Display of God's Love
The engine that configured the plan of salvation and put it into effect was divine love, the very essence of God (1 John 4:8). Every aspect of God’s redemptive work is embedded in the divine matrix of love. God sent the Son to die for us because He loved the world (John 3:16). The Son came to this world to give His life for us because He loves both the Father (John 14:31) and us (John 13:1). Those who are united by faith to Christ love God (James 2:5), Jesus (John 14:21), and one another (1 John 3:11). In fact, the life of obedience to the commandments of God is our expression of love to Christ for what He has done for us (1 John 5:3). The whole life and death of Christ was a magnificent display of God’s character, the most sublime revelation of love.
What should be our reaction to the display of God’s love in the death of Christ? 1 John 4:7-11.
The significance of God’s love, as revealed in the sacrifice of Christ, is better comprehended when placed in the context of the cosmic conflict. Satan’s charges against God cast doubts in the minds of heavenly beings concerning the nature of God. Was God indeed a loving, self-sacrificing God, as He claimed to be, or was His true selfish nature hidden under the appearance of self-denial? The Cross of Christ dispelled, forever, all doubts concerning the character of God. That the Creator willingly chose to become human and suffer and die on a cross in order to save a race that did not deserve it revealed that God’s love was beyond the full comprehension of the heavenly intelligences. The unselfish nature of the unfathomable sacrifice is precisely displayed in the fact that what God did through Christ was done for the benefit of others, not for His own personal benefit or gain.
The manifestation of God’s love on the cross of Christ served also to dispel humans’ misconceptions concerning the nature of God. “By presenting Jesus as the representative of the Father, we shall be able to dispel the shadow that Satan has cast upon our pathway, in order that we shall not see the mercy and inexpressible love of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. Look at the cross of Calvary. It is a standing pledge of the boundless love, the measureless mercy of the heavenly Father.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 156.
Read again 1 John 4:7-11 and contrast what it says to your own life and relationships with others. In what ways can you better manifest the love talked about here? What things are standing in your way, and how can they be removed?
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