The Love of Christ Constraineth us.

From: A Message From God: 1935

“GOD so loved... that He gave His only begotten Son.” In the wonderful chapter in the Corinthian letter, the Holy Spirit shows to us through the Apostle Paul that love is absolutely indispensable to Christian service. We read in the opening verse of this “Love” chapter that whatever our gifts or abilities may be, without love we are nothing. It is possible to have eloquent speech (vs. 1), to be equipped with all knowledge (vs. 2), to have the mighty faith which removes mountains (vs. 2), to be sacrificial in giving to the poor, and to offer our bodies for burning (vs. 3), and yet without love. God grant us a soul-stirring and glorious vision of God’s love, revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. May He bring us anew the experience of the constraining, overmastering love of Christ. Constrained by the love of Christ, we shall have a real compassion for the lost, perishing souls for whom Christ agonized and bled on Calvary’s cruel cross. We lament the coldness of our hearts, and the cry of our souls is for more perfect love — more devotion to Christ and more love for precious souls.

There are just three things about the love of Christ I have space to mention in this opening message.

1. It is a love that never calculates.

“He steadfastly set His face to go up to Jerusalem.” —Luke 9:51⁵¹And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, (Luke 9:51).

How great was the cost, and yet Christ moved forward tr to the great conflict with a love which was stronger than death. We do not know what lies before us in His call to service, but God grant us the love which never calculates. The early disciples “loved not their lives unto the death.”

2. It is a love that never changes.

“Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” —John 13:1¹Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1).

The love of Christ never changes. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We are often changing in our love and faith, but the love of Christ remains the same.

Nearly two thousand years have passed since Christ died on Calvary’s Cross, but His love is the same today. We need this unchanging love!

3. It is a love that never ceases.

“I have loved thee with an everlasting love.”— Jer. 31:3³The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3).

Praise God for the eternal love of His great heart! It will roll on, increasing in power and wonder when the oceans have passed away, and the empires of this world have crumbled to the dust. The love of Christ will never cease. God grant us a fresh experience of the constraining love of Christ, so that we may “go forward” and be a blessing to the great multitudes of precious souls without Him. (By permission)

W. S. H.

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