Its All About Jesus
February 19, 2023
Do you ever feel pressure to do more for God? Do you ever feel like you’re not doing enough or that you’re not making much of a difference with your life? This is a common reality experienced by many Christ followers today. And it has its origin in thinking that the Christian life is all about what you do or what you don’t do. For example: Some people believe that living the Christian life is all about following certain rules. It’s all about modifying your behavior so God won’t be angry with you. When you think this way, you tend to go through life trying to avoid doing bad things, thinking: If I don’t get drunk, if I don’t cuss, don’t steal, don’t get angry, don’t hurt anyone, don’t offend anyone – then God will be pleased with me. For them the Christian life is about what you don’t do. Or they make it about what you do for God. Like doing a bunch of religious things. Thinking that if I do all the good things: If I attend church every Sunday, read my Bible, say my prayers, give of my time and money, and just be nice to everyone – then God will love me. But what if I were to tell you that living the Christian life has nothing to do with what you do or with what you don’t do. What if I were to tell you there’s really only one thing you need to do to live the Christian life? Wouldn’t you like to know what that is?
Well today as we return to the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us what that is: Jesus tells us the one thing required of those who follow Him. So, if you’d like to know what that is, then let me encourage you to open your Bible to the Gospel of John. Our passage today is John 15:1-17, where Jesus teaches us that living the Christian life is not about what you do or don’t do, but it’s all about Jesus. It’s all about what Jesus wants to do in you when you stay connected to Him. It’s all about the fruit He promises to produce in you when you abide in Him. So, if you’ve found John 15, let’s look now at what Jesus says about the life He wants to produce in you. And we begin with this profound truth:
Without Jesus we can do nothing This is the point Jesus has been trying to hammer home with His disciples all night in the upper room. He has just told them that they can’t live the Christian life on their own. But at the same time, He promises He will come to them and live in them so that He might live His life through them. He’s promised to send the Holy Spirit to teach them and remind them of everything He’s taught them. And He’s just promised them His peace.
So, He’s just reminded them of all He will do to help them continue His mission on His absence. Then He says, “Come now, let us leave.” So, the disciples follow Him as they make their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. But he’s not done teaching, so He takes up His theme again by saying, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
Now we need to stop here for a moment and get some context. Jesus claims to be the true vine. In saying this, Jesus is telling his followers that there is a false vine. He is making a contrast between himself and the nation of Israel. The vine was the supreme symbol of Israel. Through Israel, all the nations on earth were to be blessed. Israel had failed their mission. Israel had not been a blessing to the nations.
Jesus is making a significant claim. Jesus claims Israel is no longer the source of God’s blessing to the nations. They are the false vine. He is the true vine. But now He’s leaving. So what Jesus is doing here is reminding His disciples, that once He leaves, they are to continue what He has started. They are to be a blessing to the nations. But, in order to do this, they must stay connected to the true vine. So, He uses the metaphor of the vine and the branches to make His point, saying: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. John 15:1-4
The Father is the gardener. It’s His job to watch over the vineyard and do what it takes to help the vineyard bear fruit. He does this in two ways. First, He cuts away the fruitless branches and second, He prunes the fruit bearing branches, so they’ll be even more fruitful. Now Jesus uses a specific word when He teaches us about the Father’s pruning work. This term “prune” means to cleanse. That’s why Jesus adds the phrase: You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Here’s where this first truth starts to make sense to us: Without Jesus we can do nothing. Here’s why: until Jesus cleanses you with His word, you can do nothing. It’s through His Word we are cleansed when we believe in Him. When we hear His Word and believe in Him Jesus prunes our sin. Jesus cleanses us of sin. And once Jesus does this, we are now able to bear fruit. But without His cleansing work, we are still in our sin, and we can do nothing for God; and it is impossible for us to bear any kind of fruit for God. So, the good news is this: The Father cleanses us with the Word of Christ. This is the starting point for bearing fruit. The Father cuts away our sin, removes it from us, and now it is possible for us to be a blessing to the nations – we can now bear the fruit of Christ.
Now, I hope this is clear. It’s a little difficult to understand. That’s why Jesus often uses metaphor to make complicated teaching easier to grasp. So what Jesus is doing here is setting us up to understand this truth: Just as we needed to be cleansed by the Father to bear any fruit, we need to stay connected to Jesus to bear His fruit. We need to stay connected to Jesus so He can bless the nations through us!
