“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died [or, all were dead, KJV]. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2Corinthians 5:14, 15, NIV)
When most people look at what is going on in the world today, the increase of evil and the death of many innocent peoples, they find hard to believe in the love of God, but few of them dare ask how we (the world) got to this point. The verses above can help answer the question.
Note that apostle Paul writes about the love of Christ and not our love for Christ. The difference is very significant: Think of a man loving his dear wife going to a jewellery shop to buy her a very expensive necklace. He pays for the necklace and notices the stare and smile on the face of the customer assistant who could not help but remark, with teary eyes, that the man’s wife must be a lucky woman to have such a loving husband. See, the assumption here is that the husband’s love for his wife compelled him to buy the expensive necklace. The reverse could also be true and that is what Apostle Paul writes about. See, the wife’s love for her husband could have compelled him to spend heavily on her necklace, couldn’t it?
The love of Christ is compelling, the bible says. It does not leave us indifferent and in this we show that we know that he loves us. Paul says that we are convinced that one died for all (extreme act of love), therefore all died. The King James Version captures Paul’s thought better by stating that “all were dead”. It means that none of us was alive. In his death he came to meet us where we were.
Paul’s conviction was twofold: the second part is as follow: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The bible teaches that “…God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6). It is important to keep in mind that Paul is writing about his twofold conviction, that is, (1) Christ died for all, therefore all were dead, and, (2) those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died for them -that is the one who made them alive when he was raised….
Elsewhere, Ephesians 2, Paul describes the state of being dead as follow: “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” He said when Christ died for us we were dead in transgressions -that describes the world as we see it today. What kills us is the choice to live for ourselves. Hence, Paul is convinced that those who live (who used to be dead but now have been made alive) should no longer live for themselves but for Christ who died for them and is alive.
Lord Jesus Christ help us bring reconciliation, hope, healing, and real joy to the world by living not for ourselves but for you. May we receive true revelation of your love so as to be compelled by it in our everyday living.