HEREIN IS GENUINE LOVE

Genuine love is godly love. It is saintly, God-fearing, sincere, dedicated practising, and sacrificing. It is God making Christ who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Reference: 1 John 4:10 King James Version (KJV) "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

The origin of genuine love is not earthly. It didn't start with man; it started with God. This is what John the Evangelist noted in this Scripture. We didn't start it; God started it. He loved us first and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Christ took away our sins. As a result of this love, we have the grounds or opportunity to receive His Son, to be born of Him, to know Him, or to love Him and others. This is true love!

Because of God's immeasurable, incomparable and unconditional love for mankind, God sent Jesus to this world (see 1 John 4:9). Jesus is the full description of divine love that comes from God. And He became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. This is why God's love is perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, pure and true.

To understand fully what the gift of Christ did for us, there are two words we must consider. First is expiation, which is the blotting out or removal of sin; the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing. It is the removal of the reasons for sin's punishment. This means that Christ appeased the anger or anxiety of the sins committed by mankind. God unleashed all of His wrath against our sin on Christ while He was on the cross, to the point of death, paying what we owed in full and removing the evidence.

The second is propriation which can be understood as 'satisfaction or making favourable'. Jesus did not just appease the wrath of God, His sacrifice truly satisfied God. To God, it was pleasing, perfect and outstanding because He stored up all the punishment for sin and poured it out on Jesus, who fully satisfied the payment, unlike animal sacrifices under the old covenant. Simply put, Jesus interfered and went to jail (crucifixion) for our crime (sin), to God's satisfaction.

God's love, the gift of Christ, destroyed the barrier between man and God and restored our relationship with God. This act by Christ on our behalf, is the only genuine love that qualifies us to be made righteous before God and to be included in His family. Today, the abundance of God's grace, instead of wrath is available to everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 1:16). This is truly the good news of the glorious Gospel! However this Gift has to be received by declaring the prayer below, so you can enjoy God's genuine love and start sharing it with others.

Scripture Reading - Psalm 98:2; Acts 17:30; Romans 3:25-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 2:2.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge today that you demonstrated your unconditional love for me in this: While I'm still a sinner, you sent Christ to die for me. Therefore I stand to renounce the nature of sin and to accept Jesus as my Saviour. I believe and confess with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I believe that Jesus is risen and He's alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life now and forever. From today, the Hosts of heaven have the record that I'm born again. I'm now a new creation and I have eternal life: my present-moment reality! Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, as my Lord. Glory to God.