“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35)

Jesus was God manifest in the flesh:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

This means that before, God had been seen and worshiped and loved as a God who was far away. He was only seen and known to us in a certain way and for a specific reason. But now He walked among us, as one of us; He suffered the things we suffered; He showed us a love that we had never experienced before. And He did all this without sin.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

To say that Jesus was without sin is to say that He did not break any of the Commandments. And that is the same thing as saying that He obeyed all the commandments. Jesus was God demonstrating to mankind how we are commanded to live among and love one another.

Jesus loved with an unconditional love. We are not able to love one another as Jesus loved the disciples, unless we have been given the ability to do so. I think we are only able if we have been made New in Christ.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A New Commandment is for a New Creature. Being born-again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to obey the Commandments of God. Jesus made it simple for us by telling us, in Matthew 22:37-40, that what is expected of us now is really what was expected of us all along, and can be done by the Power and Act of Love.

The Bible says in Exodus 6:2-3:

“And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:” (Exodus 6:2)

“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. “ (Exodus 6:3)

God had been known to the Children of Israel as “I AM” (Exodus 3:13-14). The name “JEHOVAH” was to be the name the Children of Israel would know God by after they were free.

Being free would definitely make them a new people. Most of them, if not all of them, had been born in bondage; they knew no other way to live and no other way to worship. They had to obey the commandments of Pharaoh while in bondage. They also would have to obey Commandments from God after being made free (Exodus 20:1-17).

God Himself did not change from being one God to being a new God! He was the same God that would be known by a New People. And God is the same God yesterday, today, and forever more. He is our Creator. He is the One who makes us a New Creature in Christ!

He is the One who gives us the Command to love one another as He has loved us. Jesus says, in John 13:35:

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Through our obedience to the New Commandment, we show the old man and the new man what God looks like.