Love’s Greatest Expression (April 4, 2023)

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

A central theme running throughout the Bible is the matchless love that prompted Almighty God, our heavenly Father, to provide the only way to salvation for a rebellious human race through His precious Son Jesus Christ. Thus, it is interesting that the word “love” is first used in the Holy Scriptures in reference to an earthly father and his beloved son who served as types or models of God’s redemptive plan. “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham! And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”” (Genesis 22:1-2)

In a supreme test of faith that foreshadowed the Cross of Christ, Abraham, obedient to God’s command, demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice Isaac on the very hill that Jesus would shed His blood for the remission of mankind’s sins two thousand years later. Abraham’s act of obedience, rewarded by God’s provision of a sacrificial ram that took Isaac’s place on the altar, pointed to the future offering of Jesus Christ, God’s beloved and only begotten Son, as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)  Love’s greatest expression was manifested in Jesus’ willingness to die in our place so that God could demonstrate His grace and honor our faith in His Son with the ultimate gift of eternal life.

 ^“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.” (John 3:16)