Corinthians 5:14-15
¹⁴For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: ¹⁵And 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.
When we look at this scripture at face value, we are prompted to believe that our love for Christ is what constrains us from doing certain things, that we otherwise might do. We refrain from doing those things not only because we are afraid to do them, but also because we love Christ too much to do them. Wow! How powerful a restraining force of love in a Christian that bears Jesus Christ as their Saviour! That love in a Christian heart is a restraining force even more powerful than fear.
However when you look at scripture keenly you will realize that it is not about our love for Christ, but Christ’s love for us, which restrains us from doing certain things, that indescribable love which Christ manifested when He died for us on the cross, as without Christ’s love for us, there would not be our love for Christ. Christ loved us even when we were yet sinners and gave himself for us knowing that nothing we shall ever do can equate to even a bit of the blood sacrifice that He made on the cross, we see the above sacrifice as the ultimate test of true love.
1 John 4:8, 10
⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Christ had a choice of not undergoing the humiliating death on the cross but the constraining power of His love for you and me persuaded Him to choose the cup of pain and agony of crucifixion on the cross. I can imagine Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane while groaning in prayer, with sweat as droplets of blood and foreboding the pain of the cross thinking, “What would become of humanity if I give up now?”
Matthew 26:38-39
³⁸Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. ³⁹And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Henceforth, because we have thus judged, the love of Christ constrains us because we formed the conviction long ago that Christ died for all and that therefore all died. We who have this conviction formed in our minds are restrained ever after from doing certain things that would make Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross a fallacy since we are beyond convinced that Christ’s death was an emblem of love towards us. Therefore, we cannot do the things that are displeasing to him who by his death hemmed us in such a powerful love, once we are convinced that Christ’s death was for us, our gratitude to the one who died restrains us from evil more effectively than prison bars could ever restrain us.
John 15:13-14
¹³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Prophetic Utterance:
I have hope in Christ and I am not ashamed because the Holy Ghost, which is given unto me, sheds the love of God abroad in my heart!
I am drenched in the love of Christ that teaches me to love Him and others because He first loved me!
In the love of Christ, I move, I live, and have my being!
Halleluya.
Guiding Text:
Romans 5:6-8
⁶For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.