Today, Wednesday August 25
“So That We Might Live”
1 John 4:9-10 & 14
“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. ….And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”
In these verses we read three times that “God sent His Son”. First, God sent His Son, “that we might live through Him” (v. 9). Next God sent His Son, “to be the propitiation for our sins” (v. 10). And finally, God sent His Son, “to be the Savior of the world” (v. 14).
Two purposes are given for Christ's death on the cross: that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9) and that He might be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). His death was not an accident; it was an appointment. He did not die as a weak martyr, but as a mighty conqueror.
Jesus Christ died that we might live "through Him" (1 John 4:9).
Jesus Christ died that we might live "for Him" (2 Cor. 5:15).
Jesus Christ died that we might live and "with Him" (1 Thes. 5:9-10).
A sinner's desperate need is for life, because he is "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). It is something of a paradox that Christ had to die so that we may live! We can never probe the mystery of His death, but this we know: He died for us.
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Over the years this has been one of my favorite verses. It reminds us that if we really want to live and experience the “real” life, we can only do that through Jesus Christ. And it also tells us that the reason Christ died for us was because of His love.
This is the theme of these verses in 1 John 4. God is love and because He first loved us He sent His Son that we might live! Today, you can be saved from both the guilt and penalty of your sins because of our great Savior Jesus Christ.
God bless!