And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 

I John 4:14 

Why should we believe the writers of the New Testament? The simple answer is, they were eyewitnesses. When John began his testimony, he wrote, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’  Everything else we find in his gospel is an account of what he saw. When the disciples experienced opposition to preaching Christ by the religious authorities, their response was, ‘We cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard.’ Peter makes a point of emphasizing the truth of the apostles’ testimony when he remarks, ‘For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.’ Paul goes to great lengths to assert that there were numerous eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ because they saw Him in Person and on various occasions. Thus, there is an abundance of evidence regarding the Person and work of Christ. When John wrote his gospel he declared that his purpose was, ‘that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.’ Our text reiterates the same idea in that John continues to point us to Christ, the Savior. We have every reason to believe their testimony.  

Our Wise and Holy God, 
we rejoice that You have made Your revelation of Christ so clear. 
We praise You that we have received it 
from those that saw it first.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 

I John 4:14 

Why should we believe the writers of the New Testament? The simple answer is, they were eyewitnesses. When John began his testimony, he wrote, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’  Everything else we find in his gospel is an account of what he saw. When the disciples experienced opposition to preaching Christ by the religious authorities, their response was, ‘We cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard.’ Peter makes a point of emphasizing the truth of the apostles’ testimony when he remarks, ‘For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.’ Paul goes to great lengths to assert that there were numerous eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ because they saw Him in Person and on various occasions. Thus, there is an abundance of evidence regarding the Person and work of Christ. When John wrote his gospel he declared that his purpose was, ‘that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.’ Our text reiterates the same idea in that John continues to point us to Christ, the Savior. We have every reason to believe their testimony.  

Our Wise and Holy God, 
we rejoice that You have made Your revelation of Christ so clear. 
We praise You that we have received it 
from those that saw it first.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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