| “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” |
| —1 John 4:10 |
In recent blog posts, I’ve felt constrained to write quite a bit about the subject of “love.” I’ve shared that the greatest love is the God-breathed love instilled in us by the One who loves us. He gives us this love, so that we might reflect the love He shows us through the death of His Son, Jesus.
Christ died in our place on the Roman cross of torture at Golgotha. He died there because a righteous and just God demanded that a penalty be paid for the sin of humankind.
That sin began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and proceeded down through the intervening years from generation to generation. No ordinary human ever lived who did not have that stain of original sin. Furthermore, no ordinary human has ever lived who did not sin.
One and only one person, the Lord Jesus Christ—God Incarnate—entered this world without the stain of Adam’s sin, lived His 33-year lifespan without sinning, and then, on the cross, in obedience to His Father, took upon Himself all the sins of every human who had ever lived and who would ever live.
But, Christ’s death was effectual only for those whom God has called to Himself through the wooing of the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin and revelation of God’s mercy, grace, and love. This whole process remains a great mystery to us—one that we simply do not have the capability to understand. Yet, God’s written Word makes it clear that this is exactly what has happened and continues to happen, as God reveals Himself to each human He calls to Himself.
As far as love is concerned—God-breathed love, that is—we have this testimony of the Apostle John who wrote these words recorded in 1 John 4:10:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
What is an “atoning sacrifice”? The King James Version (often called the Authorized Version) translates the New Testament Koine Greek word hilasmon as “propitiation.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “propitiation” as “to make (someone) pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired.”
We find this word in Koine Greek literature that is contemporaneous with the New Testament. In this literature, it refers to the various offerings the Greeks and Romans gave to their many gods.
In the case of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the word is well-translated in the verse above from the New International Version as “atoning sacrifice.” Jesus atoned for our sins by the shedding of His precious blood. Thus, the gospel songwriter, Robert Lowry, has rightly penned these words:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain: Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
As we search for love at the beginning of this new day, let’s remember the greatest expression of love known to humankind: the death and resurrection of Jesus. God gave us His Son as the ultimate gift of His love. Whenever we allow God to imbue us with His God-breathed love, we have the privilege of passing that love on to others we meet along the road of life.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2017
