The Love of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:14
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Now, you might be wondering about how the topic of love fits in the part of our vision of becoming energized to engage. Well, love is one of the biggest energizers especially understanding the Great Commandment to love the Lord God with the whole of our being, which then leads us to how such love leads us to the second commandment to love others with that same love, or as I like to think of is, love others as we ourselves want to be loved.
But as I was looking at this topic and all the Scriptures that talk about God’s love for us, there was a verse, or should I say the first part of a particular verse that took my breath away seeing the immensity and intensity of it.
In this verse, Paul speaks of his motivation for ministry, which should be ours as well. And can I just say that without the right motivation, very little progress can be made.
When the apostle Paul wrote these words, I believe he was describing the powerful, Spirit-filled motivation that drives followers of Jesus to share the gospel in ways that persuade people to commit their lives to Him. And this should then be our motivation as well.
So, let’s take a look at this verse, or more literally the first seven words of this passage.
“For the love of Christ constraineth us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14a KJV)
I’ve chosen the King James, because it uses the word, “constaineth.” And the reason is the multiple definitions of this word, and how, while they all apply to the love God has for us, they also apply to our love for God. Therefore, it’s double sided, that is, it is a two-edged sword, dividing both ways, and all for our good.
But to begin, I’d like to take time to look at this phrase, “The Love of Christ.” And while it is a phrase that occurs throughout the Bible in various forms, it is used only twice in this way.
There is no greater subject that we could talk about than the love of Christ. And I think this is where so many have missed the mark. They use the words, but that’s all that it means to them.
Further, it has a prominent place throughout the Bible, which is God’s revelation to this world. In other words, God wants us to know all about this love.
But it isn’t just confined to the New Testament, but it is found throughout the Bible, that is, both Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament we see it in the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah, because Messiah is the Hebrew of the Greek word, Christ.
Now, you might be wondering where it’s found. The best and most prominent place is Isaiah chapter 53. Here are just a couple of verses to show you the love of Christ, that is, the love of the Messiah.
“Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
Look at how much love is shown in this passage. He took our place and died the death we all deserve, as the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and since everyone has and continues to sin, it means He died for all of us.
Talking about how great this love is, let’s begin with what Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13 NKJV)
And Jesus goes on to say, “I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” (John 15:15-16a)
In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he said, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8 NKJV)
Now, let’s look now at what he said in verse ten.
“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10 NKJV)
And so, looking at what Jesus said in John 15:13, and what Paul said in Romans 5:10, we see just how great the Love of Christ is, in that He died for everyone, both friend and enemy.
And this is the heart, the essence if you would, of the good news of how Jesus came and died for all of us upon the cross because of His love.
But the Love of Christ is seen in even a greater capacity, because of the Love of Christ is in all actuality, the Love of God towards us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)
But since we started this whole thing talking about how great the Love of Christ is, the Apostle Paul really nails it on the head, and this is the other verse that this phrase. “The Love of Christ” is used.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19 NKJV)
In other words, the love of Christ is beyond any dimensions the world may have, and no matter how far out we may go, Christ’s love for us goes even further. Corrie ten Boom said it like this, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is notdeeper still.” You cannot out love God.
And note that Paul said that it is the love of Christ which passes knowledge. In other words, it’s beyond our ability to fully understand. And while we cannot know the immensity of its width, length, depth, and height, we may know something of it, that is, enough to give us a peace that surpasses all understanding where we can, like Paul, count all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord (Philippians 3:8).
But keep with me here because we have to ask and then answer, who is Christ?
He is not a created being, but literally He is the Lord God Himself. When speaking of the coming Messiah, Isaiah proclaimed that He would be no one less than the Lord God dwelling in our midst.
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (which is translated, ‘God with us.)’” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23 NKJV)
The Apostle John declared of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word became 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 1:1, 14 NKJV)
And so, this title, “The Word,” is no one less than the Lord God Himself, the Creator of heaven and earth, and it specifically refers to Jesus because of what John goes on to say in verse 14, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Now, let’s look at the coming Messiah as the Lord reveals through the prophet Jeremiah.
“I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5-6 NKJV)
And so, the love of Christ is nothing less than the love of God for us. That is how great the love of Christ is.
And this love was revealed in both His birth and in His death. This is seen so perfectly in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church as he describes Jesus’s mission.
“Being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 NKJV)
Therefore, with this now clearly established, the question becomes, who are the objects of this love? The answer, we are the objects of Christ’s love.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NKJV)
Notice, God demonstrates His love towards us, that is, you and me. We are the objects of God’s love, of the love of Christ, even though we were His enemies, He loved us. Even in our worse sins, He loves us.
