The Victory of Love

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 “And they took Jesus, and led Him away. And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha where they crucified Him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”—(John 19:16,17,18)

“THEY took Jesus and led Him away”

; in that the guilt of men reached its flood-tide.

“He bearing His cross went forth”

: in this was manifested the great victory of divine love over human hate. He was not dragged forth, nor driven forth; He went forth. No man took His life from Him; He laid it down Himself. The shouts of the rabble smote His ear and, with a holy sensitiveness, He keenly felt it all, and yet no thought of saving Himself was in His heart. In majestic lowliness He went forth, bearing His cross. He knew, to its last bitterness, all that the cross meant. He was not taken by surprise, nor did He go forth on the impulse of a moment. On the night that was passed in Gethsemane’s garden He had looked into the darkness and had fully counted the cost. He had talked of it on the holy mount with Moses and Elias. This hour had been planned in the council chamber of eternity ere ever He came, and now He does not draw back. There was no resistance, no regret, and every step He took towards Golgotha shook the kingdom of the devil.

And there 

“they crucified Him”

; and the crucified Christ is God’s answer to the devil’s lie in Eden. 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 

If God had left us to reap the bitter harvest of our rebellion and sin, we could not have complained; but, instead of this, He undertook to dispel the darkness and overthrow the power of the devil by this mighty and convincing proof of His love to us. Satan had made men believe that God was a hard Master, gathering where He had not strawed. God has proved that He is full of love by giving the very best gift that heaven contained, even His own beloved Son, to bear the penalty of our sin: and it is when the glorious light of this love shines into the hearts of men that Satan’s thralldom comes to an end.

Jesus was lifted up upon the cross, and that lifting has declared the whole truth, and we who believe it have been drawn to Him. He has become our great attractive Center, and the devil no longer holds us as his prey. The lie is laid bare, the darkness of ignorance past, and God has triumphed: for the prince of this world is cast out of the hearts of those who believe. He no longer holds them as his citadel. They have surrendered themselves to the God whose perfect love has been demonstrated in the cross of Christ.

How great is the splendor of Calvary! By its glorious light we have been awakened from our night of sleep as by the rising sun at morn. We have been compelled to exclaim: “Then God did love us, after all!” The entrance of His Word has given light, and with light has come liberty. The curtains of darkness have been torn asunder, and our souls have stepped forth into the day.

The Victory of Love

From: Emmanuel: Which Being Interpreted Is GOD WITH US




   "...we discover that the Son is not only the Creator of all things and the Revealer of all things as the Word, but He is also the Operator in all things, the Disposer of all things, and finally as the Object of the Father’s love He is manifested amongst men, becoming the Criterion for all. We notice that, in verse 36, life is to be possessed and also to be seen, which shows how comprehensive a term “eternal life” is: and further, that the antithesis to seeing life is abiding under the wrath of God."



"Sacraments and ordinances of any kind cannot give you life. Separation from immoralities cannot give you life. Withdrawing from the foulest forms of blasphemy and delusion still leaves you without life. Enlisting yourself among the ranks of your most religious neighbours cannot give you life. The strictest outward propriety cannot give you life. Neither can church office, ecclesiastical honors, or theological knowledge, as we have seen in Nicodemus, give you life. God only can give you life, and that life — eternal life — is in His Son Jesus Christ. Beware, then, lest you die without Christ; for
he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36)."




Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash

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I'm a Christian saved by God, by His Sovereign grace. I want to encourage all to read, to hear, to believe, and to feed upon the only Words in all the world that are truly spirit and life, living and active; to know the One True God: God the Father, His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; Who has graciously given us the Holy Scriptures
“All Scripture is God-breathed..."
2 Timothy 3:16–17; cf., John 3:31-36; John 6:63; John 14:26; John 17:3, 17; Romans 1:1-6, 16-17; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Hebrews 4:12-13. As for the commentaries I post and refer to; with much gratitude, as they have done for me, it is my hope and prayer that they serve to edify all who read them.

Shalom, beccaj
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