Overcoming Evil with Genuine Love in Christ

 

Summary

In the midst of a world filled with darkness and evil, the call to overcome evil with good is both a challenge and a promise. Reflecting on Romans 12, we are reminded of the historical context in which the early Christians lived—under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire, yet shining as a beacon of hope and light. The message is clear: evil does not have to define us. In Christ, we are empowered to rise above the evil that surrounds us and the evil that has been done to us. The key to overcoming evil is genuine love, a love that is sincere, authentic, and transformative.

Genuine love is not merely about acceptance and affirmation, as our culture often suggests. Instead, it is about acceptance and transformation. Jesus Christ exemplified this love by not affirming our lostness, sickness, or captivity, but by coming to save, heal, and set us free. This love is a call to action, urging us to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good. It begins at home, within the community of believers, and then extends outward into the world.

The early church provides a powerful testimony of this love in action. During times of great suffering, such as the epidemics that ravaged Rome, Christians demonstrated unbounded love and loyalty, caring for the sick at great personal risk. Their actions stood in stark contrast to the self-preservation of the surrounding culture. Similarly, in a society that devalued human life, Christians rescued and raised abandoned infants, embodying the principle of overcoming evil with good.

Genuine love also involves lifting others up, outdoing one another in showing honor. In a world where tearing others down is commonplace, the church is called to be a community that builds up, reflecting the love of Christ. This love is not just a theoretical concept but a practical reality that begins with those God has placed in our lives—our families, colleagues, neighbors, and fellow believers. By loving genuinely, we reflect the transformative power of Christ's love and fulfill His command to love one another as He has loved us.

Key Takeaways:

- Genuine Love Transforms: Genuine love is not about mere acceptance but about transformation. Jesus Christ came to save, heal, and set us free, demonstrating that true love seeks to change and uplift rather than simply affirm our current state. [14:26]

- Love Begins at Home: The call to love starts within the community of believers. By practicing love among those closest to us, we develop the capacity to extend that love to others, even our enemies. This love is nurtured in the church and spills out into the world. [22:20]

- Discriminating Love: Genuine love involves discerning between good and evil. It requires abhorring what is evil while holding fast to what is good. This discernment is crucial in a world where moral lines are often blurred. [16:05]

- Lifting Others Up: In a culture that often tears people down, Christians are called to lift others up, outdoing one another in showing honor. This involves speaking and acting in ways that build others up, reflecting the love of Christ. [30:40]

- Overcoming Evil with Good: The early church exemplified overcoming evil with good through acts of sacrificial love and service. By caring for the sick and rescuing abandoned infants, they demonstrated the power of genuine love to transform society. [26:45]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:15] - Context of Romans 12
- [01:23] - Overcoming Evil with Good
- [03:10] - The Church's Testimony
- [04:35] - First Century Focus Group
- [06:13] - Strategies for Overcoming Evil
- [07:23] - Let Love Be Genuine
- [09:09] - Authentic Love
- [10:14] - Cultural vs. Biblical Love
- [12:21] - Jesus' Transformative Love
- [14:26] - Acceptance and Transformation
- [16:05] - Discriminating Love
- [19:28] - Love the Captive Soul
- [20:04] - Love Begins at Home
- [23:27] - Early Church's Sacrificial Love
- [27:41] - Value of Human Life
- [30:40] - Lifting Others Up
- [34:28] - Call to Genuine Love

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Romans 12:9-21

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Observation Questions:

1. What does Romans 12:21 instruct us to do in response to evil? How does this align with the sermon’s message about overcoming evil with good? [01:23]

2. According to the sermon, what historical context were the early Christians living in, and how did it influence their understanding of overcoming evil? [00:15]

3. How did the early church demonstrate genuine love during times of epidemics, according to the sermon? [23:27]

4. What does the sermon suggest is the first step in overcoming evil with good, as outlined in Romans 12:9? [07:23]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the sermon define genuine love, and how does this differ from the cultural understanding of love as mere acceptance and affirmation? [14:42]

2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that genuine love involves transformation rather than just acceptance? How does this reflect the actions of Jesus Christ? [14:26]

3. The sermon mentions that genuine love begins at home. How does this principle apply to the relationships within the church community? [20:04]

4. How does the sermon describe the role of Christians in lifting others up in a culture that often tears people down? What practical steps can be taken to embody this principle? [30:40]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you were tempted to let evil define you. How can the message of Romans 12:21 help you overcome that temptation? [01:43]

