COMPELLED BY LOVE

 

May 8, 2024

2 Corinthians 5:11-16

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. . . . 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

COMPELLED BY LOVE

In our devotion yesterday we saw that Paul was reminding the Corinthian believers that while we long to be “at home with the Lord” we live in the time between promise and fulfillment. In that space of waiting for fulfillment he says “we live by faith, not by sight”, underscoring God’s faithfulness and that we can trust in the promises of our good God. While we wait, the apostle says, “we make it our goal to please” our creator. 

In today’s verses from 2 Corinthians 5, we see what we have to live for as the community of Jesus. “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others” of the Gospel promises and he then writes we do this not for personal gain, rather we do this because “Christ’s love compels us.” 

Let's take a sidebar for a moment. The "fear of the Lord" that Paul mentions, how are we to understand it? Throughout Paul's letters this "fear of God" seems to refer to a fear that is good and that brings us to place where we recognize God's call to attentiveness. God calls us to spiritual-mindedness. God calls us to set our minds on things above. And to "fear the Lord" in this way is not to quake in our boots, but it’s to take God seriously. It’s always to have an eye to God, to his presence, to what he’s doing, to his promises and their relevance for our circumstances. And so, the "fear of the Lord" is that God-centered focus, wherever we may be, whatever circumstance we may be living, whether it be happy or sad, whether it be life or death, that we would be mindful of God and his presence. 

The message here is that our relationship with God and the transformation He brings within us, results in our cultivating a heart that reflects God’s love, compassion, and grace. We take God seriously. When we do so, we naturally see others through the same lens. In other words, God’s transformational work in us gives us “new eyes” through which we view the world and others. We drop the labels, and we see the “image of God” in those around us.

"For Christ's love compels us" means that the love of Christ is a powerful force that drives people to act in certain ways. This phrase describes the motivation behind Christian discipleship and service. Reading a little further in the context we notice that this drive is based on the gospel truth “that Christ died for all, and therefore all died.” Jesus through the cross "died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

2 Corinthians 5:11-13 reminds us to be God focused which means in part to view people as God does, valuable, loved, and worthy of reconciliation. Let us strive to see with new eyes, as Christ’s love compels us, recognizing the divine image in every person we encounter, and wanting to "persuade" people around us, that taking God seriously, to "fear the Lord" is a good thing. For there we encounter grace. In all of this, “we make it our goal to please” our Creator.