Love to the End
John 13:1–17
He now showed them the full extent of his love. John 13:1 (NIV)

What do we know about the love of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ in the past? First, we can see the love of God in the creation of ourselves to an existence that is the highest existence possible, namely, communion with the One who created it. Second, God’s love is seen in the fact that he, by the Holy Spirit’s regenerating power, has called us to himself and we cannot be lost. Third, we see God’s love in Jesus’s death for his people by which he has atoned for our sin.

The King James Version translates the phrase “the full extent” as “unto the end.” It raises the question: Unto the end of what?

First, it means unto the end of Christ’s earthly life. Though Jesus knew that he was about to die, such knowledge did not deter him, nor did the worldly and dull manner in which his disciples responded to him. He loved them, fully and unselfishly, to the end of his life. Second, he loved them to the end of their lives. As the risen Lord, he returned to bestow his own Spirit upon the disciples and then guide them and preserve them until the time when each would go to be with him in glory. Finally, the phrase also means “to the very end,” that is, “to the end of ends” or “without end.” Having loved his own who were in the world, he loves them to the end.

If this is the way in which God has loved us, then should we not love one another and also fervently love him? If you are not yet a believer in Christ, let me ask you, if God loves like this, how can you afford to be without such a great love? There is no love on earth like it. Your husband or wife will not love you like this. Your children and parents will not love you like this. Your neighbors and friends will not love you like this. Only Jesus Christ loves with a perfect and everlasting love! Moreover, one day you must stand before the judgment seat of his Father, whom you have offended by your ungodly conduct and by your rejection of his great grace. What will you do in that day—if you refuse the love of the Lord Jesus Christ? What will you do without having him to stand by you and say, “This is one of my own; this is one for whom I died; this is one whose debt I undertook to pay; this is one I love unto the end”? Without such love you will be lost forever. Fortunately, the day of God’s grace is still present; you may yet come to Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.