“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here”.
The courage of Christ amazes us. He went to DIE because the reward - the salvation of His elect and the glory He‘d give to God thereby- was stuck in His view. He laid down His life because of what we would receive, the honor to the Father, and the throne and kingdom of His inheritance, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne God” (Heb 12:2). Now, for the JOY set before us, we work and toil. We labor down here, even as He WILLINGLY went to the cross, looking for the joy before us. In obedience, the Son promises His Spirit, promises to make known His love to us, and He promises that peace will be ours (John 14:27). In Christ, we receive, so we WORK hard against sin and despair to believe the HOPE that we have, laboring for a reward that is sure (Heb 4:11; John 6:27).
Constantly, in every address to the churches in Revelations 2-3, the Lord‘s salvation is for, “him that overcomes” and endures. The “overcomers” are the one’s who follow Christ, being helped by Him. It is because He died for us that we’ve gotten the Spirit who teaches us the TRUTH of the gospel (John 14:16). We have INWARD hope taught to us by God, and by this, we obtain mercy to persevere in faith (John 14:26). God saves by the Spirit EARNED by the Lamb. He, for this reason, says, “Let us go from here”. Let us go through it. The disciples in despicable fear, and the Savior in heroic faith must part ways temporarily. But, He is WITH us now in this life by the Spirit as we honor Him with obedience.
