Love’s Constant Pressure
Submitted by Frank Williams
July 15, 2024
2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
The word "constrain" suggests a constant pressure, an urge, as when water is forced down a certain channel. This same Greek word is used in other places, three of them are as follows:
Ac 18:5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Jesus used this word in Luke 12:50, saying He was “straitened” until His baptism of death was accomplished.
In other words, love for the Father and for us kept Jesus going, all the way to the cross. Love kept Paul pressing forward to reach as many as possible because “all were dead.” Paul could say that he was under the spell of a mighty constraint to preach the gospel. He could do no other. He was not his own master. It was love that so pushed and motivated him forward for Christ.
The “love of Christ” refers to His to us, of ours to Him, and of ours to others. As the sunlight reflects from the moon to the earth, so Jesus’ love is reflected to us and through us to others—as sunlight through a mirror. As Bible-believing churches, we reflect God’s love in a dark world, like the moon shines in darkness.
Does the love of Christ constrain all Christian people? Observation seems to say that it does not, for many believers are more consumed with the world than with Jesus. Other things in life take precedence. God’s tithe and missions offerings are often spent instead of invested to the Lord through His churches. When family, even unsaved ones, visit from out of town, church attendance becomes a secondary priority. Ball games and ballet lessons take seniority, along with carnal activities, like Prom Night.
When Jesus is number One in our lives, it is because the profound significance of the Cross has so impacted our understanding, that we feel love’s constant pressure. Our lives will pivot around the Risen Christ. We will no longer live to ourselves, but to the Lord Jesus, Who died for us. We will be compelled to proclaim forgiveness to the sinful, the loosening of their chains to those who sit in prison-houses, and the nearness of salvation to all.
Ac 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
