Twin City church of Christ Blog
“June 12, 2024 - The Love of Christ Controls Us”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsThe Love of Christ Controls Us
Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Not only does the fact of future judgment motivate Paul to please Jesus (2 Cor 5:9-10), but it also fuels his preaching. “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others”(2 Cor 5:11). Paul will employ any approach—including fear of Jesus’ disapproval—to convince others to believe in Jesus. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised”(2 Cor 5:14-15). Since Jesus “died for all,” the ultimate act of love, so we respond to that love by living for him rather than ourselves. Jesus’ love becomes the determining factor in all our decisions.
His love also means that our way of evaluating others has changed: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh”(2 Cor 5:16). Jesus died for all people, so no one person is worth more than another. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”(2 Cor 5:17). The fact that matters now is not our “fleshly” characteristics but the change Jesus is causing in us. We are entirely new—and this is God’s word as part of “reconciling the world to himself”(2 Cor 5:19). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”(2 Cor 5:21). The gospel is not just Jesus dying for our sins; he saved us from sin so that we could become righteous, new creatures, and no longer live for ourselves.
We often hear about the love of Jesus in romantic terms; it is a pleasant thought that Jesus loves us and wants us to be saved. But Paul’s view is deeper. “The love of Christ controls us.” Our lives reorient around this fact. We tell others about his love. We remake our relationships. We love our neighbors and our enemies. We choose honesty and fidelity. We humble ourselves. We become new people. None of this is forced upon us. It is the love of Christ controlling us.
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One Thing to Think About: Are there people I “regard according to the flesh”? Why?
One Thing to Pray For: Vision to see God’s great work in the world
