THE LOVE OF CHRIST FOR US
The Love of Christ for Us
Text: 1 John 4:19
It is no secret that this Saturday is Valentine’s Day, February 14. For many, that means it is time to start thinking about a gift.
I looked up the history of Valentine’s Day, and it seems there are several historical events that have shaped February 14 into this day of celebrating love. Some of it is built on the celebration of pagan ideas. Some of it is built on the memory of two Christians named Valentine. One of those men was reportedly arrested and executed for secretly performing Christian weddings. Supposedly, before he died, he signed a note that said, “From your Valentine.”
In medieval times, in the 1300s, a poet named Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about February 14 as a day when love was in the air and birds began to mate. By the 1700s, the day had become widely marketed as a celebration of love, cards, chocolate, and gift-giving.
I do not know how much of the folklore of Valentine’s Day is true. But either way, on February 14, we celebrate love one for another.
But as we look at our text verse tonight, we must ask: What about the greatest love we know? Yes, the love we have for Christ — but even more so, the love He has for us.
“Our text says, We love him, because he first loved us.”
In a nutshell, that is saying without Him loving us first, we would not have the knowledge or even the ability to truly love one another.
Let us consider several truths about Christ’s great love for us.
I. His Love for Us Does Not Change
John 13:1
This verse refers specifically to His disciples. But if He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then that means His love for us is unending and unchanging. We are loved with the same love that He gave His disciples.
The phrase “he loved them unto the end” means to the very end — until His last breath. It means to the uttermost, completely, perfectly, to the fullest extent.
And He never changed.
That phrase is so important in the redemptive story of grace. Christ had every reason to stop loving everyone — with the possible exception of His mother. Peter had denied Him. The Bible says all the disciples forsook Him. The soldiers crucified Him. Pilate found no fault in Him, but did nothing to change His situation.
And yet, from the cross, He cried:
John records that He loved them unto the end.
Let us be honest — we are not Christ. We cannot always love like Him. But it is not because He failed to leave us an example. His love never changes.
II. His Love Is a Divine Love
John 15:9
As we consider the love between the Father and the Son, we know it is an eternal love. It had no beginning, and it will have no end.
It is a perfect love. There has never been jealousy, division, or strife between the Father and the Son.
It is a holy love — built on righteousness, purity, and holiness.
Then Jesus says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.”
In other words, “That is the way I love you.”
Is it not remarkable to be loved by Christ — who Himself is loved by the Father? That is not a shallow love. That is not a temporary love. That is a divine love.
III. His Love Is Inseparable
Romans 8:35
We have already said His love is unchanging. But as humans, we sometimes wonder: What if something outside of us separates us? What if some external force comes between us and His love?
Paul lists governments and wars, stresses of life, death, sickness, and mental anguish. He mentions famine and nakedness — extreme poverty. He mentions peril and sword.
In other words, what if my very life is taken? Will the love of God survive that?
Your friendships may not survive it. Your marriage may not survive it. Earthly relationships sometimes cannot withstand such pressures.
But Paul concludes:
Romans 8:39
If you can name it or think of it, it does not have enough strength or power to separate you from the love of Christ. His love is inseparable.
As a footnote to that truth: if we live with that promise and die with that promise — and others who have gone on before us lived and died with that promise — then we can never truly be separated from them either.
The love Christ had for our loved ones cannot be changed or pulled back. The love Christ has for you and me today cannot be changed or taken away.
Therefore, as long as Christ lives — and as long as God lives — our loved ones are safe in His care. One day we will be reunited with them in God’s new heaven. Not because of our love for them, but because of Christ’s love for us all.
IV. His Love Is Constraining
2 Corinthians 5:14–15
Verse 14 says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us.”
That word constraineth means to bind together, to compel, to hold fast. We are tied to Him. We are tethered to Him. We are compelled and controlled by Him.
Why?
Not merely because He is Christ. Not simply because He is God. But because of His resurrection life in us.
Paul says, “we thus judge.” After looking at the evidence, we have concluded that Christ died for all — and if He died for all, then all were dead. All were guilty. All needed a Savior.
Verse 15 finishes the thought:
Those who live — those who have trusted Christ, repented, and accepted His substitutionary death for their own — should not live unto themselves, but unto Him.
We are not constrained by duty.
We are not constrained by obligation.
Sometimes we think, “He did this for me, so I better do that for Him.”
No.
We are constrained by love.
He loved me.
He died for me.
He forgave me.
Therefore, I will live for Him.
Conclusion
I cannot, in just a matter of minutes, even begin to scratch the surface of the love of God.
Paul said in Ephesians:
It passes knowledge. It is almost beyond comprehension. Who can truly know the depth and breadth of the love of Christ?
But we have seen enough from the Scriptures tonight to know this:
God really loves us.
He does not just love the Christian. He loves every human being and has made His gift of salvation available to every person.
And we love Him only because He first loved us.
