I asked the Lord what He wanted me to talk about - what's on His mind - and two verses immediately came to mind out of 2 Corinthians 5.
Now in tugging on this string of thought from my noggin, I won't make the claim of a divine superhighway between me and God where I'm always 100% sure of any, 'Thus sayeth the Lord' moments; but...
what I do believe is that if there is the life of the Spirit on this then that is it's own answer to the source of inspiration - and the subsequent fruit of it will surely glorify the Lord Jesus.
To be real, I have been praying over what to do with my blog with a faith that isn't always super impressive; I've had a LOT rattling around in my heart and my head for some time.
I hope what will turn out to be really fun and really God-inspired is to take one or a few highlighted verses at a time, and draw out of them what God wants to reveal and share through them, (through me);
appropriately interpreted with Holy Spirit and through the lens of the person and life of Jesus in and of His Word.
Quick rabbit trail:
My daughter can't stand orange juice with pulp in it - she will not drink it. I like pulp; to me there's nourishment in it and I don't mind the texture.
Using this analogy, the pulp in the juice is my personality and my experience with Jesus. The pure juice is the Word of God.
I believe there can be great nourishment in the mixture of the two.
Moving along... (some of you may have shot the rabbit already)...
Today's verses read as follows in the NKJV:
"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died; 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." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
These are often used contextually for what comes after in 2 Corinthians 5, as they should be - which is beautiful in and of itself. In verses 17-21, Paul goes on to speak of we as believers (and specifically those at the church in Corinth), as having the call to no longer regard anyone according to the flesh, but seeing instead with spiritual eyes. Going further, he gives a profound exhortation on the ministry of reconciliation given to all of us, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
What stops me in my tracks lately is that one line - "For the love of Christ compels us...".
There are actually several different views or meanings we could take from this.
I'm motivated because of my love for Jesus.
I'm motivated because of the love of Jesus for me.
The love of Jesus is in me, and it is what motivates me.
Honestly, there is a case to be made for all three interpretations, and they are all good.
My love for Jesus compels me; "If we say we abide in Him, then we ought to walk even as He walked" - 1 John 2:6. (Jesus is our example to emulate).
Jesus' love for me compels me; " In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:9-11. (We want to love others the way that we are loved).
I'm compelled to love because I'm becoming the love of Jesus that's in me; "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Colossians 1:26-27. (God's glory is any made known/manifest attribute of His).
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Galatians 2:20. (We become more and more like Jesus as we behold Him).
Is it just me or could we revisit verse 14 and just rest on it all day?!
But let's move on together to verse 15, which I absolutely love also.
I can briefly sum it up in this way:
Jesus died for all mankind, and we died with Him - and because of that atoning sacrifice, we as believers are to no longer live with self-centered motives, but rather for Christ.
We see this reality echoed in Romans 6:8-11;
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I'm seriously convicted (thank you Holy Spirit!) when I realize that self-centeredness has no place in my life. There is nothing of selfish motive in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is His love for me and for you, revealed through the cross, that enables us to become Christ-like.
God doesn't just do love really well, He's actually the Spiritual and physical embodiment of love. Love came in the flesh and died on a cross; therefore, when I say YES to Jesus as Lord and Savior, I have also said YES to dying to myself, dying to my own will and way, and coming alive inside and out with His powerful and perfect love.
I have heard it said that the Christian life is completely impossible to live, or it's not the Christian life. I'm slightly paraphrasing, but I absolutely believe that statement to be true. If I could live life on my own, in my own strength and in my own will, then that is the very definition of pride and idolatry. I do not want to live with a Jacob-sized god. The world certainly doesn't need that false deity either.
One last thing that I have really found wonderful about these two verses in 2 Corinthians 15, is that there application is so broad in the life of a believer. In whatever I do and whatever I say, the love of Christ can compel me. In all of my work, and all of my relationships, I can put 'self on the shelf' as it were, and prefer others before myself.
I can't think of a moment when these two realities wouldn't apply to something I'm doing or something I'm facing.
I hope the truths and revelation in these two verses which have been the focus of today's work will bring freedom, blessing and encouragement to you.
I'm going to end with this prayer as I ask God to manifest His glorious presence of love in and through all of us today:
"Holy Spirit, I pray you would quicken our mortal bodies for the reality in this one truth; that through your enabling presence all would partake of the inheritance of love in you and through you which is contained in Jesus. Manifest yourself today among us as we pursue more of you in Spirit and truth. In Jesus name."
