In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:9-11
The True Meaning of Love
If you grew up in church, you are probably familiar with John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. This speaks of the love that Jesus showed to us by sacrificing His life for our salvation and the gift of eternal life. The passage above in 1:John 4:9-11 speaks of not only of the love shown to us in the sacrifice of Jesus giving His life for us, but the sacrifice of God sending His only Son to be crucified that we might live. There is truly no greater love than this.
I cannot think of one person that I would ever sacrifice one of my children for, let alone all of mankind, some of whom would not even be grateful or care. What a gift we truly have, and we don’t ever even think of the magnitude of it all. We have a loving Savior and a loving God. God does love us. We sometimes think of Him as a great being who presides over all and judges accordingly. He does but He has given us the opportunity to receive His grace and mercy – and love like we will never get anywhere else. God the Father loves us.
In the King James Version of this passage, it refers to Jesus as God’s only begotten Son. I have never given this phrase much thought, but it is a special term that identifies Jesus uniquely as the Son of God, sharing the same divine nature as God. John points out that we are sons and daughters of God by adoption. We are joint heirs with Jesus, but we are not the same nature and being as God like Jesus is.
God not only loved us enough to send His Son, but what that sending did for us is to raise us to new life from our life of sin. He took the punishment we deserved. He took upon Himself the punishment we deserve because He loves us - and God sent Him to do that because He loves us. The beauty of God’s love is shown not only in saving us from the judgment we deserved, but also in that He wants us to live through Him.
God has given us this beautiful gift, but it is not ours to keep to ourselves. He desires for us to give this love away, to tell the story of His indescribable love for all mankind and about the sacrifice of both the Father and the Son.
This love from both the Father and the Son brings hope and peace and joy. It is not about how much we love Him, but about how much He loves us. Having a relationship with Him makes it easier for us love Him the way He deserves to be loved and love others the way He planned. Loving one another is proof that we have a relationship with Him. Without loving one another, how can we say that He is the Lord of our lives? He pours into us that we may pour out to those around us. Then He fills us up again to pour out again. It is a never ending cycle of love.
But who among us would think of giving up his son to die for his enemy, for one who never did him a service, but treated him ungratefully, repulsed a thousand overtures of tenderness, and went on perversely hardening his neck? No man could do it. Charles Spurgeon
