Whooooo?

626.  "Whooooo?"              October 11, 2012
1 John 4-Part 5  (verses 9-11)
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

LET IT GLOW

It was still dark outside when I got up this morning. I love the early mornings-no noisy trucks on the nearby highway, no cars going by the house, taking the neighbor children to school, no train whistle usually, only silence in the dark, cool, fall early morning. This morning, as I was on the computer, I heard something outside. The silence was broken. It was an owl in a tree in my yard,obvioiusly. In the dark he was saying his "whooooooo, whoooooo." So as I hear the "who" being asked of me, and I think, "Who do I serve today, my Savior or myself?" Who do I love most? To whom do I listen? Who do I want to please? I get on my knees and surrender to my Lord Jesus. I should have done that first thing, before starting my day. It should not have required a verbal "who" asked of me. I am glad that He sent that owl to me.
So I ask of you, dear friend, "who?"

Sometimes I need reminded just how much God loves me. How about you? God showed me his love when He sent His only begotten Son into the world. Why would He do such a thing? Why send a perfect person to live among sinners, evil, ungrateful people? (We are no different than Biblical times people.) Much less to die for them?

John says the answer is because God loves us and wants us to live through Him. In order for us sinful humans to have eternal life, the Father sent into the world His greatest gift, the one of a kind, unique Christ. He chose us to be His child, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).

John always uses only begotten of Christ to picture His unique relationship to the Father, His preexistence, and His distinctness from creation. Over half of the NT's uses of this term are by John.
(MacArthur)

Jesus was sent to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation refers to the means of appeasing, of Christ. (Thayer's Lexicon)
The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross satisfied the demands of God's holiness for the punishment of sin (Rom. 1:18, 2 Cor. 5:21, Eph.2:3). So Jesus propitiated or satisfied God. Christ became our Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies, where the high priest splattered the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. (The MacArthur Bible Commentary)

That is love!

LET IT GROW

We didn't love God in the beginning. We haven't always loved God. We were of this world and served this world.

Verse 11 says Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

The love of God to us makes us obligated to love one another, for this is the only way we can show that we really have love. Claiming to love God is meaningless without showing love to each other.
(Falwell)

Whoooo do I love? To whom do I show love? When I hear an owl, I will ask myself those questions.


LET IT GO

Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Forgive others and love them.