In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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.

John 3:16 is one the most quoted verses in the Bible. You see the reference posted on bumper stickers, sport banners at ball games, in the upper right corner of websites. I have often wondered how many people actually know what it refers to.  And if they do, do they understand its meaning?

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Our verse of the day and the theme of this week’s devotional content centers on God’s love for us. John 3:16 connects God’s love, Jesus, and eternal life. In contrast, 1 John 4:9 provides clarity about what that love means NOW. The author of both verses is the Apostle John, whose epistles and gospel speak volumes about God’s love through his Son. In the Gospel of John, he refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).

This is not John announcing to everyone that Jesus loved him more than the other disciples or anyone else. Rather, John recognized and received with confidence that Jesus loved John, the lowly fisherman, the nobody in Jewish culture. John would be the only disciple recorded as being present at the crucifixion, seeing firsthand what the “propitiation for our sins” looked like (1 John 4:10). God was proving to John that his love, exhibited, was love with sacrifice and purpose.

This is the context to my earlier assertion that 1 John 4:9 speaks to the here and now. God’s love doesn’t end at the cross with Jesus but extends into our everyday life through his Son, “that we might live through him.” His Spirit dwells in the believer as evidence of this love and gives us encouragement, guidance, and hope so we can live this earthly life for Jesus and through Jesus.

It all begins with the love of the Father, not love from us. Please grasp that you can’t truly love God until you understand the depths of his love first. His love is pure, full of grace and truth. It’s unstoppable and timeless. Our fallible versions of love don’t compare. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

God is a personal god. He chose to display this love through a person, his son Jesus Christ. This display is meant for the whole world as John 3:16 states, yet it comes down to the individual to recognize it and receive it. As the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” John did.

Have you accepted that love yet? Are you like me, in that you have to be reminded every day of this important truth? This realization played out in everyday life is the reality God intends us to live in.  It is our true self living out the purpose that he gives each of us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The old creation is gone, we are a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This love is intended for the whole world. And guess what, my dear reader? We’re the ones displaying it. The love of Christ in us is meant to be an invitation to those around us to also know that love. Love is our motivator to evangelize. Love is personal, and the testimony of God’s love toward us can’t be contested because we simply express what he has done IN and FOR us. Who can argue with that?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for first loving us. You took the initiative when we could not. You displayed the depths of it through your Son. May I continue to grow in my understanding of your love. May I rest knowing it is complete because you are faithful in all things. In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen.