Your definition of love defines the way you live.
1 John 4:8-10 (NIV)
8Â Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9Â This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10Â This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ.
But this is how God showed his love:Â
he sent his only begotten SonÂ
into the world,
so that whoever believes in himÂ
should not perishÂ
but have eternal life
Summary
The reason that God's grace is so much stronger than you are is because it's a product of His character. Last year around this time we learned that God is self defining; in other words, He is and defines His attributes, which are multifaceted. In today's passage, John reminds us that that God is love. This doesn't just mean that God is loving, it means that God is the very definition of love, and that everything He does is perfectly consistent with it.
Yet we wouldn't know a thing about God's love - or even love in general - had God not revealed it to us. You could certainly count off lots of ways that God has shown His love to you if you took a moment to think about it (which you should!), but the best example of God's love comes in sending His one and only Son into the world.
In John's poetic writing style, he often repeats concepts with a slight twist, and today he doesn't disappoint us. He already explained as plainly as possible in v9 the divine nature of love, writing that God is love, but then he restates in v10 what love is by first explaining what it's not: love does not originate with us - it's not that we [first] loved God, but rather that He loved us and sent His Son.
And it's not that He just sent His Son to be immanuel (God with us) or to be a friend when we need one. In His love He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. What a definition of love! Even though we pulled our love from God and gave it to idols, God's love for you was so strong that He sent His one and only Son to pay for your sin!
Dig Deeper
It's been awhile since we pointed one out, and here at the beginning of the year is a good time to do so. If you're just joining us, it's always good to keep your eye out for what are known as 'hina' clauses, which are often present when you see words or phrases like 'so that' (they're called 'hina' clauses because they translate the Greek word hina).
They function as a conjunction which attaches a concept to a practical conclusion, and there's a big one in v9. God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
It's critically important that you understand the primary reason why God sent His Son: so that He would be the atoning sacrifice [payment] for your sin. But don't miss the HUGE practical conclusion attached to this concept: you must now live through Him - not just alongside or even for Christ, but through Him.
To live through Christ means you must be breathing His Word in so that you reflect His glory and image in all that you do. This is how you return the love that God first demonstrated to you.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who demonstrated what love is by sending His one and only Son into the world;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that in 2025 you will concentrate on breathing Christ's Word in so that you will live through Him;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 7
