“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so 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 [sacrifice] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:9-11).
God demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, into the world. Twice in this passage, God “sent His Son”. We are very familiar with “God sent His Son to be the sacrifice”. But are you as familiar with “God sent His Son that we might live through Him”? (vs 9).
Jesus came, not just to take away our sins (Praise the Lord, He did!!!), but also to impart life to us. As I have written many times, Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive. He gave us His life so that we “might live through Him.”
“Living through Christ” is not in some distant future. “Living through Christ” is not just the description of our one-time entry into eternal life. Living through Him is our present reality as Jesus lives His life through us by His indwelling Spirit.
The continuing topic of love is woven throughout these verses. Love’s origin was in God, not in us. Love only arrived in us “through Him”. And we demonstrate His love living in us when we “love one another”.