The Love Of Christ

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.