Anyone Who Hates Their Life...Will Keep It

John 12:22-25,41 – Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life… Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Mark 8:34-35 – Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Luke 14:26 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

Luke 9:23 – Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Malachi 1:2-3 – “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Application:

• ·         Isaiah spoke primarily of the glory of God. John spoke of the glory of Jesus and made no basic distinction between the two, attesting Jesus’ oneness with God. The thought of glory here is complex. There is the idea of majesty, and there is also the idea that Jesus’ death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection and exaltation show His real glory. This is the cross and this is glory, for the cross, resurrection and exaltation portray both suffering and healing, rejection and triumph, humiliation and glory.
• ·         To love one’s life here and now—to concentrate on one’s own success—is to lose what truly matters. Love for God must be such that all other loves are, by comparison, hatred.
• ·         Physical life may be saved by denying Jesus, but eternal life will be lost. Conversely, discipleship may result in the loss of physical life, but that loss is insignificant when compared with gaining eternal life.
• ·         “Hate father and mother” was a vivid hyperbole, meaning that one must love Jesus even more than one’s immediate family.
• ·         Cross-bearing includes a willingness to suffer and die for the Lord’s sake.
• ·         To follow Jesus requires self-denial, complete dedication and willing obedience.
• ·         If God’s people doubt His covenant love, they should consider the contrast between God’s ways with them and His ways with Jacob’s brother, Esau. Paul explains God’s love for Jacob and hatred for Esau on the basis of election. God chose Jacob, not Esau.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV