"Here in is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent His Son to be propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
The text printed above teaches us a lot about love. The Greek word translated love here is "agape" (A gah pay). This is the word that is used in John 3:16 and 1Corinthians 13, which is called "the love chapter." Here is what John wanted us to know about the highest kind of love: He reminds us that love originated with God. We might say that love is a "God Thing." John reminds us that "He loved us." I don't know about you, but these words are thrilling to me. We should never take God's love lightly. I read this to also mean that God loves me. I do not know why He loves me, but the Bible constantly reminds us of God's love. This also means that God loves you. It also means that God loves those that we find difficult to love, as well as those we find easy to love. He reminds us of the extent of God's love: "He sent His Son to be the propitiation ("atoning sacrifice") for our sins." We are the reason that Jesus came into the world and gave His life on the cross. He did this in order that we might be saved from sin. Without Jesus, we would have no hope for today, tomorrow, or for eternity. We need to pause and thank God for this self-giving love. We need to praise Jesus for loving us enough to give His life for us. Jesus is the reason that we can go to heaven and live with Him eternally instead of spending eternity in hell. That is a blunt statement, but it is a true statement. Jesus died and rose from the grave to be the "atoning sacrifice" for our sins. Praise Him! John also reminds us that because of God's agape, self giving love: "We ought also to love one another." It seems to me that we Christians often forget about this. I hear of Christ's churches fussing and fighting. Wait, I have personally seen Christ's people feuding, fussing and fighting with each other. There are some names that pass through my mind that remind me that this also refers to me. Look into your heart and see if Satan has planted a seed of hatred (dislike if you prefer) in your heart. Remember that God also loves that person, or those people, as He loves you. Jesus gave His life for them. Jesus loves them. He knows about their faults but He has not stopped loving them. He also knows about your faults and mine, but He still loves and forgives us. Having this kind of love in our hearts and minds, "we ought also to love one another." Believe me, I know the struggle about loving people with God's love. Perhaps we need to think deeply about the love that saved us, and try to practice it on other people. Selah (Frankly, writing this article drove me to prayer, and to ask God for forgiveness. I pray that it will cause you to pray, and to seek to love people.) Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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