Description
John shows us, in 1 John 4:10, the extraordinary extent of God’s love. How will we practise that love today?
1 John 4:1… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
The Apostle John has so much to say about love and he has to say it because it takes us so long to get it. 1 John chapter 4 verse 10. 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.
One of the greatest challenges. that is presented to us by Christ, one of the things that doesn’t really fit with our idea and sense of justice is that the love came, the propitiation, this taking away of God’s wrath, this causing God to be inclined towards us with mercy and blessing, this came to people who didn’t deserve it. This came before we could do anything to appease God’s wrath. Not that we ever could.
And when I think about my own heart, this feels like a nearly impossible standard to achieve. To what extent do I reach out to people that don’t deserve to be loved, and stand in the way of danger for them, and stand in the way of justice for them, and make sure that they receive mercy? Do I do that?
I feel so far from the example that Jesus set. And yes, we’re not condemned for being any distance at all from the image of Christ. It is enough that we’ve turned our hearts towards him in repentance and that we are walking the path that he’s laid out for us.
But knowing my inadequacy, verses like this make me look up to God and go, this is incredible, no wonder the angels want to look into this that you have done for us. To stretch out so far, to stoop so low, to such unworthy, undeserving subjects. This is the grace that we receive that we barely comprehend.
Father God, thank you. You are glorious. You are faithful. You are kind. You stand in the way of your own justice for us. We can never fully understand, but we can always thank you. Amen.
