1 John 4:7–12 (ESV)
God
Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God
abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Love is a very confused concept
in this day and time. To some, love is being raped, beaten, controlled, belittled, used… and this is not love. God loved us by sending his Son to die for our
sin, as a substitute, and gives us Christ righteousness… not ours. This is stated as: “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.” So the $100 question
is… what is “propitiation”? When the NT says “propitiation,” it means that Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of mankind put away God’s wrath against his people once and for all[1].
We should love one another because God loved us by giving us his son and we received Christ’s perfection.
I pray: O Lord, I give thanks for your precious gift of your son. Help me to live in your love that you gave to me and to love others. Amen.
[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Propitiation,”
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1784.