The Measure Of Christ's Love!

 



When someone asks you the question " How much do you love me?" This reply comes easy to most people, " I love you a lot." But tell me, How far do words go? With their words can you feel their love?   The situation changes when someone shows you their Love in Action, That's when you see their Love. That's when you know they love you. Words are empty, if they're not backed up with  action.  Once they've shown you their Love, You've tasted of it, you know it's real, you know,  how good it feels, you've seen what they've done  and given up, to Love you. So when you ask:

                                                     " How much do you Love Me?"              
                                          
                                                                  
                                                        Matthew 27:26-31
                                   Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
          Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

                                                              Isaiah 53:4-12

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.      

                                                    
                                                                Isaiah 54:14
                                            Just as many were astonished at you — so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance.
 


 Love is knowing the excruciating pain that is to come, and going thru with it any way.   In the last few hours of Jesus's life, What did He endure and suffer on the cross for us, to show us His love?

                                                    EXCRUCIATE: to cause great agony, torment
                                  
                                                 Latin: ex: out of,  from cruciate, : cross

                                                                     " From the Cross" 

 The word excruciate, ( the root word excruciating) which refers to something that causes great agony or torment.  The Latin roots of the word are : " ex" meaning from or out of, and " cruciate", meaning cross. The word excruciate comes from the Latin for "from, or out of, the cross"

                         Love Personified is Christ on the Cross, for everyone!
 
Before He gave his Life on the cross, to bear our sins,  He did two things.



1)
 Luke 22:7-23
                        

 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”  After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Jesus gave us a New Covenant (promise) with the shedding of His blood. He replaced the law with His Grace.  Moses gave us the Law, The Old Covenant. With the blood of bulls and goats. Which could only cover a persons sins for a year.  But Jesus on the cross brought us Grace. His blood covers once for all. We are now covered in HIS righteousness. He writes His Laws on our hearts. and we become new creations in Christ, old things have past away, all things become new.
                                     
    Hebrews 10:10   It is through that divine will that we have been set free from sin, through the offering of Jesus Christ as our sacrifice once for all.

                                      In an act of the Greatest Love Ever,  In Jesus' death, God's redemptive  plan for all man is effected, the New Covenant promised and the Kingdom established.

2)
  Luke 22:39-44

   

 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.
 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation 

 
   And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

                          After His last supper, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, to pray.
                                                 Gethsemane means: oil press
                                                  Olive oil represents the Holy Spirit

In the garden Jesus decided to fully embrace the cross, but it was only when He told the Father " Not my will be done, but yours" that the victory over sin was won.

The sweating of drops of blood, gives us a hint of the stress and the agony Jesus was going thru and the cross that lay ahead.  It reminds us of the cost of God's Love for us.  The Father was willing to give His Son, and His Son was willing  to pay the complete price for our redemption.

 Jesus knew what it would cost Him,  being falsely accused, being slapped and punched, He was ridiculed, laughed at and falsely judged. He was flogged to the point that He had barely any skin left on His bones, much less any blood left in His body. He was made to walk to His death, all the while people spat on Him, calling Him vile names. He then was nailed to a cross for 6 hours, trying with all His might just to breathe. And in the mist of all His suffering, still the people tormented and taunted Him. And if ALL of that was not enough, His Father turned His face from Him. 
                                            Jesus took on the sins of the world and God cannot look at sin, so God looked away. Jesus cried out " Father, Father why hast thou forsaken me?"  For God did not forsake His Son, He could not look at the sin His Son was carrying for the world. For you and me.

                                                                      BUT.......
   The good news is: Jesus beat sin and death, because of His Love for us. He rose from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords! His Love was the final say in the matter.
                      
                             

Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and brought death to the world. ( Curse)    BUT,
Jesus, thru prayer and obedience, in the Garden of Gethsemane brought victory and life everlasting. ( Blessing)



                                            

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

                                    

                                       The word Love which is used so freely in English, has a very special meaning in Hebrew.
                                        The Hebrew word for Love is: Ahavah.  It's three parts to the word, The first letter is Alef = which is the symbol of a sacrifice, Christ on the Cross.  Then you put together the two letters and you get Av, the meaning of the two letter base is = To Give. The last of the three part word is Heh= which means God's Grace.  

                                                    When you put it all together. 

                                          LOVE is sacrificing your wants and desires and giving to others in the grace that Christ sacrificed and gave to us.

                                                LOVE IS GIVING,  LOVE IS BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS AND LOVE IS FORGIVENESS.

                                           Jesus said for us to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. He said this is the first, the second like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. ( Mark 12:28-31)

                                      Loving God with all your heart, soul , mind and strength, fills you with a love that is over flowing. You can't help but go out and share that same kind of love with others. There is no other love that compares to the Love of our Savior.

                                                         So I'll say again,

                                       HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME?



                                                 Honor Christ by Loving Others!
                                                     
                                             IT WAS THE MEASURE OF CHRIST'S LOVE!