Compelling Love

Believers can look ahead to the time when our God will wipe every tear from our eyes and make all things new (Rev. 21:4-5).  Our afflictions are outweighed by the eternal weight of glory that is to come (2 Cor. 4:17).  Overcomers will sit with Christ on his throne  (Rev. 3:-21).  This hope is an anchor for our soul (Heb. 6:19).  It inspires us to get ready for the great day of His appearing (1 John 3:3).

Jesus invites us to come to him to find rest and a new life in partnership with him, sharing the light burden of his love.

Matthew 11 (NKJV)
²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 In Matthew 19, Jesus speaks of the renewal of all things, right here on this earth.

Matthew 19 (NIV)
²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Jesus is the good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, so that we can have eternal and abundant life.

 John 10
¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Paul declares that our afflictions are outweighed by the eternal weight of glory that awaits us.

2 Corinthians 4 (NKJV)
¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Overcomers who are faithful to the end will sit with Christ on his throne.

Revelation 3
²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Even now, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  We are ambassadors for him who took the judgment of sin upon himself, so “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

2 Corinthians 5
¹⁴ For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Isaiah 51 describes how the redeemed of the Lord will have everlasting joy.

Isaiah 51 (NKJV)
¹⁰ Are You not the One who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
¹¹ So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 65 describes how God will create new heavens and a new earth.

Isaiah 65
The Glorious New Creation
¹⁷ “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.

Revelation 21 promises that God will dwell with his people in the New Jerusalem.
He is making all things new, and His people will be His bride.

Revelation 21 (NKJV)
All Things Made New
21 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. ² Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

⁶ And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. ⁷ He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

The vision of living in a restored heaven and earth in the presence of our living God gives us a hope that inspires us to get ready for that great day.

1 John 3 (NKJV)
² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, January 20, 2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
http://www.firebreathingchristian.com/archives/7439
https://www.thefellowshipsite.org/john-1010.html
http://www.dailylifeverse.com/posts/2012/10/2-corinthians-5-17
http://praisephotography.com/category/north-island-new-zealand/
https://media4lifephotography.com/tag/bride/