In a letter written by Jonathan Edwards (d. 1758) to a Lady Pepperhill, whose only son had recently died, we find this tribute to the love of Christ:

“He suffered, that we might be delivered. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, to take away the sting of sorrow and that we might have everlasting consolation. He was oppressed and afflicted, that we might be supported. He was overwhelmed in the darkness of death and hell, that we might have the light of life. He was cast into the furnace of God’s wrath, that we might swim in the rivers of pleasure. His heart was overwhelmed in a flood of sorrow and anguish, that our hearts might be filled and overwhelmed with a flood of eternal joy.” Letters, WJE, 16:418.