The Love of the Christ
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February 10, 2013 |
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 "And walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Ephesians 5:2).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
The power of love is amazing to turn impossible things into possible ones. It is even more so with the love of God and of the Lord. No matter how incompetent one may be, this love makes the one an able man.
An uneducated fisherman; a tax collector, regarded by others as a sinner; a poor man; a widow—no matter what they were or who they were—those who were not fairly treated in the world had their lives completely changed after they met Jesus. Their problems with poverty and illness were resolved. But, best of all, they received true love they had never received before. They thought of themselves as useless, but they were renewed as instruments that gave glory to God. This is the power of love.
Then, what kind of love did Jesus Christ the Savior specifically give for all mankind?
1. Jesus, coming to the earth as the Son of God
God, who had existed as the Word in the beginning, came to the earth in human likeness to save all mankind. That human likeness is Jesus.
Jesus left all heavenly glory behind and came to the earth that was full of sin and evil, just to save us. He was born in a stable to open the way of salvation for men who had lost the image of God and lived as nothing more than beasts. Also, He was laid in a manger to become true food for us as recorded in John 6:51.
Jesus began His public ministry as the Savior with the first sign, turning water into wine, at the wedding banquet held in Cana. He performed many signs and wonders and spread the gospel of the kingdom. The blind came to see and the deaf to hear. Lepers came to be healed and the lame came to get up and jump. The demon-possessed were released from the forces of darkness. Even a man that had been dead four days came out from the tomb as recorded in John chapter 11.
2. Jesus, fulfilling the Law with love
The Bible records God's commands, telling us to do, not to do, to keep, and to throw away something. But God wants us not just to keep them on the outside with deeds. But He wants us to act according to them with love that comes from the bottom of the heart. Jesus knew such a heart of God and fulfilled the Law with love Himself.
A typical example is the case of a woman who committed adultery described in the 8th chapter of the Book of John. One day, the Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and after having set her in the center of the court they said to Jesus that the Law commanded them to stone such women. Then they asked, "But, what do you say?" If Jesus had told them to follow the Law they would have said He had no love. If He had told them to forgive her they would have condemned Him saying He ignored the Law.
But then, Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. He wrote down the sins that the crowd there had committed. They saw their sins He wrote down on the ground and couldn't bear to stone her. Because they had qualms of conscience they left one by one. And only the woman was left behind.
Jesus said to her, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." Even the sinless Jesus didn't condemn her. Jesus neither pointed out the woman nor people who condemned her. He just gave them realization with love so that they could repent.
Then, is the Law unnecessary if we have love for God and neighbors? No, it isn't. Matthew 5:17 reads, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." If someone says he loves God, we can't know how big and wide his love is but we can measure it to some degree through the Law. If we love God with all our hearts it is not hard to keep the Law.
3. Jesus, accomplishing the providence of the cross by obeying to the point of death
As Jesus' three-year public ministry was drawing to an end, Jesus prayed fervently in Gethsemane before His crucifixion. He cried out in prayer as He was paying the price of His blood that has no sin at all, for the salvation of all souls. He prayed very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:42-44).
At the night, Jesus was captured by soldiers, interrogated, and sentenced to death. The Roman soldiers put the thorny crown on His head and spat on Him. They beat Him and took Him to the execution ground (Matthew 27:28-31). He was mocked and scourged all night. With His blood-stained body, Jesus took the cross and went up to Golgotha.
Jesus reached the top of the Golgotha where He was crucified to redeem us from sins. He shed all His precious blood on the wooden cross to redeem us who were cursed by the Law saying, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). He redeemed us from all sins committed through our thoughts by wearing the thorny crown. He was nailed through His hands and feet and shed blood to set us free from sins we committed with our hands and feet.
In such an excruciating pain, He offered up prayer of forgiveness and love for those who crucified Him. Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). He suffered on the cross for six hours and finally took His last breath.
That was the moment that love reached its peak in human history. By this, the wall of sins between God and men was destroyed and they came to be able to communicate with God directly. Before, the chief priest had to give sacrifices to redeem men from sins on their behalf. But now we as individuals can repent of our sins with faith in Jesus Christ and we can directly communicate with God.
4. Jesus, preparing heavenly dwelling places and leading even one more soul to salvation
Jesus Christ overcame death, resurrected, and while many people were watching, He ascended into Heaven. That is, He went to Heaven to prepare a place for us as written in John 14:2-3. Now, the Lord is giving intercessory prayer for us without ceasing. He doesn't eat and drink but He just prays earnestly (Matthew 26:29). He prays so that we can achieve a victory in the process of human cultivation and for our souls to prosper and to reveal the glory of God.
Also, the Lord will still get tensed even during the Great Judgment of White Throne after all our human cultivation is done. This is because all men have to receive correct judgment in accordance with what they have done in light of justice. He will defend God's children so that they can receive a better dwelling place in Heaven and more rewards. Since He experienced and has seen all things on the earth, He defends them in their position, acting as their 'defense attorney'.
Dear brothers and sisters. God let us know His love towards us through Jesus Christ. The love was the life-sacrificing love that didn't spare the last drop of blood. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? I pray in the name of the Lord that you will spread the gospel throughout the world and lead souls to salvation with thanks for the grace of the Lord who loved you even suffering the crucifixion.
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