- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
CALVARY LOVE.
By Rustam Zal
A certain lawyer once asked the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” and the Lord countered the question with one of His own, “What is written in the Law?” He replied. “How do you read it?” (Luke 10 v25-26).
The lawyer quoted from the Old Testament, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.” ‘You have answered correctly”, Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (v27-28).
But the lawyer still wanted to leave a loophole open so that he would not have to face his inner-life, and so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” So Jesus recounted the story of the good Samaritan, and after He had finished the story, He asked the lawyer, “‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ And the lawyer answered, ‘the one who had mercy on him.’ Then Jesus commanded, ‘go and do likewise’” (v29-37).
This story of the compassionate Samaritan may sound very beautiful and touching, and to many it is just a story and nothing more, but to those who want to know Christ in a personal and intimate way, this account is an invitation and challenge to know and understand the meaning of Calvary love.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi, “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2 v2-4).
Human nature means we tend to look out for ourselves in every situation. The one question we naturally ask when called upon to do something is always, “what’s in it for me?” But when Christians want to learn of Calvary love, they discover that they must return again to the Cross with their inner-life. God then sends people and circumstances to test the love that can only seek to serve, and asks nothing for itself. The habits of a lifetime need to be surrendered to God, and any rebellion in the human will must be crucified again and again, until the Christian who is hungry to know of Calvary love fears that they will never reach their goal. But God is merciful, and He will grant enough light in the darkness to keep the Christian on the path to Calvary. Always the words of Christ’s exhortation are before us, “and whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14 v27).
When the Lord first laid it on my heart to ask Him for the grace of Calvary Love, I knew it would mean the crucifixion of all my personal desires, ambitions, thoughts and will. The Lord warned me through the Scriptures to be sure I knew what it would cost me to surrender my all to Christ, for Jesus said, “suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14 v28-30, 33).
The Lord warned me that the price of attaining Calvary Love was high, yet such was His love and desire in my heart that I could only tell the Lord that I would rather die than not have all the fullness of His love and mercy poured out into my heart. I longed to be a clear channel of His Holy Spirit, and I knew instinctively as well as through the Scriptures that only through death to self could there be room for the fruit of the Spirit in my life. For Jesus tells us, “very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 13 v24-25).
Shortly after this the Lord began to drastically change my way of life. Step by step each aspect of my self-life was revealed by the Holy Spirit shedding His light on God’s Word, and applying it to my sinful nature.
I was saddened by the amount of sin that was uncovered as God’s Holy Spirit brought me face to face with myself. Each desire, every personal right to chose my own way of life, all preconceived ideas as to what belonged to me and was considered my own had to be brought to the cross and laid there at the base of Calvary. I learned then the meaning of Christ’s command, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5 v39-45).
It is never easy to be silent in the face of persecution and rejection, but it is possible by the grace of God. For I learned to recognise that every adverse circumstance that came into my life was a messenger from God to slay self and exalt Christ, for the Bible tells us, “who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has authorised and commanded it?” (Lamentations 3 v37, Amplified Bible).
I learned to accept the loss of worldly goods with the assurance that God would provide my every need, and it was so. But the hardest and most difficult of all was to learn to love the unlovely. And God taught me this by sending people into my life who ignored all my human rights and trampled them underfoot. They scorned my desire for privacy, and laughed at my concern of their souls. But every instinct to fight back or even to become frustrated was severely rebuked but the Lord. At each turn of the road there was a choice I had to make. I could submit and be willing to be a highway for the world to cross over to a personal encounter with Christ, or else I could resist God’s will and break fellowship with His Holy Spirit. I chose to follow Christ to Calvary and I chose His Cross at every turn of the road, and by His grace this was so.
One memorable night I faced the possibility of losing my last shreds of pride by submitting to the ceaseless and unjust demands of one who was indeed sent as an angel in disguise, though at that moment all I could see was that this would crucify my will as well as my ego. I was willing, but hardly able, and as I cried out to God to deliver me I was led to read the ‘Letters and Reflections’ of Francois de Fenelon, who lived in the 17th Century and wrote, “can we love God without loving those people that He has commanded us to love? It is He that inspires this love, for it is His will that we should love them, so shall we disobey Him? This love can endure all things, suffer all things and hope all things, for our neighbour. It can conquer all difficulties, it flows from the heart and adds light to our actions. It is melted at the sorrows of others and thinks nothing of its own. It gives consolation where it is needed. It is gentle, adaptable to others and is all things to all people, not in a forced way or in a cold appearance, but from a full and overflowing heart, in which the love of God is a living spring of tender, deep and true feeling. Nothing is as cold, senseless and harsh as the heart that loves only itself in all things, while nothing can exceed the loveliness of a heart filled and made alive by Divine love”.
When you have Calvary Love you are not aware of the demands made upon you, for you are no longer intent upon protecting your rights and privileges. Everything you own or possess has already been dropped at the foot of Calvary’s Cross. The personal privileges of obtaining your proper rest, demanding that people consider your point of view, that the world treat you fairly, are all to be laid on God’s alter. You only live to serve God by loving those whom He sends across your path. You know and experience the blessed privilege of being a channel of His life to others when you bring them to the place where they will see their sinfulness and acknowledge it before God, crying out to Him in broken-hearted repentance, and accepting the vicarious sacrifice of Christ at Calvary for their sin. And you will also know the joy and privilege of seeing God work in a mighty way to melt stubborn hearts, mend broken relationships, and teach those who never trusted to surrender their bitterness and accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
Jesus Christ may be speaking to your heart at this very moment, offering you His Calvary Love. I pray that you will say “yes” to all He asks, so that He may give you all He has in store for you.
From an old ‘Overcomer’.