John 13:1 [NOW] BEFORE the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the end and to the highest degree.
Rev. 13:8 And all the inhabitants of the earth will fall down in adoration and pay him homage, everyone whose name has not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
He doesn’t just love us to the end with proven love displayed on the Cross, He has always had a slain heart in His stunning love for us. Our fall was not a surprise to Him, and when He set His love on you in eternity past, before you were born, His heart was already prepared to die to secure your love. Someone like that can be trusted with our lives. We can surrender to a Slain Lamb. When we talk about trusting our lives to The Sovereign Lord; The King of Kings, remember that this Sovereign Ruler who wants to rule in your heart and life, is a Slain Lamb. It is the eternally Wounded One who wants to rest on the throne of your heart and tell His story through your life. This is the place from which Paul appeals to us to present our lives to Christ as a living sacrifice. He says “I urge your therefore brethren BY THE MERCIES OF GOD to present your bodies as a living sacrifice…” The leverage he uses for such an appeal is the merciful heart of God; The slain heart of the Lamb. He is saying, in light of the One whose slain heart drove Him to sacrifice so much for us can’t we sacrifice all to Him. He can surely be trusted with all we lay at His feet in worship.