John 15:8-9(NKJV) 8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
We have been looking at Jesus’ words in John 15. He tells us that we should glorify the Father by producing fruit in our lives. God is love and everything he does in us or through us is motivated by that love. We should respond by placing glorifying God at the top of our list of priorities. We glorify God when we live in such a way that allows his characteristics to be reflected in our daily living.
The fruit that glorifies God is primarily the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. We might also include the fruit of outward manifestations of God’s power. When people are saved, healed and delivered through our life and ministry, God is glorified. If we want to see an outpouring of his glory in our day, we need to make glorifying him a priority in our lives.
How can we be sure that we live a life that glorifies God? Jesus gives us the answer in verse 9. We must abide in his love. I want to take some time talking about the word “abide” today, but first let me point out something else in this verse. Jesus says he loves us in the same way the Father loved him. Think about that for a moment.
Jesus was perfect. He never did anything that would hinder his Father from loving him. Yet Jesus says to us that he loves us in the same way that the Father loved him. I know I am not perfect. I make mistakes. I even sin at times and yet the Lord loves me with the same love the Father loved him. I must add that if Jesus loves us that way, so does our heavenly Father. Think about this great love for a moment and see if the thought will not do something for you.
Jesus says the key to producing fruit and thereby glorifying God is to abide in that love. The word abide has two basic meanings. First, it means to remain. We are called to live in Jesus’ love for us. We are not called to visit his love. It is not sufficient for us to think about how much he loves us every now and then. We are called to set up housekeeping in the love of God. We are called to let our lives rest in the reality of that love.
Have you ever thought of how much of who and what you are is determined by where you abide. I am going to travel to Kenya, East Africa in July. If I made my abode there, my whole perspective on life would be different. I would see the world differently. My reality would be different than it is now simply because of where I live. If I lived in New York City instead of rural upstate New York, I would have a totally different life than I do now.
I am married. I lost a great deal of weight and now my original wedding ring, which had gotten too tight, fits again. We bought new rings because of weight gain. The new ring fits on my right hand. I wear them both. I tell people I am so married I wear two wedding rings. I am married!. The woman I abide with has a great deal to do with who I am and what my life is like. The bible says, “It is better to live on the roof than to live with a contentious woman.” I live with a wonderful woman and she has helped the Lord form me into who and what I am. I hate to think of who I would be if I had married the wrong wife. The one with whom we abide makes all the difference.
We need to live with the love of God. We need to think about his love and act according to his love for us. It is important to love God, but our love for him will never be greater than our acceptance of his love for us. (1 John 4:10)
The second aspect of the definition of the word “abide” is to be completely conformed to the one with whom we abide. Love, in the case of God’s love, is not an emotion it is a person. God is love, so to abide in Jesus’ love for us is to abide in and with God himself. We need to allow the Love of God and thereby God himself to conform us so that we look and act like his love.
To be conformed to the love of God is to first to accept that love. We must believe that he really does love us as the Father loved him. When we fully accept his love for us, we will change how we think about ourselves. We will begin to see value that we did not see before. How could God love someone who is worthless? That sense of value will begin to change our thinking and our thinking will affect our actions. The love of God is a supernatural force that will change our lives if we believe it and accept it.
In the first seven verses of John 15 we read a more familiar passage about abiding.
John 15:1-7(NKJV) 1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He £takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you£ will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
We cannot produce the life of God unless we are joined to that life. Jesus’ illustration of the vine and branches is very powerful. I must be joined to the vine to produce life. I cannot be joined to the vine part of the time. I must abide in the vine to produce life. I trimmed some trees recently. The branches I cut off still had green leaves on them, but it did not take long for them to turn brown. The branches began to die immediately because they were cut off from the life of the tree. If we do not abide in the vine, we cannot produce life.
He gives us another key to abiding in verse 7. To abide in the vine of Jesus love for us we must abide in the Word of God. When his words live in us, we live in him. He gives us a powerful promise. If we allow his words to abide in our hearts and thereby abide in his love for us, we can ask anything we desire and the Father will do it for us. Of course, we must understand that our desires will change when we are conformed to the one with whom we are abiding. Our desires will begin look more like his desires.
We must recognize how important this is. In verse 6 Jesus says that anyone who does not abide in him is cast out and eventually burned. He says earlier in the chapter that those to whom he is speaking are already clean because of the Word of God. We are clean if we respond to the Word of God and are born again.
I do not believe Jesus is talking about those who are unsaved here. I believe he is speaking to those branches who do not abide in him and his love. Because they are not abiding they end up on the trash heap of life and are burned. I do not believe he is talking about hell. I believe he is talking about our lost potential. I believe he is talking about never fulfilling our destiny in God. I do not want my life to end up producing nothing. Look at the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3.
1 Corinthians 3:15(NKJV) 15If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
I want my works to abide. Paul says that our works remain if they are built on gold, silver and precious stones. For that to be the case, I must learn to abide in the vine. To abide in the vine is to abide in His glorious love for me.
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