I John 4: 10

Confession of faith: Anna DeVries, Olivia Huizinga, Dylan Meulenberg, Kyle Meulenberg

HEREIN IS LOVE

I. Its Identity

A. Etymology. God’s Word tells us how we are to understand everything properly, including love.

B. God’s love is Himself (8), what He is.

1. Therefore, it is absolutely sovereign, independent and one-sided in its origin, nature, and operation (7).

2. God’s love caused God to send His Son, so before we love Him, He loves us.

3. And God’s love miraculously changes us spiritual undesirable enemies of His, making us lovely, and enabling us to love.

II. The wondrous love of God is seen in God sending His Son to the cross to be “the propitiation for our sins.”

A. To do this God’s love has to be eternal and unchangeable in Himself (Jer. 31:3; Ps. 103:17; Rom. 9:11-13; 8:29,30; Eph. 1:5).

B. “Propitiation” answers divine wrath which is evoked by sin, by appeasing and placating that wrath.

1. This presupposes no love on our part, for we were dead in sins, proud in rebellion, worthy of damnation, objects of wrath.

2. Always behind the idea of propitiation is atonement, which satisfies divine justice.

C.So, it is not that Christ came between God and us, and made God love us, for God’s love sent His Son.

III. The chief significance is that this propitiation declares to us the love of God, always amazing, adorable, and unfathomable.

A. It is the revelation of the first love, the sovereign love, of the independent love, of the unquenchable love.

B. How glorious is the revelation of that love of the God of our salvation. We note three ways.

C.The propitiatory cross is the only revelation of the love of God to us.

1. Outside of and apart from this glorious light of His love, we see only the divine judgment of wrath.

2. But in the darkness of God’s wrath there penetrates the light of Divine love.