2. The sermon emphasizes the importance of genuine love starting within the community of believers. How can you practice this love in your interactions with fellow church members this week? [22:20]

3. Consider the cultural definition of love as acceptance and affirmation. How can you balance this with the biblical call to love through transformation in your personal relationships? [14:42]

4. The early church took significant risks to care for the sick and abandoned. What is one way you can demonstrate sacrificial love in your community today? [23:27]

5. In what ways can you actively lift others up in your daily life, especially in environments where negativity is prevalent? [30:40]

6. Think about someone in your life who might be considered an "enemy." How can you begin to develop a capacity to love them, starting with the principles discussed in the sermon? [22:08]

7. The sermon calls for a love that is sincere and authentic. Identify one relationship in your life where you can strive to make your love more genuine. What specific actions will you take to achieve this? [09:09]

Devotional

Day 1: Transformative Love Seeks Change and Upliftment
Genuine love is not about mere acceptance but about transformation. It is a love that seeks to change and uplift rather than simply affirm our current state. Jesus Christ exemplified this love by coming to save, heal, and set us free. This transformative love is sincere, authentic, and has the power to overcome the evil that surrounds us. It challenges us to rise above the darkness and evil in the world, empowering us to be a beacon of hope and light. [14:26]

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV): "To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

Reflection: Identify an area in your life where you feel stagnant. How can you invite God's transformative love to bring change and growth in that area today?


Day 2: Love Begins Within the Community
The call to love starts within the community of believers. By practicing love among those closest to us, we develop the capacity to extend that love to others, even our enemies. This love is nurtured in the church and spills out into the world. It is a love that is cultivated in our homes, among our families, and within our church communities, creating a foundation for reaching out to the broader world. [22:20]

1 John 4:11-12 (ESV): "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

Reflection: Think of a specific way you can show love to someone in your church community this week. How can this act of love strengthen your relationship with them and reflect God's love?


Day 3: Discerning Love in a Blurred World
Genuine love involves discerning between good and evil. It requires abhorring what is evil while holding fast to what is good. This discernment is crucial in a world where moral lines are often blurred. By holding fast to what is good, we align ourselves with God's will and reflect His character in our actions and decisions. [16:05]

Hebrews 5:14 (ESV): "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

Reflection: Consider a decision you are currently facing. How can you apply discernment to ensure that your choice aligns with God's goodness and truth?


Day 4: Building Up in a Culture of Tearing Down
In a culture that often tears people down, Christians are called to lift others up, outdoing one another in showing honor. This involves speaking and acting in ways that build others up, reflecting the love of Christ. By choosing to honor and uplift others, we create a community that mirrors the kingdom of God, where love and respect are paramount. [30:40]

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV): "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."

Reflection: Identify someone in your life who needs encouragement. What specific words or actions can you offer to build them up today?


Day 5: Overcoming Evil with Acts of Sacrificial Love
The early church exemplified overcoming evil with good through acts of sacrificial love and service. By caring for the sick and rescuing abandoned infants, they demonstrated the power of genuine love to transform society. This love calls us to go beyond self-preservation and comfort, reaching out to those in need with compassion and selflessness. [26:45]

Galatians 6:9-10 (ESV): "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Reflection: Reflect on a way you can serve someone in need this week. How can your actions demonstrate the sacrificial love of Christ to those around you?

Quotes


Here is God speaking to people in extraordinarily Dark Days people who are in Jesus Christ and he says now the evil that you have suffered does not need to Define you and anyone who has suffered a great evil knows how easy it is for that evil to overcome you for it to become the biggest single thing in your life for it to dominate you for it to Define you and God says now don't let that happened to you no you are in Jesus Christ and when you're in Jesus Christ you're not to be overcome by the evil that surrounds you you're not to be overcome by the evil that has been done to you you are in Christ and so something else something better is possible for you. [00:01:18]

The first thing I would put down on the list is we all have to pray and I found when I asked people that that was the most common answer people said oh I think I'd put pray down at the top of the list uh I would put on my list we need to raise up Godly leaders in every sphere of life in the schools in business in the Arts and in politics we need to teach our children the difference between right and wrong give them a thorough view of the Bible we need a new surge in regards to evangelism And in regards to church planting now all of these of course are good and necessary things all of them should be on the list. [00:06:23]

Let love be genuine abhor what is evil hold fast to what is good love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another in showing honor now I don't know about you but Christians loving one another would not have been at the top of my list of five strategies if I had been asked in that way to come up with what we should do in order to overcome evil with good um and so this is very striking to me that when God lays out the steps that lead to overcoming evil with good which is what we have in Romans chapter uh 12 and veres 9- 21 the first thing that God says is let love be genuine that's where you got to begin if you want to overcome evil with good. [00:07:20]

Genuine love discriminates between good and evil notice what it says verse 9 abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good that word aor aphor means L literally have a horror of something if you love what is good you will have a horror of that which would destroy it if you love truth you'll have a horror of Lies if you love peace you'll have a horror with regards to war to aor evil is part of what it means to love good now notice something very significant here that God says abor what what is evil it's What Not Who. [00:16:05]

Our call to war is to love the captive soul but to rage against the capto that is the devil we are not called brothers and sisters to Rage Against The Captive Soul we're not raging against other people not Christians our call is to love the captive soul to love the captive Soul that's our call and where's our rage to be directed it's to be directed to the evil one himself to Rage Against the captor that's our call to war and it is really important to understand it it is very very difficult friends to win people to Jesus Christ after we have branded them the enemy and our calling is to reach out to every person and to seek to win them to Jesus Christ that's our call. [00:19:28]

Genuine love begins at home notice what he says here love one another verse 10 with brotherly affection so Paul has been talking about what genuine love looks like now he's moving to The Who and uh he says love one another now surely the significance of this is that it is very easy to talk about love in general terms it's very easy to talk about oh loving everybody loving the world and so forth and so on there are 7 billion people in the world and any of us is going to meet in the course of an entire lifetime only a tiny fraction of 1% of them here's where the issue really comes into practice with regard to love the real challenge is not to love people in general the real challenge is to love the people that God actually places in your life and brings across your path. [00:20:04]

Most of our Christian brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty never thinking of themselves and thinking only of one another heedless of danger they took charge of the sick attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ and with them departing this life serenely happy for they were infected by others with the disease drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains many in nursing and curing others transferred their death to themselves and died in their Stead he continues the Heathen behaved in exactly the opposite way at the first onset of the disease they pushed sufferers away and fled from their dearest throwing them out into the roads before they were dead and treated unburied corpses as dirt hoping thereby to avert the spread of the contagion and the contagion of the Fatal disease. [00:23:27]

Another great evil that uh plagued the Roman Empire in those early days was the horribly low value that was placed on human life Stark describes the uh Grim early attempt at abortion which um of course took not only the life of the child but very very very often the life of the mother as well and for that reason abortion was relatively rare what was more common was infanticide in other words a child was brought to birth and then simply placed in the street and left that way there was no danger to the mother's life and so it became a widely pract it was called the exposure of infants it was actually commended um uh by uh Plato and by Aristotle as state policy the exposure of infants again I quote from Stark it was common to expose an unwanted infant Out of Doors where it could in principle be taken up by someone who wished to rear it but where it typically fell victim to the elements and to animals and to birds. [00:26:45]

Love must be genuine genuine love discriminates between good and evil genuine love begins at home it's nurtured among the people of God and then it spills out into the world and here's the last thing genuine love lifts other people up outdo one another in showing honor now here friends again is something of huge importance for us obviously today it relates to the way in which we speak of one another and it relates to the way in which we speak about one another speak to one another and speak of one another um we live in a culture that largely through the influence of social media has taken a huge sweep in the direction of just putting other people down uh platforms for invective platforms for hatred platforms for anger we live in the world of the attack ad the attack web sight and God reaches out to his people in this darkness and says now let it be different among my redeemed people. [00:30:40]

Christ calls us to be a community of people who in our words and in our actions lift one another up in the middle of a world where everyone else is tearing other people down and the New Testament is full of this do not let any UNH wholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their need that what you say may benefit those who listen I like to think of it this way that the church is called to and has the privilege of pursuing this calling we are called to bring a touch of Pentecost right into the middle of Babel that's what the church is supposed to do we're to bring a touch of Pentecost into the middle of Babel. [00:31:39]

Let love be genuine abhor what is evil hold fast to what is good love one another with a brotherly affection and out Todo one another in showing honor you show more honor to someone else than they show to you more respect to someone else than they show to you that's what that means Christ calls us to something different in a world where people are being torn down our calling is to lift Jesus Christ up and where he is lifted up everyone who comes to him is lifted up does the church always do this well no too often it becomes about us too often it becomes about what we want and who we are and when that happens we're just a mirror of the world remember what Jesus said the words are going to come up on the screen and maybe you will read them with me here's what Jesus says to his disciples a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you you also are to love one another and by this people will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. [00:34:28]

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Transcript
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