And seeing this love, know that it was not without its cost.
It began when He left heaven, where He laid aside all the glory and honor of divinity and came down to become a baby, born in a stable to poor parents, and laid in a feeding trough for animals.
And the purpose of His birth was so that He could be that perfect sinless sacrifice, as John the Baptist foretold, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NKJV)
And so, Jesus came, and the effect of His coming was that through His love, the love of Christ, the world, that is, you and me, could be redeemed from the law, and hence the wrath of God, procuring for all those who believe reconciliation, pardon, and salvation. Opening a way to God and heaven forever, procuring for us eternal life.
Hopefully we can now see the immensity and greatness of the love of Christ, and how important it is for us to understand and let as many people as we can to know about it.
Now, some have interpreted the phrase, “The Love of Christ,” as Christ’s love for us, while others look at it as our love for Christ. And can I just say that while the Greek language favors the former, that is, Christ’s love for us, what I see is that they both interfuse, one with the other, and they are both relevant and can be supported by the Scriptures.
But the favored interpretation is Christ love for us, which is so apropos given what the Apostle John says.
He said, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10 NKJV)
And so now we get to this word, “constrained,” and why I am describing it as a double-sided sword in its meaning, and that is because with the way in which the phrase, “The Love of Christ,” is parsed in the Greek language, and that parsing extends to this word, “constrained,” which is revealed in both definitions.
Some translations use the word, “control,” while other use the word, “compel.” And as you can see, they are completely different definitions. But let me make this observation, and both are equally correct when it comes to our response to Christ’s love for us that causes us to love Him back.
Now, the definition to constrain, can mean to control, which literally means to hold together and to restrain and restrict. I have found that the word as used in 3rd century B.C. literature, was used for someone that was obliged to stay somewhere longer than he or she wished. In other words, they were detained.
And so, from this definition, the love of Christ controls our actions where we want nothing more than to serve Him.
But I see this as even more, in that the love of Christ restrains and restricts our sinful desires. In other words, the love of Jesus Christ restricts those sinful thoughts and behaviors that bring grief and sorrow to Him. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
And this leads us to the other definition of the word, which means to compel, that is, to urge onward, to compel by force, to drive forward, to press on, and even to excite to action.
And so, seeing how our sinful thoughts, desires, and actions wound the heart of God, this should compel us to seek forgiveness and repent.
It is this second definition that fits the grammar that Paul used. We see this idea from what Paul said in Romans 1:15-16.
“So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:15-16a NKJV)
But what I found fascinating is that this whole verse is in response to those who thought that Paul was crazy. In the verse right before this Paul said, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God.”
Basically, by saying that he and the others were beside themselves, he was saying that the people thought that they had lost their marbles and were out of their minds. And the reason is because they were content to endure a life of pain and suffering if it brought God the glory.
Consider for a moment what Peter said. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.” (1 Peter 1:6-8a NKJV)
And yet, being thought of as crazy for what they believed, and not being ashamed of the gospel, they were honored to be so thought of.
What constrained him, and what should be constraining us, is the knowledge that Jesus Christ loved us so much that He died the death we deserve, so that we can then die to ourselves and live for Him.
Conclusion
Therefore, we can conclude that Christ’s love for us and our love for Christ, both controls and restrains us, while at the same time compels and urges us forward. And what I see in Paul’s life is a man that was so much in love with Jesus Christ that both Jesus and God’s word constrained him to be everything he could be for Christ.
And it is my prayer that such a love will guide our hearts as we wait for Jesus’s return, or until that day when we’re with Him in heaven.
That as believers in Jesus Christ we would be energized in our service of Him. That the love of Christ would control and compel us to speak God’s word of life, and to live out that life before others, that when they hear and see us, they are hearing and seeing Christ in us.
It was only then that Paul understood how the love of Christ was acting as a constraining power, first by compelling him forward in the Great Commission, directing every word He spoke and every act he made towards others for the glory of God, but also restraining him from every self-seeking purpose.
And so, what motivates us to share the good news of Jesus with others? Are we energized by Jesus’s love for us having a genuine love for Christ, or is it merely by some sense of duty? What motivates us will make all the difference.
As I think about this, I am reminded of Jacob, who was so in love with Rachel that he labored 14 years for her. Twice as long as was agreed. And he did so out of his love for her. And so, it is for us, that we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, notonly out of our love for Him, but out of His love for us.
And so, the Love of Christ towards us is a love that knows everything about us and embraces us anyway. It is the love that transforms us to reflect Jesus Christ to a world that is in desperate need of such love.
