LOVE ACCEPTS DEFEAT – AND IN SO DOING LOVE WINS. Choosing the way of love may mean you are losing in human terms, but love accepts that defeat.
Matthew 27:45-46 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Sin slew the son of man and nailed him to the cross. That cross was Satan’s symbol of victory – Satan’s rejoicing over God and over love. You can imagine the rejoicing in hell on that day when Jesus hang on that cross crying. The ungodly soldiers and all the passers-by made fun of Jesus and said, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” What’s even more shocking is that the pastors and priests and church elders and deacons were all mocking him on the cross. They said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” (Matt 27:39-44 paraphrased)
Satan saw Jesus made sin and God’s back turned on him. God couldn’t look any longer at his beloved and only begotten son because he had become the personification of sin. This was the greatest tragedy of all time. Satan had finally orchestrated the son of Love’s death on the cross, and because of his love for us Jesus accepted that defeat.
When you love, it might seem that you have been a fool at the present. It might seem you have loosed and been defeated. But wait! Who said the story ends at death? Always know that after the CROSS(suffering) is DEATH, after death is RESURRECTION, and after resurrection is ASCENSION, and after ascension is your ENTHRONEMENT. Glooooory!
What I am saying is that, THE CROSS IS LOVE’S WAY TO THE THRONE. When Jesus said I am the way, who would have thought that, that way was going to be paved through the cross? But it was. And now, listen to Jesus. He said, ‘If anyone loves me and wants to follow me, let him DENY HIMSELF , and TAKE UP HIS CROSS , and FOLLOW ME ‘. (Mark 8:34-35)
DENY YOURSELF, TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW . Wow! The path of love is the way of the cross. It will cost you some comfort, some enjoyment and some precious things. Love essentially means BEARING and FORBEARING. But in the end, it will be worth it.
In the realm of love, we often seem defeated but we are winning all the time. Satan seems the victor but he was defeated before the foundations of the world. The senses can only see and measure the seemingly apparent defeat of your cross, but in the heart there is the SOLID AFFIRMATION OF VICTORY ALWAYS. It doesn’t matter what you are facing for Love’s sake, just listen closely to your spirit and you will hear the soft sound of victory. Shout Hallelujah!
Therefore one mark of your discipleship to Jesus, which is a mark of love, is BEARING YOUR CROSS just as Jesus bore his. So Jesus said in Luke 14:27
“And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, CANNOT be my disciple.”
What is YOUR CROSS? It is anything you suffer or have to endure for the sake of love or for the sake of Christ. It might be someone in your life that makes life a hell for you and you have to endure it for the sake of Christ. It could be a situation that imprisons you but yet in that prison you give God glory and not run away from it. You carry that cross so that you might win over the person and save a soul. You suffer that thing because of love. Paul said, “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall” – 1 Cor 8:13. And again in Phil 3:7, he said he made loses in things that were supposed to be gains or profits, because of Christ.
I don’t know what your cross is, or what loses you have to make because of Christ; but whatever it is, PLEASE DON’T RUN AWAY FROM YOUR CROSS. CARRY IT. For that is how you prove your discipleship unto Christ. The Lord is your strength. Press on, for there is Grace to bear that cross. Keep drinking of his grace daily and in the end you will see that that cross brought you to your throne. You won’t remain in the grave – that same love that took you to the grave will bring you to the throne. And you will see that YOU HAVE WON. Hallelujah!
