1 JOHN 4
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
THE EVIDENCE OF GOD’S LOVE
John is the apostle of love; he is the one who was closest to Jesus. He was the one who leaned on Jesus at the last supper. He was one of the three on the Mt of Transfiguration and he was the only one standing at the cross, so he above anyone else can give us the unique perspective on God’s love.
The love that God gave and has given us is completely unearned and undeserved. In fact, we deserve Hell, judgement and punishment. I know that I do.
Now God could have kept that love to Himself. He could have said, “Well, I really do love humanity and indeed I feel sorry for them, but they got themselves into this mess. Let them get themselves out of it”.
Now there is a long word at the end of the verse, what does this word mean? In the Greek it means Hilasmos. It means a sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath and turns it into favour.
The problem man had was impossible for him to conquer on his own. Someone had to come down and deal with Sin. What Jesus did was to take God’s full righteous anger and justice to declare us righteous and justified. I, for one, can’t get my head fully round what God did in reconciling us to himself.
God’s love was in evidence in Him dealing with sin. Jesus came to be the propitiation for our sins; He came and died to turn our judgement into righteousness our condemnation into justification and our bondage into freedom.
We now have God’s favor because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Let us never lose sight of the glory of the cross.
Archibald Brown penned these amazing words.
Before God could forgive a sinner in accordance with His infinite holiness and perfect justice — think what had to be done, sacrificed, and suffered! Measure God’s pardon, by the obstacles His pardoning love overcame— and then you can form some idea of its intensity.
God has fathomed His love and pity in one text, “God SO loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” That little word “so” contains more than Heaven or Earth can describe. In it, is the heart of God; in it, is the depth of pardoning love. Oh think for a minute what that pardon cost, which now makes your soul sing for joy. You received it freely enough, because Another paid the price; but what was that price?
God’s love is most in evidence at the cross, but let us realize what it cost His Son to put us right with God.
The cross.. the cross.. is such a place
A place of beauty
A place of pain
A place where sin was destroyed
Where The saviour bled and died
For me.. for me
God bless you
kk