That’s why the very next thing Jesus gives us the one command, the one requirement we need to take seriously if we want Jesus to live through us. Here it is: ”Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:4-7
Here Jesus hammers home this truth: Without Jesus we can do nothing! We cannot bear fruit by ourselves. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. If we are not connected to Jesus, we are worthless – only good for the fire.
So, Jesus commands us: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. So, what does this mean for us? What does it mean to remain in Jesus? Well, this term “remain” has an ongoing emphasis to it. Jesus is calling us to make a constant, moment by moment, effort to stay connected with Him. The idea is that of staying put – of staying connected to the source of life – to the true vine – staying connected to Jesus. The way you stay connected with Jesus is to keep walking with Him by faith. This is our calling as Christ Followers. Jesus is teaching us how to appropriate His life so we can bear His fruit. And the way we do that is to stay in constant communion with Him.
We can do this in a variety of ways: Jesus indwells His Word, so staying connected in Jesus, means to stay in His Word. Jesus indwells His body, so staying in connected in Jesus means staying connected with other believers in His body. Jesus indwells by His Holy Spirit, so staying connected in Jesus means keeping in step with the Spirit. This is not a passive action, as if we are to just sit and soak, but an active following, walking closely with Jesus.
So, then, Jesus’ metaphor of the branch helps us understand what happens in us when we stay connected to the True Vine. A branch is only alive if the sap flows from the trunk through the branch. Without the sap the branch dies. But when you trust in Jesus, when you stay in communion with Jesus, His life will flow into your life like sap from the vine. That’s why Jesus says, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
This is why the Christian life is all about Jesus. When you are connected to Him, His life will produce His fruit In your life. But apart from His life you will produce no fruit. That’s what Jesus has been trying to hammer home for us. It’s not about what you do or don’t do. It’s about what He can do in you when you stay in constant communion with Him. And when you do that, when we do that, well then, the sky’s the limit. That’s the second truth Jesus wants us to get today:
2. With Jesus we can do anything In fact, Jesus now spells out four kinds of fruit we can expect to produce if we stay connected with Him. And the first is this: With Jesus we can bear the fruit of answered prayer:If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:7-8 This is a pretty bold promise. What Jesus is saying here is that the more His life is being formed in you, the more God’s Word is filling you, the more in tune you’ll be with God’s will. And the more you’ll want what God wants in your life. And when you want what God wants, the more you’ll ask Him to do stuff in your life that He’ll be thrilled to answer.
From day one we’ve been asking God to awaken people to His presence here at Robson. We’ve been asking God to build His Church. We’ve been asking God to help us connect people in Journey Groups. We’ve been asking God to bring people to our Church who haven’t darkened a church door in years. And we’ve been asking God to change lives… And you want to know what God’s been doing? He’s been answering those prayers. Every person sitting here today is an answer to prayer. God’s at work here. God is at work in our community. God is at work in our Church. Why? Because there are people here who are walking closely with Jesus, who are growing in His Word and asking God to work. How cool is that?
Maybe you’ve never really prayed all that much. Maybe it’s because you’ve not experienced much answered prayer. But hear this promise: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Do you know why God wants to answer your prayers? Jesus tells us: This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8
One of the changes that begins to take place in you when you walk closely with Jesus, is He gives you His desire to see the Father glorified. All of a sudden you will want others to see how wonderful, how awesome, how truly good our God is. When Christ’s love is living in you, when Christ’s Word is changing you, you’ll want others to know how God good, generous and loving God really is – so you’ll pray to that end. “God glorify yourself in me. Make me more like Jesus. Help me to love my neighbor who is hard to love. Give me the compassion of Jesus, give me the mercy of Jesus, give me the wisdom of Jesus. Help me bring glory to Your name.”
Only someone who is abiding in Christ prays like that – because when Jesus gets under your skin, you’ll want others to know what He’s like. This is why God wants to answer your prayers. Because when you’re bearing the fruit of Christ you will bring glory to Him. God wants to answer your prayers. That’s why He connected you to His Son when you believed. So, stay connected and ask Jesus to do through you what He wants to do. Without Jesus we can do nothing. But with Jesus we can do anything. And that’s just the first way Jesus wants to bear fruit in us. He wants to glorify the Father when we pray.
What other fruit does He want to produce in us?
