Being Loved to the End
A heartening description of God's Love.
‘Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.’ (John 13:1 CSB)
This passage of scripture stirs my heart to know and love God more. Nothing compares to God’s love displayed in His one and only Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t we all long for this kind of love? For someone to love us ‘to the end’. To the end of ourselves and our selfish desires. To the end of our perceived or actual usefulness, competence, or ability. Don’t we all yearn for a love that endures throughout the tumultuous days of our lives? Not a halfhearted love that tolerates us, but an everlasting love with length and breadth and depth to it. The kind of love that loves by giving, not by demanding and taking.
John 3:16 states that God loved the world in this way; He gave… Why did this great love culminate in giving? Were the inhabitants of the world so utterly lovable that God felt moved to give? No. It was the complete opposite:
‘But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8 CSB)
What would our relationships with one another be like if we measured the quality and strength of our love, not by the good feelings they elicit from us, but by our desire to give?
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus loved His own who were in the world with Him— He loved them to the end. As modern day followers of Christ we are loved in this same way. We are loved with the strongest kind of love, a love that bears all things, endures all things and hopes all things. A love that will never fail ( 1 Corinthians 13:7).
‘Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.’
( When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)
There is a reason we are exhorted to be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:17). It is a firm foundation for our feet to tread, day in and day out. Faithfulness motivated by love is the safest motivation we could have. Peace comes when we know and rely on the love God has for us, believing with all our hearts that our salvation lies not in our love for God but on His love for us (1 John 4:10).
Traditional catholic marriage vows beautifully demonstrate what loving to the end looks like. The Bride and Groom promise each other:
‘To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.’
These solemn vows made in the presence of witnesses reflect the union of Christ and the Church (His people, His Bride—Ephesians 5: 31-32). Due to human sin and weakness, these vows are sadly broken in marriages every day. These vows do not reflect our human capacity or capability to love, they are a giant beacon pointing towards the One who loves us to the end.
They remind us that the love of God has us, and holds us, and will not let us go (John 10:28 )
God love us to the end; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…But His love does not end in death:
‘For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ ( Romans 8:38-39 CSB)
This is pure spiritual food for our heart, mind and spirit. It can only do us good to think about these things. Let’s encourage one another to meditate, fixate and ruminate on the love of Jesus. A love that loves us not just in this moment, but a tenacious love that keeps on loving us to the end.
Who holds our days within His hand?
What comes, apart from His command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand.
(Hymn— Christ Our Hope in Life and Death)
For further reading:
Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Revolution of Love by George Verwer
Jacob I Have Loved by Lance Lambert
