God’s Love Manifested

Bible Text: 1 John 4:9-10

Many do not see nor know nor believe God’s love for them personally; as a result, they usually complain about the afflictions, troubles, difficulties, trials or disasters in their lives. They even argue that if God is all-powerful, all-wise, all-knowing and all-loving, why does God not stop all the crimes, sins, injustice, corruption, suffering, illness, poverty, wars, or natural disasters in the world, and why does God not cause people to live in love, in peace and in harmony and richly bless them. Why and many other whys. The parents always want their children to be blessed, to love one another, and to depart from sins and evil, but if they grow up and disobey their parents and hate one another and commit sins and crimes against the law of their country, they cannot blame their parents if they are judged and put into jail or executed due to their sins. They must be accountable for what they have done. God did not create human beings like robots to be totally controlled by Him, but God created human beings in His image with a living soul who has his or her own will, and concept of worship, conscience, intelligence, wisdom, reasoning capacity, and different skills. God wanted human beings to willingly and voluntarily obey Him, worship Him, and love Him and love one another so that they might be blessed. Sadly, they disobeyed God, rebelled against Him and His Word, even denied their Creator and Maker, so they had to bear all the consequences of their disobedience, rebellion, sins, transgressions and iniquities. They have failed to realize that if God were not loving, merciful and longsuffering, He is still just and righteous to judge and destroy all mankind right away according to His holiness and righteousness due to their sins. Acknowledging God’s love and mercy, Jeremiah said, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lam 3:22). It is so vital for you and me to see, to know and to believe God’s love, grace and mercy as well as His holiness and righteousness.

How can you and I know the truth about God? Thank God for giving us His written Word, the Holy Scriptures and His living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal or manifest Himself, especially His love and salvation for mankind, including you and me personally. Let us hear God’s Word and look at our Saviour Jesus Christ.

God’s Plan of Salvation for Mankind Has Been Fulfilled in Christ and Will Be Complete when Christ Comes: Right after Adam and Eve sinned due to their disobedience, God announced His Gospel of salvation through the seed of the woman, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15), and this seed was reminded by the prophet Isaiah and has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23). It is out of love that God’s plan of salvation for mankind has been fulfilled in Christ, and according to God’s Word, we can be sure that God’s plan will be complete when Jesus comes back again to receive His Church and establish His Millennial Kingdom of Peace on earth. Do you and I see, know and believe God’s love and look forward to that glorious day?

God Gave Mankind His Only Begotten Son for Their Eternal Life: Many have celebrated Christmas but without knowing and experiencing God’s love for them personally. Why? They are spiritually dead. A spiritually dead person cannot see, know, believe, accept, and appreciate God’s love for them personally. They may ask, “Where is God’s love for me? Can you show me?” God’s love has been manifested when He sent His only begotten Son into this world to give spiritual life to you and me, who are spiritually dead, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9), and “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Have you and I received God’s gift of eternal life in Christ? “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12).

God Gave Mankind His Only Begotten Son to Be the Propitiation for Their Sins: Just imagine if you were a king or president and you had only one son, would you be willing to let your only one son die for those who had rebelled against you, offended you, and blasphemed your name? You would never do that, would you? You and I cannot understand or comprehend God’s love which passes all knowledge when He gave His only begotten Son to die for rebellious, sinful and wicked mankind, including you and me, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), and “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Have you truly seen, known, believed and appreciated God’s love for you personally?

Jesus Humbly Came into the World to Die for Sinners: Not only God the Father but also God the Son, even the Lord Jesus Christ, has loved mankind so much! Have you truly seen, known, believed and appreciated Jesus’ love for you personally? Jesus was willing to humble Himself to be born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfectly sinless life, and obeyed His Father unto death, even the shameful death on the Cross to take away the sin of the world, including yours and mine! Jesus says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13), and He did lay down His life for you and me! Do you and I truly believe and appreciate Jesus’ love?

God Has Drawn His Elect to Jesus Christ for Salvation and His Grace: Even when God the Father and God the Son have manifested so much love for mankind, they still doubt, ignore, and reject God’s love for them. Then, God has manifested His special love for those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world and drawn them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus confirms, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44, 65). Truly, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Have you and I truly believed, accepted and appreciated God’s love for us personally when we are able to come to Him, love and thirst after Him and His Truth, and willingly follow Him and serve Him until the end?

Proper Attitudes towards God’s Love

What should you and I do when we have seen, known, and believe God’s love for us? “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

Accept God’s Love Personally, Thank Him and Pray to Him for Spiritual Growth in His Love: Paul accepted Jesus’ love for him personally when he said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20), and he prayed for the believers at Ephesus, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:17-19). May God graciously help you and me know and experience more of His love for us each day.

Love God and Live for Him, Love One Another and Share God’s Love with Others: As God has loved us first, may His love constrains us to love Him, to live for Him, to love one another and to share His love with others, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor 5:14-15), and “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God…Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another… We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:7, 11, 19). Genuine love must show the fruit of obedience and submission, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). What about you and me?

Conclusion

Dear friends, God has manifested His great love for you and me when He gave His only begotten Son to fulfill His plan of salvation for mankind, to give us eternal life, to die for our sins, and to draw us closer to Him. Do you and I truly know, believe, accept and appreciate God’s love personally, and keep on growing in the knowledge of His grace, love and truth each day? God’s love will comfort you and me and cast out all fear, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18), and we can give thanks to God even when we are chastised by Him, knowing that, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb 12:6). May God’s love constrain us to love Him, to live for Him, to love one another, to share His love with others, and “Let all your things be done with charity (love)” (1 Cor 16:14) until our Saviour Jesus Christ comes back again for our perfect and complete redemption. Amen.