1 John 4:9-11 | He Became A Worm
1 John 4:9-11 (NIV): “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1) God loved us first, even while we were still sinners
One of the most beautiful truths of the Biblical narrative is that God loved us before we loved Him. When we were blind and deaf to His presence, He still lavished us with blessing. Even the people today who do not know Him, and even those who revile, dishonor, and spit upon His name, He still loved--and loves--them without condition. The truth of the Gospel is this: that God so loved us that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in His name would be saved. His name is Jesus Christ, and when we were enemies with God, He still loved us enough to die for our sins so that we could become a new creation.
Whenever we doubt the presence of God in our life or the truth that He loves us and is with us, it is important to look back to the cross at Calvary. God established His love for us eternally through the sacrifice of Jesus. Even before the onset of sin when man first fell, God already had plans to bless the ones that turned away from Him--which is everyone. Even in our day-to-day lives when we slip up, make mistakes, or blatantly go against what God wants, He has already been in our mess and has already provided us a way out. And that way is by the blood of the Lamb.
The first sentence of the passage in 1 John reaffirms God’s method of reconnecting us to Himself through Christ, and how we can live through Him. This demonstrates the utter depth of God’s love: we--being imperfect, broken clay pots--are so loved by this perfect Being that He still wants us to live through Him. He wants us to live with Him; He wants to dwell within us! How absurd is that!? Think about a worm, or a fly, or a mosquito, or--worst of all--a wasp. Imagine giving your life up for a wasp. That is a hard pass from me; those wicked devils. Especially with summer now, those things are running rampant once ag