Love Has Won

I believe nothing has the power to separate us from God’s love.

Not death, not life, not angels or demons, not scary things or stressful things…

Not even hell has the power to separate us from His love.

No power up high or power down below—in fact, nothing in all the universe will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that has been demonstrated to us through Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8.38-39)

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that just keeps on going and going.

Love that is stronger than darkness.

Love despite hatred and ignorance and prejudice and violence and aggression.

Love despite sin and rejection and disobedience.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that motivated God to step down from the Heavens, put on flesh, become a baby, and subject himself to every struggle and temptation and difficulty of being HUMAN.

Love that heals blind eyes and sets prisoners free. Love that declares Good News is here, now! Love that welcomes sinners, hypocrites, liars, and misfits. Love that crosses the boundaries of race and class and politics.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that feeds hungry people. Love that cries with those who are hurting. Love that declares, “Your sins are forgiven.” Love that washes dirty feet. Love that welcomes. Love that restores. Love that will not stop.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that prepares a feast. Love that invites everyone to the table. Love that says, “Take and eat this bread – drink this wine.”

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that is betrayed. Love that is rejected. Love that is denied… repeatedly. Love that is put on trial. Falsely accused. Blamed. Misunderstood. Love that is mocked and ridiculed. Love that is paraded before a bloodthirsty mob. Love that is labeled heretical. Love that is given a death sentence.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that is tortured, beaten, torn apart, stripped bare. Love that carries its own cross. Love that stumbles and falls, but gets back up and continues on.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that has nails driven through His hands and feet. Love put on a cross. Love that is given a crown of thorns to wear. Love that is bleeding, struggling, gasping for breath.

Love that guarantees a desperate, dying criminal being crucified on a cross next to him a place in the Kingdom.

Love that takes on the sins of the entire world. Every sin—past, present, and future, placed upon his shoulders. Love that says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

UNSTOPPABLE love.

Love that says, “It is finished.”

And in that moment, we don’t know exactly what this means, not yet.

But love dies on that cross – and so we assume we know what “it is finished” means. Death. The end of something good. Our hopes and dreams for a better way have been crushed – literally upon that cross as He breathes His last breath. He gives up his spirit.

And clouds cover the sky. Only darkness now.

Eventually, He is taken down. Only a few onlookers remain; they are women. The men have all run away – confused, ashamed, scared.

Love is placed in a tomb – a cave, with a large stone to close it up like a vault. Roman soldiers have sealed it and guard this tomb.

All that is left is silence.

This sad day finally comes to an end.

Another passes slowly, quietly. Only questions remain. What happened? Why? Is it really over? Has love been defeated? Because it looks like hate and power and violence and corruption and all that is wrong with the world—all that is wrong with us—has been victorious…

Is this what happened? Did death win? Is this the end of love?

The day comes to a close without any answers. Only silence.

But on the third day—very early on Sunday morning, some women went to the tomb…

They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. As they went in, they didn’t see the body of the Jesus. They stood there dazed, confused, and suddenly angels appeared to them. The women were terrified. And the angels spoke: “Why are you searching in a tomb for someone who is alive? Jesus isn’t here! He rose from the dead! Don’t you remember? He told this would happen! They remembered… and realized it was true. So they ran to tell the disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. (Luke 24)

An empty tomb. A risen, living Savior.

UNSTOPPABLE love.

This is how far He went—as far as anyone could ever go. And then, He went further.

Love’s pursuit would not stop with the thing that stops everyone.

He broke death, hell, and the grave. Their power could not hold Him.

He rose from the dead and He lives. His death means our sins are forgiven, our debt is paid in full, all charges against us have been canceled on the cross.

His life means we have life—and not just life, but life WITH God.

THIS IS UNSTOPPABLE love.

God, becoming man, living among us, dying on a cross, being raised to life, and he promises to return…

What does it all mean for us?

The most important summary of what Jesus has done and what it all means is this: He overcame evil with love.

In theological terms, answering the question of what happened as the result of the cross… it is called CHRISTUS VICTOR (in latin): Christ is victorious

But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! (1 Corinthians 15.57)

Yes! Thank God!

Love has saved the day…

LOVE HAS WON.