“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us”
SIH’s Think On These Things: 1 John 4:9-10
1John 4:9-10 (KJV) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.
In this morning’s text, we find that God’s love for His people portrayed in great detail…
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him”
Jehovah, the Only True God, our Creator and Lord, loved us with a perfect, unconditional, and absolute love for His people. He clearly demonstrated His self-sacrificial love by sending His Son to the earth. It is through Christ’s coming that He brings spiritual life to those who are fallen, sinful creatures who are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins.
Christ, in turn, exhibited this same type of love for us by giving his life on the cross. In His death, we have the just One dying for the unjust; paying in full the debt of our sins and securing forgiveness from our God (1 Pet 3:18).
What great sacrifice to bring salvation to His people! This is THE message of the Bible.
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins”
To further display His great love, God’s Word reminds us that God’s love was placed upon us long before we loved Him. He chose to love us before we loved Him, before we saw our need of Him, and before we were brought into this world. Amazingly, His love was placed upon us before the world began (Eph 1:4).
We are clearly told that we can never be separated from this same great love. We can know with assurance that we are kept safe in the hands of God, because His people can NEVER be separated from His gracious redeeming love… Rom 8:38-39 (KJV) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Folks, just as Jonah experienced a divine miracle of salvation from the fish’s belly, let us share in thanking Him for His unconditional love. It is this love that has given to us the eternal deliverance from the punishment of our sin and the promise of a blessed eternity with Him. Jonah 2:9 (KJV) But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay [that] that I have vowed. Salvation [is] of the LORD.
May the Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.
SIH Homepage: http://www.settledinheaven.org
SIH Text Blog: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/all-about-salvation/
SIH Video Blog: http://youtube.com/settledinheaven/
SIH Email: settledinheaven@gmail.com
wonderful reading for me!
Thankful you were blessed… His Word is so good to us. May He continue to show you His Word. Lord Bless.
Thanking Him today for that wonderful unconditional love . . .that I couldn’t live without! God bless you, Pastor Rob, as you go through this month with thanksgiving!
His love is the basis of all He does for us…. that is one reason why it is so important for us to understand. Lord bless you. Thanks for the comments Debbie
I think of the song Bev Shea sang:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
To think that this love is extended to me – was extended to me when I had no thought of Him – is mind boggling to say the least. But praise God, it is REAL and I thank and praise Him for the REALITY of that experience.
What amazing love!
What an amazing God!
AMEN! That is a beautiful song. I remember it well from watching the Billy Graham crusades when i was young. Lord bless you. Thanks for sharing the song with us.