“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 - (ESV)
The marvelous truth in our verse today, and the promise we have is the love which God has for us before we ever loved Him. There is no love of this kind for us to have and express that is not preceded by love from God. In fact, without God, we could never experience having that love for God or others. It is sacrificial, unconditional love which was manifested ultimately and majestically by Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God was sent to be the sacrifice we needed in order to receive God's love. The word 'propitiation' is a mouthful and very few of us may understand just a little what it means. Thousands of words have been written to define its meaning. The basic idea behind the word for propitiation* is a human effort to dispose in one's favor the awful power of the consequences of a grievous offense toward God which requires the death of the offender. A sacrifice acceptable to God can only be offered by one who has no responsibility for the original offense. Jesus Christ is the only one who ever could fulfill those requirements.
* The words propitiation, atoning sacrifice, and expiation are also used to translate the Greek word hilasmos which appears only in 1 John.
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