Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 02 July 2024 08:51

Back to Love
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

Since we have started the letter of 1 John, we have discussed the subject of love on a number of occasions. It is not far off to say that “love is everything.” It would be more proper to say “Christ is everything,” but the love of God and the Son of God are two inseparable thoughts. I preached at my mother’s funeral this past Friday. She was a precious lady who understood biblical love. I quoted a passage during the service from 1 John 3:18, which says, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth, (NASB).” If you remember that passage, John is not denying the necessity of verbally communicating love to others, but he is placing the emphasis where it should be — on the “work” of love. In other words, genuine love is not merely words, but rather selflessly serving the needs of others. I watched my mom be an example of that kind of love to her family my entire life.God’s love was certainly seen through a selfless act, and the need that God met was the greatest need of humanity – to be reconciled to God. John writes in 4:9, “By this the love of God was manifested,” (NASB). There was a particular thing that God did that demonstrated His profound love to humanity, once and for all.

 trust you know what He did. If not, John explains it this way in 1 John 4:9 “that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him,” (NASB). The eternal Son of God, who was God and is God, by the will of the Father, was beget or born a man in order that we might have life through Him.
Why did God love us so much that He would make the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made? The answer is found in the very next verse. “Not that we loved God but that He loves us,” (1 John 4:10, NASB). God’s love is not only a demonstration of selfless service. Rather, God’s love is demonstrated towards undeserving and unloving people.

Over the years, my wife and I have attended a few marriage conferences. In almost every one of them, we were instructed to make a list of reasons that we love our spouses. It is a good idea, I think. We should consider those reasons, but at the same time we have to realize that our reasons for our love are in response to a particular attribute that someone possesses. We love them “because of.”

That is certainly not what God did when He demonstrated His great love for us through sending His Son. In fact, you would be right to realize that God demonstrated His great love for us in spite of us. When God “loved us” on that great day, we were in rebellion against God. Do you remember the words that many were shouting on that day? “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.” Yes, there were a few who had received much grace from God to stand and watch His murder with tears streaming down their faces, but the majority reflected the attitude of sinful humanity.

But back to my question. Why did God love us so much that He would make the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made? The answer is one of the most commonly quoted verses in our day, “God is love,” (1 John 4:16, NASB). It turns out, the reason behind God’s great demonstration of love toward humanity was because love is simply who He is. When God was manifesting His great love toward us through the great sacrifice of His Son, He was revealing to us the depth of one of His greatest characteristics. Do you want to know who God is? Look at the cross, and you will know exactly who He is.

Do you want to know true love? Look at the same cross where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, died. And the moment that you turn from your sin and place your trust in Him, you will not only have a head knowledge of what true love is, but you will experience it in your own life.