Here Is the Love That Changes All

A Poem Inspired by 1 John 3:16-17

In ages past, when sin had veiled the light,  

And mortal hearts in shadowed bondage lay,  

The eternal Son descended from the height,  

To bear our curse and chase the night away.  

Not with a sword or kingly crown of gold,  

But with a cross of shame and suffering deep,  

He laid His life, as prophets had foretold,  

That love might wake the souls who soundly sleep.  

By this we know what love in truth must be,  

Not fleeting words or passions quickly spent,  

But sacrifice that sets the captive free,  

The willing gift of heaven’s innocent.  

O matchless love, that stooped to Calvary’s tree,  

Where nails and thorns proclaimed the Father’s plan!  

The sinless One for sinners bled to see  

Redemption flow to every fallen man.  

He took the cup of wrath we should have drained,  

Endured the darkness, uttered not a groan  

Save that forsaken cry that heaven pained,  

Then rose in triumph from the guarded stone.  

Here stands the measure, pure and undefiled,  

The pattern etched in blood for all to see:  

If Christ so loved, though we were lost and wild,  

Then we must love as He has first loved me.  

We also ought to lay our lives aside,  

Not only in the martyr’s final hour,  

But in the quiet paths where mercy’s tide  

Flows through the day in sacrificial power.  

For brethren bound by faith’s uniting cord,  

We yield our comfort, time, and cherished ease,  

We bear their burdens, share the common load,  

And count it joy when selfhood finds release.  

No longer slaves to pleasure’s fleeting call,  

We learn the freedom of a servant’s heart,  

Where love becomes the highest rule of all,  

And every act reveals the Savior’s art.  

Yet mark the warning written plain and clear,  

Lest profession ring with hollow, empty sound:  

Whoever holds this world’s goods, and sees a tear  

Upon his brother’s cheek, yet turns around,  

And shuts his heart against the urgent need,  

How dwells the love of God within that breast?  

The stream that should refresh the soul in need  

Runs dry, and leaves the thirsty unrefreshed.  

True love abides not locked in secret store,  

But breaks forth like the dawn in generous ray,  

It opens hands and flings wide every door,  

And turns indifference into mercy’s day.  

O youth who tread the threshold of your years,  

And aged saints whose steps grow slow and frail,  

And all who wander through this vale of tears,  

Let this commandment on your spirits prevail.  

Behold the cross where love was crucified,  

Then turn your gaze to neighbors near and far,  

And in their want let self be mortified,  

That Christ may shine through every wound and scar.  

For when the final trumpet splits the skies,  

And every knee before the Judge shall bend,  

The proof of faith will not in knowledge rise,  

But in the love that learned to give and spend.  

Then let us live as those who have been bought,  

With price most dear, the blood of God’s own Son.  

Let every selfish impulse come to naught,  

And let the reign of agape be begun.  

In homes and churches, streets and fields of toil,  

In quiet deeds that no one else may see,  

May love’s pure flame consume the dross and soil,  

And make us living letters, bold and free.  

So shall the watching world in wonder stand,  

And ask what power could work such change in clay,  

Then we shall point with humble, grateful hand  

To Him who laid His life down yesterday.  

Here is the love that changes all below,  

The fountainhead from which true mercy springs.  

It bids the proud in lowly service bow,  

And gives the weary heart new strength of wings.  

Come, weary traveler, behold and take,  

This love that first laid down its life for thee.  

Then rise and go, for Jesus’ own dear sake,  

And lay thy life down for thy brother’s need.  

Thus shall the circle of redeeming grace  

Expand through every land and every tongue,  

Till all creation sees the Father’s face,  

And every heart with heaven’s love is sung.