“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.” – 1 John 3:16 The Message
It must be against the rules of better judgment in writing to begin one’s own work by crediting another, yet that is just what I am going to do. J.D. Walt wrote a great devotional in the Seedbed Daily Text called From John 3:16 to 1 John 3:16. I would encourage you to read it; I am confident you will be blessed. As I begin to reflect on a few of the great “3:16” verses in scripture, let us consider what the Apostle John says in the first of his letters contained in the Bible.
It is at the very least interesting how John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 connect. The number sequence of 3:16 is one of the more recognizable in the world. John 3:16 is a cornerstone verse of the Christian faith. It communicates in succinct fashion what God, in His great mercy, has done for humanity. When we turn to the first epistle of John, we see how that principle of love in action applies to those who claim Jesus as Lord. It is, you might say, an extension of John 3:16.
Before Jesus went to his death, he spent one last evening with his closest followers. It was during that time that Jesus said to them, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35 ESV). These verses have powerfully spoken to me for years. In these verses are two things that I observe. First, Jesus seems to indicate that our love for one another should be modeled after his love for us (v. 34). It is more than just “love others because I have loved you.” It is “love others in the same way as I have loved you.” In what way has Jesus loved us? By the giving of his very life. To put it another way, Jesus has loved us sacrificially.
The second observation I make is that our love for one another is the mark that bears witness to the world that we are Christ followers (v. 35). Jesus didn’t add a bunch of qualifiers to the statement. He just left it in plain, simple terms. In the words of the old song, they will know we are Christians by our love. So many times I have heard both preachers and people in general talk about the ways we prove that we are Christians. Usually when I hear such conversation, I think to myself, “What did Jesus say? Oh, yes, by your love for one another!” It is to this end that John points us in 1 John 3:16.
What, then, does that mean for me? Does it mean I have to figuratively (and to some degree literally) kill myself for others so I can be like Jesus? In most instances, no. I remember a professor in seminary warning us against unhealthy workaholic tendencies by saying, “Someone has already died on a cross to be the Savior of the world. You don’t need to!” Nevertheless, I am challenged when I return to the word used in Peterson’s paraphrase of 1 John 3:16. We are to love sacrificially. It is that type of love that resembles Christ’s love. It is love that costs something, something significant. It stems from an attitude of others before self. It seeks to invest time and energy for the benefit of others. It seeks to honor others as we ourselves are humbled. It is a love motivated by deep gratitude for the way we have been loved by Jesus. Because “God so loved the world,” I will so love His people.
By the grace of God, may John 3:16 be extended through us to others today.
See you along the winding path…
The Winding Path 