Cord of Love Stained in Blood

In John's Gospel, in chapter 6 and verse 44, we have the words of Jesus. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. This is a declaration that salvation is in the hands of God and not man.

And not only is salvation in the hands of God, it begins with God, as seen in Jeremiah 31.3, which declares, The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Here again is that theme of being drawn to Christ by the Father, and if I may so speak, here is a golden cord reaching down from a blue clear heaven.

It glistens gold in its riches of grace, and down it comes into a dark world of sin and sadness, and proceeds further until it finds and lands upon the object of that love. And who is that but a vile and undeserving sinner? And as this cord of love is manifested and shed abroad into the heart, as it pulls upon it and draws it, not by any violent force, but alongside the threats of the law, come the declarations of grace in the gospel, and God's electing, drawing love, this is love, drawing him up out of a pit of miry clay, drawing him out of a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light and life. And by this cord of love the poor sinner sees and hears God declare, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

This everlasting cord of love is declared in God's word, who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And this drawing cord of love is some everlasting, for it declares, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. For this golden cord of love is initiated and purposed in the counsels of heaven, in the counsels of God, and evidenced in Ephesians chapter 1, where we read, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children but Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

And though this golden cord of love reaches down from heaven, it is stained from top to bottom with the blood of God's only begotten Son, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. God's mercy toward man is seen by way of a bloody cross, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin, and in whose hands are written the very names of his elect, as told by Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me, signifying God's constant remembrance and love for his people. And if you ever need a reminder, friend, of that love, if I may so speak, take a look down at the palms of your hands, and imagine the nail-pierced hands of a risen Christ, with your name written there with a nail-piece mark, through it, as he sits in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross, to which the apostle Paul could say, He loved me and gave himself for me.

Once we fully grasp the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ, who held nothing back at Calvary, how can we hold anything back from him? He should have the preeminence in our life, in all things, both first place and priority, as we marvel at his marvelous grace. We must ask ourselves, have we only a historical knowledge of this Christ, or have we an experiential knowledge of this love? Are we born from above and washed in the blood here in his love? Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.