With Jesus we can bear the fruit of obedient love “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15:9-10
Let me say this again: You cannot love like Jesus unless you’ve been loved by Jesus. This is how we learn what God’s love is. He doesn’t love you because there is something lovable about you. No, He loved you when you were at your worst. He loved you when you defied His existence. He loved you when you only thought of yourself. He loved you when you took advantage of others. He loved you when you gave into your greed or your lust or your anger. He loved you when you didn’t deserve to be loved. He loved you by giving Jesus to die for you, so He could rescue you from the judgment you deserved. He washed away all you sin. He removed all your shame. And He made you acceptable to Him, so you could be adopted as His beloved child.
Now Jesus wants you remain in His love. So, abide in His love. Soak up the goodness of God’s grace to you in Jesus Christ. Let His love fill you up. And as He fills you with His love, let His love pour through you to love those around you. So, you might love those He loves. So that you might love those who don’t deserve His love. This is the blessing our world needs. This is why Jesus wants us to stay connected to the true Vine – to Him – So He can love the world through you. And when He does, your life will bring glory to the Father. And then Jesus promises something extraordinary will take place in you:
With Christ you will experience the fruit of Christ’s joy Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.“John 15:11 There is nothing better than being filled with Christ’s joy. And Jesus tells us where we find this joy: Joy is found in an intimate relationship with Jesus. Joy is found in hearing His Word and putting it into practice. Joy is found in answered prayer. Joy is found when we love others as He has loved us. Joy is the fruit of a loving relationship with the Father. For this is where Jesus’ joy came from. Jesus’ joy came from obeying His Father. And our joy comes from obeying Jesus. This is the fruit of abiding in Christ. He promises that His joy will flow through Him to us like sap through the branches. His joy will be in us.
I love how Matt Carter describes this. He says, “Joy is an unmistakable mark of a genuine disciple. Jesus created joy. If you claim the Creator of joy is inside you and you’re miserable, then something is wrong. It makes no sense. It’s completely illogical. For joy in Jesus is inseparable from knowing and following Him. You can’t know him and lack joy. You can’t follow him and lack joy. You can’t be united with him and lack joy. It’s a biblical, logical and theological impossibility. It does not mean every day is easy and filled with laughter, but it does mean your life is ultimately marked by a confidence that Jesus is greater and more satisfying than anything this world has to offer.”
One of the fruits of the awakening taking place at Asbury and other University Campuses today is an overwhelming sense of joy that’s emanating from the hearts of the students. This joy is coming as students are repenting of sin. This joy is coming as students are trusting in Christ. This joy is pouring forth as students are surrendering their lives to Jesus. This joy is manifesting itself in unabandoned praise. This is what Jesus wants you to experience. He doesn’t just want you to experience His love, His mercy, and His peace. He wants you to know the pure joy of being rightly related with the Father. For when you are full His joy, you bring glory to His name. This is the fruit Jesus will produce you, if you abide in Him.
Remember, apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with Jesus we can do anything. That leads us to the greatest fruit we can expect Jesus to produce in us if we remain in Him:
4) With Christ you can bear the fruit of sacrificial love All of Jesus’ teaching has now led Him to this final truth: Listen to how He summarizes His teaching: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:12-14
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:16-17
Here we see the beauty of Jesus the teacher. Jesus now reveals how we can keep His commands and remain in His love. He does so by summarizing all His commands into one command: “Love each other as I have loved you.”
He then spells out how we are to love like Him: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This is love: To seek what is best for others regardless of the cost or consequences to our self. This is the kind of love Jesus expressed for you when He lay down His life for you on the cross. It cost Him dearly. He took the humility and shame of your sin on that cross. The weight of your sin and mine crushed him as He became sin for us. But he took the weight of our sin, the shame of our sin upon Himself because He wanted you to know His love – and in knowing His love – to become His friend.
And now, when we stay in constant connection with Jesus, Jesus promises He will bear the fruit of His love – this costly, sacrificial love through our lives. We cannot love like this on our own. For apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. But with Jesus living in us, with Jesus abiding in us, He can and will love through us.
This is the love our world needs. And this is why we need to stay connected to the True Vine. For when we stay connected to Him, we will love each other as He has loved us.
So, this summarizes the Christian life – what it means to abide in Christ: to be a people who love like Jesus! But we can’t do this without Jesus. That’s why living the Christian life is not about what we do or don’t do. It’s all about Jesus, what He will do when we stay connected in Him. Let’s pray.
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