“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11).
Mariah Carey’s song, I Want to Know What Love Is, contains these lyrics…“In my life there’s been heartache and pain. I don’t know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far. To change this lonely life. I wanna know what love is. I want you to show me. I wanna feel what love is. I know you can show me.”
John gives us the answer of what love really is. God sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins! Paul expands the extent of God’s love in Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Sin is enmity toward God. Therefore, it can be stated that while we were God’s enemies, God in the fullness of His love, sent His Son to die for us. This is what love really is.
God’s love for us is more than a feeling. It is action. It is a sacrificial act. “God sent His Son” to die. It is a satisfaction act. Jesus died to pay the penalty “for our sins” and thereby satisfying the justice of God. Someone had to die because the wages of sin is death. It is supernatural act. The Creator came to earth to serve and die for His rebellious creation!
It is a forgiving act. Jesus died to become “an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” He did not just cover over our sins with His blood. He takes away our sins!
“Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” God’s love is the platinum standard. I want to encourage you to receive God’s love for you. Realize Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Recognize that you receive a “right standing” before God because of Jesus’ paying your penalty. Each one of us was Jesus’ worst enemy because of our sin and yet He loved us by taking our place on the cross. You can forgive yourself for all the bad choices you have made in your life by Jesus forgives you!
YOU CANNOT GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED! RECEIVING GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU ENABLES YOU TO LOVE TO THE EXTENT YOU HAVE RECEIVED GOD’S LOVE FOR YOURSELF! Because God loved you in sending His Son as an atoning sacrifice for your sins, you can love others sacrificially and supernaturally. You can forgive anything because God has forgiven you of everything.
Like Mariah Carey, the world is crying out, “I wanna know what love is. I want you to show me. I wanna feel what love is. I know you can show me.” It is time for the Church to show the world way love really is.