Compelling Love

Jesus prayed in John 17:26, “I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”  Jesus came to deliver us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His love, as described in Colossians 1:13-14.

Colossians 1 (NKJV)
⁹ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 

Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  This is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us, as explained in Romans 5:8 and 1 John 4:10.

Romans 5 New King James Version (NKJV)
⁶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

1 John 4:10 (AMPC)
In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

In John 6, Jesus further described His atoning sacrifice for us that we receive by faith in Him:

John 6 (NKJV)
³⁵ And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The power of Jesus’ blood that was shed for the sins of the world is declared in Revelation 1:5-6, along with the high priestly calling of believers.

Revelation 1 (NKJV)
⁴ John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who ­­­­­are before His throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷ Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, ”says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Having been transferred from the power of darkness into His kingdom of love, it is now our joyous privilege to walk in the light as he is in the light, in fellowship with Him and with one another, as described in 1 John 1.

1 John 1 (NKJV)
⁵ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 7/21/2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1)  http://mastershandcollection.com/blog/category/monday-motivation/page/2/
(2)  https://www.amazingfacts.org/news-and-features/scripture-pictures/scripture-pictures-by-verse/verse/e/28056/t/romans-5-8
(3)  https://www.deviantart.com/bible-quote/art/John-6-35-Daily-Bible-Verse-563677463
(4)  https://images.knowing-jesus.com/i/revelation-1-5-jesus-christ-the-faithful-witness-red