The love of Christ
The love of Christ is a central element of Christian belief and theology. It can refer to Christ's love for all or for his people or of his people to him or even of Christians love for others. These are distinct Christian teachings.
The theme of love is the key element of John's writings. This is evidenced in one of the most widely quoted scriptures in the Bible (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. In the Gospel of John, the pericope of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21) symbolises the sacrifice of Jesus based on his love for his people. In John, love for Christ results in the following of his commands, the Farewell Discourse (14:23) states If a man loves me, he will keep my word. In 1 John 4:19 the reflexive nature of this love is highlighted We love, because he first loved us, expressing the love of Christ as a mirroring of Christ's own love. Towards the end of the Last Supper, Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment Love one another, as I have loved you ... By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.
The love of Christ is also a motif in Paul's letters. The basic theme of Ephesians is that of God the Father initiating the work of salvation through Christ, who willingly sacrifices himself based on his love and obedience to the Father. Ephesians 5:25 states Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it. Ephesians 3:17-19 relates the love of Christ to the knowledge of Christ and considers loving Christ to be a necessity for knowing him.
Many Christians have written on the love of Christ - Augustine wrote that "the common love of truth unites people, the common love of Christ unites all Christians". Benedict instructed his monks to "prefer nothing to the love of Christ". Thomas Aquinas stated that although both Christ and God the Father had the power to restrain those who killed Christ on Calvary, neither did, due to the perfection of the love of Christ. Aquinas also opined that, given that "perfect love" casts out fear, Christ had no fear when he was crucified, for his love was all-perfect.