The Sufferings of Christ, and the Love of Christ

The Sufferings of Christ, and the Love of Christ

“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” V. 16.

There can be a difference in the degree of joy and warmth in love, but if there is love, then there is warmth; and we are exhorted to increase and to pursue love, which means that my love gets warmer and warmer. When it is a question of knowing yourself, there is no other area in which it is easier to know yourself than that which concerns abiding in love. When it comes to this area, you also know and understand whether you are abiding in God or not. Quite often this is a difficult question for some people to be certain about. John teaches us clearly that he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

How are we to know so clearly whether we abide in love or not? We know by this: If we have love, we have peace and joy. It is a question of loving those whom we see and with whom we associate. If we love them, we will always have peace; we will rejoice when we meet them, and our love for them will not be influenced by their behavior. Nevertheless, we cannot judge the warmth in our love. We always need Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10: “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more.” This is why we will always feel poor when it comes to love—in spite of the fact that we experience peace and joy, irrespective of whom we are dealing with.

Nevertheless, if we love, we still need to learn to love, as it is written, “That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children.” Tit. 2:4.

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ . . . .” Phil. 1:9-10.

Jesus says, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven . . . .” Matt. 5:44-45.

These are areas in which we feel poor when it comes to warmth and wisdom in loving. Nevertheless, because we abide in love, we abide in God, and we have peace and joy; we also have ample opportunity to grow in God through these circumstances and partake of His nature. Then this question is always in our heart: “How can I overcome evil with good? How can I do them some good?” Then I abide in God.

“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us . . . .” 1 John 4:12. We see God through our fellow men and our association with them, and if we abide in love, we learn to know God. When Paul speaks of bearing about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in his body, he says this in connection with his sufferings. 2 Cor. 4:8-11, 17. Afflictions produced in him an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. You can never get the flesh to love, but the sufferings of Christ, and His death, make an end of sin—the flesh with its passions and desires. 1 Pet. 4:1-2, 12-13; Phil. 3:10. This is the only way in which we can abide in love—in God—so that the fruits of the Spirit can be manifested. That is why James can say, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” Jas. 1:2. Then the death of Christ can work in my body so that my spirit can—through the leading of the Holy Spirit—enter more deeply into God, and I can receive wisdom to love so that my love can become warmer.

We can see this development in Paul in his ministry. 2 Cor. 6:3-10. We can see that tribulations worked this fullness of the virtues of Christ. It is impossible always to abide in love and to grow in all aspects into Him who is the head of the body without understanding the sufferings and the death of Christ and being faithful on the new and living way, which He consecrated for us. Eph. 4:15.