Text: 1 John 4:19
“We love him, because he first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
It is no secret that this Saturday is Valentine’s Day, February 14. For many, that means it is time to start thinking about a gift.
I looked up the history of Valentine’s Day, and it seems there are several historical events that have shaped February 14 into this day of celebrating love. Some of it is built on the celebration of pagan ideas. Some of it is built on the memory of two Christians named Valentine. One of those men was reportedly arrested and executed for secretly performing Christian weddings. Supposedly, before he died, he signed a note that said, “From your Valentine.”
In medieval times, in the 1300s, a poet named Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about February 14 as a day when love was in the air and birds began to mate. By the 1700s, the day had become widely marketed as a celebration of love, cards, chocolate, and gift-giving.
I do not know how much of the folklore of Valentine’s Day is true. But either way, on February 14, we celebrate love one for another.
But as we look at our text verse tonight, we must ask: What about the greatest love we know? Yes, the love we have for Christ — but even more so, the love He has for us.
“Our text says, We love him, because he first loved us.”
In a nutshell, that is saying without Him loving us first, we would not have the knowledge or even the ability to truly love one another.
Let us consider several truths about Christ’s great love for us.
I. His Love for Us Does Not Change
John 13:1
“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”
This verse refers specifically to His disciples. But if He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then that means His love for us is unending and unchanging. We are loved with the same love that He gave His disciples.
The phrase “he loved them unto the end” means to the very end — until His last breath. It means to the uttermost, completely, perfectly, to the fullest extent.
And He never changed.
That phrase is so important in the redemptive story of grace. Christ had every reason to stop loving everyone — with the possible exception of His mother. Peter had denied Him. The Bible says all the disciples forsook Him. The soldiers crucified Him. Pilate found no fault in Him, but did nothing to change His situation.
And yet, from the cross, He cried:
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” — Luke 23:34
John records that He loved them unto the end.
Let us be honest — we are not Christ. We cannot always love like Him. But it is not because He failed to leave us an example. His love never changes.
II. His Love Is a Divine Love
John 15:9
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”
As we consider the love between the Father and the Son, we know it is an eternal love. It had no beginning, and it will have no end.
It is a perfect love. There has never been jealousy, division, or strife between the Father and the Son.
It is a holy love — built on righteousness, purity, and holiness.
Then Jesus says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.”
In other words, “That is the way I love you.”
Is it not remarkable to be loved by Christ — who Himself is loved by the Father? That is not a shallow love. That is not a temporary love. That is a divine love.
III. His Love Is Inseparable
Romans 8:35
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
We have already said His love is unchanging. But as humans, we sometimes wonder: What if something outside of us separates us? What if some external force comes between us and His love?
Paul lists governments and wars, stresses of life, death, sickness, and mental anguish. He mentions famine and nakedness — extreme poverty. He mentions peril and sword.
In other words, what if my very life is taken? Will the love of God survive that?
Your friendships may not survive it. Your marriage may not survive it. Earthly relationships sometimes cannot withstand such pressures.
But Paul concludes:
Romans 8:39
“Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you can name it or think of it, it does not have enough strength or power to separate you from the love of Christ. His love is inseparable.
As a footnote to that truth: if we live with that promise and die with that promise — and others who have gone on before us lived and died with that promise — then we can never truly be separated from them either.
The love Christ had for our loved ones cannot be changed or pulled back. The love Christ has for you and me today cannot be changed or taken away.
Therefore, as long as Christ lives — and as long as God lives — our loved ones are safe in His care. One day we will be reunited with them in God’s new heaven. Not because of our love for them, but because of Christ’s love for us all.
IV. His Love Is Constraining
2 Corinthians 5:14–15
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
Verse 14 says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us.”
That word constraineth means to bind together, to compel, to hold fast. We are tied to Him. We are tethered to Him. We are compelled and controlled by Him.
Why?
Not merely because He is Christ. Not simply because He is God. But because of His resurrection life in us.
Paul says, “we thus judge.” After looking at the evidence, we have concluded that Christ died for all — and if He died for all, then all were dead. All were guilty. All needed a Savior.
Verse 15 finishes the thought:
Those who live — those who have trusted Christ, repented, and accepted His substitutionary death for their own — should not live unto themselves, but unto Him.
We are not constrained by duty.
We are not constrained by obligation.
Sometimes we think, “He did this for me, so I better do that for Him.”
No.
We are constrained by love.
He loved me.
He died for me.
He forgave me.
Therefore, I will live for Him.
Conclusion
I cannot, in just a matter of minutes, even begin to scratch the surface of the love of God.
Paul said in Ephesians:
“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” — Ephesians 3:19
It passes knowledge. It is almost beyond comprehension. Who can truly know the depth and breadth of the love of Christ?
But we have seen enough from the Scriptures tonight to know this:
God really loves us.
He does not just love the Christian. He loves every human being and has made His gift of salvation available to every person.
And we love Him only because He first loved us.
“We love him, because he first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
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