly loving relationships that will have

meaning past your life on earth. That means that

you can tell if you're making your home in Jesus

based on the state of your relationships with

others. Are your relationships marked by love?

Not just like the ones that are like easy, like

I love my kids. Like those relationships are

marked by love. Like all things considered, like

there are my hard days, you know, like sometimes

they're punks. Ryder will not stop climbing on

stuff. Like seriously, like I turn my head for

a second and he's just like on like the cabinet

under the TV. I'm like, you're gonna die, get

off there. Right, like. And then he like whines

and you take him off and like, oh, like, right.

But like, that's the worst of it. You know, like

it really, all things considered, it's pretty

easy to love him. It's hard to love the person

who's pretty diametrically opposed to my ideals

or says that like, because I believe what I believe,

I'm a dangerous person. That's hard to love that

person. That's really hard to love them, right?

Or the person who's actually done things to hurt

me or my family. It's really hard to love them.

Jesus doesn't make any carve outs. Be marked

by my love. By this, they're gonna know that

you're my disciples if you love one another.

And using this kind of Roman language implies

that we have a binary choice, right? Because

you can't have two rival patrons that have different

ways of seeing the world who are gonna ask you

to represent different things, right? The big

main patron of this time was Caesar, right? He's

a patron of the whole Roman Empire. Essentially,

like, you're loyal to Caesar, right? He says,

here, I have the whole power of the Roman Empire

behind you. So if someone mistreats you as a

Roman citizen, well, we got the Roman laws and

military and they're gonna come vouch for you.

That's what you get when Caesar's your patron.

But where Caesar promises power to reciprocate

loyalty, Jesus promises love for you to reciprocate

love for others. If you follow my command and

love others, I will love you in the way that

transforms your life. And following the commands

of Jesus and declaring him as your patron ultimately

forsakes Caesar as your patron. And we don't

live with Caesar today, but we live with other

stuff that basically is Caesar. Right? The stand

in today, I mean, just think about it. You have

leaders of political parties. You have social

media platforms and everything they promise us.

You have lucrative careers that promise us a

certain kind of lifestyle. Wellness gurus, sexual

liberators, entertainment corporations, religious

so -called prophets, military strong men, everything

that says be loyal to me, do it my way. Keep

me in power and I'll keep you safe. Or I'll make

your life easier. Or I'll make it more convenient.

The world wants to build relationships around

power dynamics, but Jesus wants to turn those

on their head. He would be willing to die for

those that are seen as below him. Anything that

asks for our loyalty that isn't explicitly marked

by love will only ever keep us from making our

home in Jesus. If you follow the entire course

of what we've talked about, the ultimate thesis

of it is this. If you look at your life and you

can't say that your relationships are marked

by love, then you're not living in Jesus. The

thing is that Christians should be the experts

on relationships and how to live. We should be

the ones on the cutting edge on how to live in

today's world. instead of outsourcing it to the

secular, self -esteem -oriented, self -care -obsessed,

self -gratifying world. The living God is telling

us how to live. We should be the ones who are

out there saying, no, I think I got the answers

for a better life, right? But you can only get

that if you live, if you make your home in Jesus,

if you make your home in the love that he has

for you. And you know how you do that? You obey

his commands. To love one another as I have loved

you. Where worldly relationships are marked by

convenience, gratification, and self -preservation,

true relationships, as Jesus calls us into, are

marked by love and compassion. Are you willing

to be inconvenienced or deny your own interests

for the sake of others? Would you throw away

your smartphone because it keeps feeding you?

Toxic ideas. They're so convenient though. But

those ideas are going to fester. Maybe that's

not where it is. We spend less time on the news

or less time filling your head with certain messages

about how relationships are going to work in

today because they're not based on compassion

and love. But man, gosh, that story is so engaging.

Right? It's enticing. But the message of Jesus

is pretty clear. If we pledge our loyalty to

anything that is not based in love, it is going

to get in the way of Jesus. It's going to steal

our soul. And it's going to cause us to never

be able to bear true lasting fruit in the form

of loving relationships. So what do you represent

and what will I ask of you in return? My final

thing is this, just to wrap it all together,

these four things. What Jesus says is we must

be free of the control of the world in order

to love completely. Making your home in Jesus

is the only way to be free from the world. Loving

like Jesus ultimately gives you meaning in the

form of loving relationships. And if your relationships

and interactions with others are not marked by

love, then you aren't making your home in Jesus

full stop. I'm gonna pray to end our time and

I'm just gonna pray over this passage in 2 Corinthians

chapter five and this is the apostle Paul talking

and what I love about understanding the words

of Jesus is then you look at all of the people

who write after his life and you're like, they're

just riffing on everything he's saying and this

is one of my personal favorite passages in the

whole Bible and Paul just, I think, more eloquently

than I ever could. Talks about what it looks

like to actually do what Jesus is talking about.

So please pray with me. Lord, we ask that you

be in our hearts and help us to believe and live

out these words as Paul so eloquently puts them.

Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since

we believe that Christ died for all, we also

believe that we all have died to our old life.

He died for everyone so that those who receive

his new life will no longer live for themselves.

Instead, they will live for Christ, who died

and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating

others from a human point of view. At one time,

we thought of Christ merely from a human point

of view. How differently we know him now. This

means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become

a new person. The old life has gone. A new life

has begun.