“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.“
How do you know someone loves you?
Sometimes people say it. They tell you they love you, and those words can mean a great deal. But words alone don’t always convince us.
We tend to look for evidence.
We want to see love demonstrated, not merely declared.
John tells us that God has done exactly that.
“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.”
God didn’t simply announce His love from heaven. He demonstrated it by sending His Son into the world.
And consider what that meant. The eternal Son of God took on human flesh. He entered a world broken by sin, experienced its suffering, and willingly went to the cross. There He bore the punishment for sins He had not committed so that sinners like us could be forgiven and have eternal life.
That’s what God’s love looks like.
But John goes even further.
“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.”
Notice the order. God didn’t wait for us to love Him first. He didn’t look down from heaven, see how devoted we were, and decide that we deserved His affection.
He loved us while we were still sinners.
That’s an important distinction because we often think of love as a response to something lovable. We love people because they’re kind to us, because we enjoy their company, or because they bring something good into our lives.
I’ve seen plenty of memes saying something to the effect of, “If you only come around when you need something, I don’t need you in my life.” And, I understand that there are certain situations where you may need to set up boundaries with people. But the reality is that we tend to give our love to people who love us in return.
But God’s love isn’t a response to our goodness.
It is the reason we have any hope of being made good.
John uses a word that may be unfamiliar: “propitiation”. It means that Jesus’ sacrifice turned away God’s righteous wrath against sin. God’s love did not cause Him to ignore our sins. His love moved Him to send His Son to bear the judgment those sins deserved.
At the cross, we see just how seriously God takes sin and just how deeply He loves sinners.
This also means that God’s love is not something you have to guess about. There may be days when you feel deeply loved by God. Perhaps you see His blessings clearly, your prayers seem to be answered, and life is going well.
But there will also be days when you don’t feel particularly loved. Prayers seem unanswered. Life is painful. You may even find yourself wondering whether God is disappointed with you or has somehow turned away. We see several Psalms that express this sentiment.
In those moments, John directs your attention away from your circumstances and back to Jesus.
If you want to know whether God loves you, look at the cross.
There you have the answer.
And that love doesn’t simply change your relationship with God. It changes your relationship with others. John concludes,
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Throughout these thirty Epistle devotions, we’ve considered what God has done for us in Christ. He has justified us, reconciled us to Himself, made us alive through Baptism, joined us to His Church, and given us a living hope that even death cannot destroy.
All of those gifts flow from His grace and love. And now that love flows outward through us.
We don’t love others to earn God’s approval. We love because we have already received His love. We forgive because we have been forgiven. In 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 it says that we comfort others with the comfort we, ourselves, have received from God.
Of course, our love will remain imperfect in this life. We will still struggle with selfishness, impatience, and resentment. We will need to confess our failures and receive Christ’s forgiveness again and again.
But God’s love for us remains certain.
And through His Word and Spirit, He continues to shape our lives so that His love is reflected in the way we treat the people around us.
What a good place to end this series.
Not with a command to work harder or become a better Christian, but with the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Because everything begins there. Everything ends there.
And everything we do as Christians flows from there.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving me before I ever loved You. Thank You for sending Your Son into the world to bear my sins and give me eternal life.
When I doubt Your love, turn my eyes to the cross, where You have demonstrated it so clearly. Remind me that Your love does not depend on my worthiness, my circumstances, or the strength of my faith, but on Your gracious heart and the saving work of Jesus.
As I continue to grow in faith, help me to reflect Your love to the people around me. Give me patience when others are difficult, compassion when they are hurting, and a willingness to forgive as You have forgiven me.
Keep me always in Your love, through Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
