The Love of Christ

My brother, sister-in-law, and I had "church" very briefly on Sunday afternoon. I have been thinking on Knuckle-head's statements ever since. Our conversation was based on James 2:12-13 "So speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment." The idea being, we (who are in Christ) are not going to be judged by the law (for he who lives by the law will be judged by it), but rather by the command to love and have mercy as Christ loves and has mercy upon us.

The scripture that came to my mind this week is, "The love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." II Cor 5:14-15. The LOVE of Christ controls us.... and what is this love? Check out I Cor. 13 for starters. (Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices in truth, bears all things, hopes all things endures all things, and never fails.) Wes King says in one of his songs, "it's laying down your life". The above stated verse says "...no longer live for themselves." Love takes no thought for itself....no selfishness. My brother challenged me to love ALL without condition. This includes my enemies, my friends, my family, and those who have hurt me either intentionally or unintentionally. Easier said than done (hence the need for a new heart). True love cares more for the other person than itself, at all times. It takes no thought for itself. It doesn't need to be noticed. Its pride doesn't need to be stroked. It just loves for love's sake.

God loves us in Christ in an amazing and awesome way. God pursues us! We, who have sinned terribly, rebelled against Him constantly and refused to acknowledge him. I have just begun reading a C.H. Spurgeon sermon entitled "The Backslider's Door of Hope". In it he said, "The Law had failed, in that it was weak through the flesh, so He would use the Gospel - He would bring the Omnipotent power of love into the field! ....'I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.' And I sought, then, to set forth the strange ways in which God, with wondrous love, allures His people to Himself - how He draws them away from all their former confidences and hopes and brings them into a wilderness alone with Him. And there He must feed them, or they must die - there He must guide them, or they must hopelessly stray. And there He must be everything to them, or else they must be destroyed with a great destruction. When the Lord, in love, brings His people to be alone with Him, then it is that He makes His promises come home to their hearts - and His person, His purposes, His ancient love and all the great preparations of that love as to the eternal future are laid home to the hearts of God's backsliding children - and they are made, again to rejoice therein so that they are comforted."

It struck me that perhaps too few of us (if any) really comprehend the love of Christ and "how wide, how high, how deep and how long" His love toward us is. When we truly understand the depths of the love of God through Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be controlled by it. To love as He loves. To see as He sees. When it happens in someone, it is unmistakable. You see it in them. They cannot be called "hypocrite" for they desire nothing so much as to be pleasing to Christ. When we love - the law is fulfilled completely, naturally, and wholly, for we do not want to do those things that we formally found to be so appealing and delightful because it hurts God and it hurts those around us. Hence, no need for the law.

Therefore, it becomes not so much about what we do or don't do in terms of works. ("Did I read my Bible? Did I say the Lord's name in vain? Did I do work on Sunday? Did I pray today?") It becomes a delight and a natural overflow of who we now are in Christ. Not burdensome and unattainable - a goal that must be reached before we can enter the Kingdom of God. If we delight in our works, we become a burden to those around us, and Christ's work becomes nothing more than a ticket to heaven.