Why did God sacrifice His own Son, His only Son, Jesus, by sending Him to earth to die…for sinners? God’s word supplies the answer: He was compelled to do so by love. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). No external force can make God do anything. It was His own love for humanity that compelled Him to take this drastic step. Substituting His only Son was the only way to both satisfy the demands of justice and save sinners from the consequences of our own behavior.

Why have followers of Christ down through the centuries been willing to suffer hardship, deprivation, persecution and even martyrdom, to get this story out? The Apostle Paul, who carried the good news of the salvation to be found in Christ from Jerusalem to the farthest reaches of Europe, explains: “For the love of Christ constraineth [compels] us…” (II Corinthians 5:14).

But what about Jesus, Himself? What could possibly have made Him agree to come–to lower Himself and become one of us, to willingly endure rejection, scorn, betrayal, torture and the cruelest death men of that day could devise? What drove Him to do it? You may stop here and read the New Testament if you like, or you can focus on Jesus’ prayer as he hung dying on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Only love could compel Him to say this. Only love for His Father and for us, compelled Him to do this.

Why are Christians intent if not insistent on trying to share their faith in Jesus with anyone who will listen? You know. It’s alright. You can say it. The love of Christ compels us. This flows from love for Christ, which prompts us to obey His command to share the good news of forgiveness by grace through faith in Jesus. But it isn’t just a desire to please Christ, it’s that His love for us has warmed and changed us. He has won us over. We want others to know this life-changing, life-giving love. Christ’s love for us, no matter the cost, is the source of our love for others and motivates us to want to share His love with them in the same way.

Let us not lose sight, however, of the fact that it is not the love of God which saves. If it were, Jesus would never have been sent to bear our sins and to suffer and die in our place. God would not be just if He simply excused the soul-destroying filth and corruption of sin. Sin is lawlessness and forever separates us from a holy God. His unchanging standard of righteousness cannot be ignored. It must be satisfied. God, in His love, has provided a way. He has provided a Savior, who has paid our debt in full, at a price too high for description. No charge remains against those who are in Christ Jesus.

It is hard to imagine a more compelling love story. How will your story end? The final chapter may be written sooner than you think. How have you responded to God’s love and His plan of salvation? Compelled by God’s love for you and all people, have you accepted the pardon Jesus purchased for you with His own precious blood? Or have you refused it, trusting in your own perfection, rather than His?

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was also fully human, that he was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life, that He was crucified for our sins, suffered, died and was buried, that He rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven and will return as King and Judge of all the earth? Have you repented of your sins and turned your heart over to Him? Have you begun to tell others of your faith in Him? You can do so with confidence. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That’s one amazing promise, enabled by Jesus’ finished work on the cross, driven by His own compelling love.