First Christian Church

By Bruce Humes

Pastor

In 1 John 4:16, the apostle John writes, “And we have known and believed the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him.” God is the personification of love, mercy and grace; the Scriptures clearly reveal this truth to us. 1 John 4:8-9 says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him.”

In that familiar verse, John 3:16, we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only, begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It’s a verse we read often but perhaps do not spend enough time meditating on and/or pondering the content. In those verses, John reveals just how much God loves each one of us. We also see that message in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins.” The word propitiation means atonement, or to exchange. We can see that God sent his son to the cross instead of us to pay for our sins.

In Romans 3:23, the apostle Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 6:23 that “The wages of sin is death,” but, Paul continues, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The just punishment for our sins is death, but because God loves us so much, he sent his son to be crucified on the cross instead of us.

But God’s love for us is manifested in another way also, as Paul writes in Romans 15:5: “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus.” He is the God of patience, and comfort, as we read in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering (patient) toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

God is patiently waiting, not wanting any to perish; his desire is for all to come to repentance and believe in him. That is God’s love.

To speak to someone at the church, call the church office at (562) 431-8810.