Greater Love Has No One Than This

My Bookshelf

Half my bookshelf has been read. The other half has just been kept—gifts from friends I've never opened, sitting there since my Moody days like unfinished homework.

This year, I've challenged myself to finally read some of those untouched books. And, more than that, to get back into the mindset I had at Moody, where reading wasn't just about gaining knowledge but about growing in my love for Christ.

I read through some R. C. Sproul books. Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes. And now, I am wrapping up on Why I Love the Apostle Paul by John Piper.

A Love That Pointed Beyond Itself

As I read and studied Piper's deep adoration for the apostle Paul, I couldn't help but see how Paul had changed Piper's life—apart from Christ, of course. Piper says, "Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul."

Paul had impacted this man to see his great need for Christ.

And, oddly enough, Piper's reflection on his relationship with the apostle had impacted me to see my need for Christ.

One reason Piper loves Paul is his "unwavering love for those who scourged him." Paul was a Jew who endured persecution from his own kinsmen for the sake of Christ. Five times he was flogged at their hands. Yet, he returned to them every single time, so that he might save some of them through the Gospel by all means (2 Corinthians 11:24; 1 Corinthians 9:22). He would rather be accursed and cut off from God himself, if it meant his own people could be saved (Romans 9:2–3).

Piper sees Jesus in this man. That's why he loves him—he loves the Spirit of Christ in Paul.

Where the Spirit Met Me

And that's exactly where the Holy Spirit met me. Paul's example of suffering didn't stop at Paul. It pointed straight to the passion of Christ—how my Lord endured floggings, belittlement, mockery, and death, all for the sake of His people being saved.

When Christ said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you"—I don’t think He was just merely commanding His disciples (although, He certainly was). He was showing them how He would love them on that day at Calvary. He did all of that on the cross. For us.

We Are Those Who Crucified Him

What a wretched sinner I am, that He would lay down His life for me—an enemy of God—so that I might become a friend of God. While I was still a sinner, He pursued me. While I cursed His name and dishonored Him in my sins against others, He died for me.

Each time we sin, we crucify Him once again, just as they did thousands of years ago. We are those who cried, "Crucify Him!" We are those who nailed Him to that tree. We are those who pierced His side. We are those who mocked Him.

Yet from that cross, He prayed for our forgiveness, for we knew not what we were doing (Luke 23:34). The spotless Lamb took the place of sinful man, that we would never taste the death He tasted—one that bore the full wrath of God. He did not die merely to make this eternal gift possible, but, rather, He died to guarantee it for His people.

Greater love has no one than this: that He would lay down His life for His friends (John 15:13).

A Strange Grace

I picked up a book about a man's love for the apostle Paul. I didn't expect it to leave me staring at the cross. But that's the strange grace of it, isn’t it? Piper loved Paul because he saw Christ in him, and somewhere in reading about that love, I saw Christ too. 

The Lord had given me a glimpse of the cross once again. How marvelous!