TEN TRUTHS REGARDING LOVE FOR CHRIST
1 – We MUST be begotten of the Father if we are to have love for Christ.
The Jews are corrected and chastised for their lack of love for Christ –
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Calvin –
Christ’s argument is this: “Whoever is a child of God will acknowledge his first-born Son; but you hate me, and therefore you have no reason to boast, that you are God’s children.”
1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
So – We trust in Christ because we are begotten of God!
We love Christ because we are begotten of God!
We love the brethren because we are begotten of God!
1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
John Gill –
in regeneration love to Christ is always implanted: it is a fruit of the Spirit, which always comes along with the superabounding grace of God in conversion; whoever are begotten again, according to abundant mercy, love an unseen Jesus; and where there is no love to Christ, there can be no regeneration: such persons are not born again; nor is God their Father
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2 – Love for Christ is fundamental and essential in the service of Christ.
Joh 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Joh 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Joh 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Calvin –
By these words Christ means that no man can faithfully serve the Church, and employ himself in feeding the flock, if he do not look higher than to men.
First, the office of feeding is in itself laborious and troublesome; since nothing is more difficult than to keep men under the yoke of God, among whom there are many who are weak, others who are wanton and unsteady, others who are dull and sluggish, and others who are slow and unteachable. Satan now brings forward as many causes of offense as he can, that he may destroy or weaken the courage of a good pastor. In addition to this, we must take into account the ingratitude of many and other causes of disgust.
No man, therefore, will steadily persevere in the discharge of this office, unless the love of Christ shall reign in his heart, in such a manner that, forgetful of himself and devoting himself entirely to Christ, he overcomes every obstacle.
Thus Paul declares this to have been the state of his own feelings, when he says, The love of Christ constraineth us,
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3 – Love for Christ is to be the supreme love of our hearts.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Note, The first requirement if difficult – The second even more so!
John Gill –
that as Christ is infinitely above all creatures, he is to be loved above the nearest and dearest relations and friends; being God over all blessed for ever, and also the Saviour and Redeemer; which itself, makes him more amiable and lovely than a common parent.
That man therefore, that prefers father and mother to Christ, and their instructions, and orders, to the truths and ordinances of Christ: who, to please them, breaks the commands of Christ, rejects his Gospel, and either denies him, or does not confess him, our Lord says, is not worthy of me; or, as in Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, he is not ראוי לאותי, “fit for me”:
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4 – There is a curse over them that love not Christ.
1Co 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
TSK, That is, “Let him be accursed; our Lord cometh,” i.e., to execute the judgment denounced.
Consider, Love for Christ is so appropriate that the lack of it requires nothing less than everlasting condemnation.
That is why Luther feared when he realised that he did not love God.
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5 – The love of Christ, and love to Christ is the compelling force of our service.
2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
The Love of Christ constrained Paul for two key reasons.
[1] – The state of those for whom Christ died!
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead
So, we were dead in sins when Christ died for us!
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
[2] – The Reason for which Christ died.
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
And,
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
And –
1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
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6 – Love to and for Christ is the very enabling of our understanding of his love and grace.
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
What is that which strengthens us with might in the inner man?
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
What is the fruit of this love for Christ?
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Note, If we do not love him and if we are not grounded in his love, we will not know or comprehend him or the grace of God!
It is in loving Christ that we enter into all the joys and blessings and fulness of what it is to be a Christian!
F. B. Meyer –
A dying veteran in Napoleon’s army, when the surgeon was probing for the fatal bullet, said, “A little deeper and you will find the Emperor.”
Faith opens the door to the Spirit; the Spirit reveals Christ; Christ fills the heart; the heart begins to understand love; and love is the medium through which we become infilled with God, for God is love.
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7 – There is a gospel benediction upon all those that truly love the Lord Jesus.
(just as there is an apostolic curse upon those who do not love the Lord Jesus)
(1Co 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.)
Eph 6:24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Calvin,
The meaning is, “May God continue to bestow his favor on all who love Jesus Christ with a pure conscience!”…
This prayer conveys to us the instruction, that the only way of enjoying the light of the Divine countenance is to love sincerely God’s own Son, in whom his love toward us has been declared and confirmed.
But let there be no hypocrisy; for most men, while they are not unwilling to make some professions of religion, entertain exceedingly low notions of Christ, and worship him with pretended homage.
I wish there were not so many instances in the present day to prove that Paul’s admonition, to love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity is as necessary as ever.
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8 – Genuine love for Christ will make us want to live for him in this world and live with him in the next world.
Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Php 1:22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
(In reverse order)
Paul had,
[1] – The Longing to be with Christ
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
[2] – The Reality of Living for Christ
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
[3] – The Liberty of a saving relationship with Christ
Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
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9 – Love to Christ will make us willing to forsake all other loves.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Note,
The financial metaphor used here.
“Gain” – “loss”
Christ is the great prize to be won at the expense of losing everything else.
Compare, The Parable of the Pearl,
Mat 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Consider Jim Elliot who died in the service of Christ in 1956 at the age of 28.
His journal entry for October 28, 1949 –
He wrote, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
It is close to a saying of the English nonconformist preacher Philip Henry (1631–1696) who said “He is no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that which he cannot lose”
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10 – This love to Christ is a completely fulfilling and satisfying love.
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
| Q.1: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,1 and to enjoy him forever.2 |
Asaph could say,
Psa 73:24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Psa 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Psa 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
David,
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
May the Lord bless His Word to our souls.
Amen.