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Good morning for Terrific Tuesday. 1 John 4 has been called “The Love Chapter” because of its emphasis on how much God loves us and how much we should love one another due to being recipients of God’s love. Here is a sample from 1 John 4:7-11:

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. (8) But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (9) God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. (10) This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (11) Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other” (NLT). 

Verse 9 is almost a repeat of the most famous verse in the Bible — John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (NLT). Isn’t it amazing how much God loves us. Where would you be without God’s love? Where would I be without God’s love? Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. The actual Greek New Testament word John uses here is often translated as “propitiation.” This Greek New Testament word is [ἱλασμός; hilasmos]. This word refers to a “covering” as in: 

  • Romans 3:25, “Whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” (ESV) and  . . .
  • Hebrew 2:17, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (ESV). 

This Greek New Testament word translated as “propitiation” means “appeasement,” or “satisfaction.” Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s justice, thus appeasing His holy wrath against believers’ sins. The verb “hilaskomai,” means “to make satisfaction for,” occurs in Luke 18:13 and Hebrews 2:17. “Hilastērion: refers to the sacrifice of atonement required to placate God’s wrath (cf. Rom. 3:25). The translators of the Septuagint (LXX) used this term to designate the mercy seat, which establishes propitiation’s link to the Old Testament sacrificial system as found in Exodus 25:10-22.

Chuck Swindoll adds some light to this Greek New Testament word:

"The term “propitiation” can be defined as an “offering that turns away (or satisfies) divine wrath against us.” When Christ steps in for the believer who confesses their sin, the divine Judge responds to our Advocate who has paid the price for the sins of the world, saying, in effect, “I’m satisfied. Case dismissed” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s New Testament Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “ 1, 2, 3 John,” p. 43).

Christ’s love for us drove Him to the cross and His sacrifice for us met God’s requirement of satisfaction for our debt paid. Propitiation is necessary due to our sin. Pastor and author John MacArthur puts it this way:

God’s justice must be satisfied. Every sin ever committed by every person who has ever lived will be punished in one of two ways. Either God’s wrath will be satisfied when all unrepentant and unbelieving sinners suffer eternally in hell as these verses below describe:

  • Matthew 13:42, “And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” and . . .
  • Matthew 25:41, 46, ““Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons . . . (46) “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (NLT). 
  • 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (NLT).
  • Revelation 20:15, “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (NLT). 

Or for all who, by the convicting and regenerating power of the Spirit, repent and believe savingly in Jesus, God’s wrath is satisfied by the punishment of Christ Himself on the cross (John 3:14–18, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (15) so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. (16) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave] His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (17) God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. (18) “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son). Divine punishment rendered forgiveness according to God’s sovereign love and grace (cf. Rom. 3:24–26, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. (25) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, (26) for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus). — Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “1 John,” p. 47).

This is a kind of love we will never understand and many times never fully appreciate. Why God chose to do this is beyond me. We deserve death and hell due to our sin and rebellion. Yet, through Christ, God has given us a way to be saved, have eternal life and a life abundant here. 

Questions To Consider

  1. Where do you think you would be without Christ’s sacrifice for you and meeting God’s requirement for justice due to your sin?
  2. How often do you sincerely thank Jesus Christ for your salvation?
  3. Does your thanksgiving reflect a maturing change in your life consistently or are their times you take Christ’s loving sacrifice for you for granted? Why?
  4. How visible or obvious to your family and friends would they say they see this maturity in you?
  5. Hell is real, just as real as the nose on your face. What difference does the reality of hell make in your own life? Why?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 4:9, “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us me so much that You willingly chose to meet God’s requirement for justice due to my sin. I pray that my life is a reflection of this each day and that I never take for granted Your grace, love, mercy, forgiveness and acceptance. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly

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