He Loved Us

In this is love, not that we 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. 

I John 4:10-11 

God’s sending of Christ to be the One Who appeases the wrath of God against us for our sins, is the definitive proof He loves us. We ought not think that we are the originators of the love relationship between God and us. ‘We love Him because He first loved us,’ as John points out later in this passage. The demonstration of God’s love for us consists in the sacrifice Christ made for us to appease God’s wrath. Everything else we see, from the incarnation of Christ as the babe in the manger to His passion, proves the lengths to which God would go to show us His love. He has done these things to Christ and through Christ so we cannot justifiably doubt His love. Because of Christ we can love God freely in return and in turn love others as the second portion of our text articulates. Our love of others is the logical extension of what we have received from God through Christ. This gives us the daily opportunity to affect the lives of those around us, not merely in word but in deed. God has loved us. We love Him and therefore love others.  

Our Good and Loving God, 
we rejoice that You have loved us. 
We praise You that we have the  
opportunity to love You in return. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning