Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Think about what this verse is saying. In 1 John chapter 4, John is pointing out to us: How do we know? How do we know that God loves us? This is how we know that God loves us.
God's love for us—it's not merely a feeling that He has toward us. It is something that He demonstrates. It's something that He puts on display, something that He shows us so that we know. He made it visible. Literally, He made His love for us visible in history by sending His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
That is a much needed reminder.
Don't Base God's Love on Circumstances
Many people, I think, assume God's love for them—or the absence of His love for them—is based on how smooth life is going, how comfortable they are, how quickly prayers are answered. We can think, if my life is going well and God's answering my prayers and He's answering them quickly and I'm spiritually feeling good, that means God loves me.
If those things are awry, that means that God doesn't love me.
But you wouldn't get that understanding of God's love from the Bible. That is not how it works, because John points us to something totally outside of ourselves. That is how we know God's love for us. It's God sending His one and only Son. That is the clearest display of divine love.
It is not reading your emotional state based on what's going on in your life now. It is found by looking to Christ.
Jesus Calls Us His Friend
Charles Spurgeon said: "Jesus calls us His friend. Think of it—the King of kings, the Lord of lords calls you His friend—not subject or servant, though we are that too, but friend. A friend shares secrets. A friend is trusted. A friend is loved for their own sake. Oh, what a privilege. Oh, what a condescension, what love."
God's love is not some abstract idea. God's love comes near. God's love sends His Son. It brings sinners like you and me into fellowship with the Almighty God.
Don't Forget the Gospel
Now make sure that you do not forget the Gospel here. John is not saying to us, go and love God better so that God will accept you. He's saying the opposite. No, he is saying: See how God has loved you in Christ—not based on you or who you are, or what you've done or haven't done, but He loves you in Christ based on who Christ is and what Christ has done on your behalf.
We should know that we do not earn eternal life by anything we could ever do. We receive eternal life through the Son, and then we begin to love God because His grace has transformed us. It has changed us.
Look to Christ, Not Circumstances
Sometimes you'll doubt God's heart for you. If you are doubting God's heart for you today, or tomorrow, or in a day to come, do not begin with evaluating your circumstances to try and affirm yourself of God's love.
Rather, begin with Christ. The Father sent Him and He sent Him to die on your behalf as a demonstration of His great love for you.
