We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 3 of 5)‏‏

Hello Friends! 

Welcome back to part two of “We love Him because He first loved Us.”

Let’s continue our study with the third lesson: THE PARTICULARITY OF HIS SAVING WORK…

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 3 of 5)

We’ve reached lesson three. Our verse “We love Him, because He first loved us.” not only highlights the perverseness of our fallen state and teaches us about the priority of God’s electing choice; thirdly, it shows us His saving work.

What do I mean by that? Look at the verse again: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Those words express John’s conviction that God has done something special for us. “We love Him… ” but not everyone loves Him. God has done something on our behalf and in our hearts that He does not do for everyone. He has demonstrated a particular love for us.

The apostle John was always keenly aware of this fact. He gloried in the knowledge that Jesus’ love for him was a special love. That is the implication of his favorite self description:

…that disciple whom Jesus loved – John 21:7

John used that phrase again and again because he delighted in the knowledge that Christ loved him in particular. God had redeemed him in particular. He was not merely the beneficiary of a general goodwill that God has for all creation; he was convinced that Christ’s love for him was personal and special. Jesus loved him in particular. 

You know what? Every born-again person will say that. He loves me in particular. He loves me with a special love. I’m not merely a dog, licking up the crumbs of God’s general love for all mankind. I am one of the children He has seated at His table. Every believer could refer to himself, as the apostle John did, as “That guy whom Jesus loves.” 

By the way, I do believe with all my heart that God has a general love of God for everyone in the human race:

The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works – Psalm 145:9

Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things – Acts 17:25

Those are tokens of a genuine goodwill and loving kindness that extends to everyone who was ever born. This is known as general grace. In fact, God even loves His enemies:

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust – Matthew 5:45

Yet God’s love for the elect is a particular love. He loves them with the love of a Father for His own children. He loves them each uniquely. He loves them in a special way. His love for them is the highest and most sacred kind of love known to man. No greater love can possibly be extended to any creature. And that great love is manifest in a particular way. It is a sacrificial kind of love that will stop at nothing to preserve its object. Jesus Christ’s love moved Him to give His life for His friends:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends – John 15:13

The proof of His electing love—and the thing that lovingly guarantees the salvation of His people—is the atoning work of Christ. Look back a few verses:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this 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

God the Father gave Christ the Son to die for them in order to be a propitiation for their sins. That simply means He satisfied justice on their behalf. He satisfied the wrath of God on their behalf. He bore their guilt and shame. He died in their place and in their stead, so that they wouldn’t have to suffer the penalty for their own sins. He bore the wrath of God on their behalf. He paid in full the penalty of their sins. He was their substitute. He died for them in particular. 

So let’s talk about “limited atonement.” Some of you may be thinking, now there’s a doctrine not every Christian presupposes! Actually, I think anyone who believes the atonement was substitutionary presupposes this doctrine of the atonement. Jesus Christ suffered in my place and in my stead. He wasn’t such a substitute for Judas’s punishment, because if what Jesus said about Judas is true, Judas is in hell this very moment, bearing the wrath of God for himself. I personally don’t like the expression “limited atonement,” because it suggests that the atonement is limited in its sufficiency.

No true Christian believes that. If you have the idea that there is a limit on the value or sufficiency of the atonement, forget that idea. Anyone who denies that Christ’s death was sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world is not thinking Biblically. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was infinite in its sufficiency. The death of Jesus Christ is infinitely sufficient and that one sacrifice could have atoned for the sins of the whole world – if that had been God’s design. 

But was that God’s design? Or was the central and supreme object of His death the salvation of those whom God had loved with a special love from before the foundation of the world? I believe those questions are definitively settled forever by the Apostle Paul:

We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe – 1 Timothy 4:10

In the design of God, the atoning work of Christ has a special significance for the elect, because it was the means by which He secured and guaranteed their salvation forever:

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep – John 10:11

And most believers would affirm the basic gist of that truth – Jesus Christ’s atonement is efficacious only for those who actually believe.

Notice: when John writes, “We love Him, because He first loved us,” he is addressing those who were the particular objects of Christ’s redemptive work. Look once again at verse 9:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him – 1 John 4:9

This was the object of God in the death of His Son: “that we might live through Him.” He undertook this saving work for us in particular, because we are special objects of His eternal love...

 

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate lesson #4…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

 

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

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Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

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