The God Who Loved First

The God Who Loved First

Main Text: 1 John 4:9–10 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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.”

We live in a world where people—tend to measure God’s love by how well life is going.

If health is good, if bills are paid, if relationships are intact, if the doors are opening—we conclude: “God must love me.”

But if suffering enters, if we

Face Rejection

You apply for a job you were confident about—only to be told you’re not what they’re looking for. Or you reach out to someone you care about, but they ignore your message or turn away coldly.

Financial Strain

You check your bank account after paying the bills—and there’s barely anything left for groceries. Or an unexpected medical bill arrives, and you don’t know how you’re going to cover it.

Sickness

Your body aches with no relief, the diagnosis is unclear, and the treatments aren't helping. Or you're watching a loved one waste away slowly, and there’s nothing more doctors can do.

Loneliness

You’re surrounded by people, even in church—but feel like no one truly knows you. Or you're at home night after night, longing for a phone call or a visit that never comes

—suddenly the question surfaces: “Does God really love me?”

This mindset is not new. Even in Scripture, we see Job’s friends assuming that suffering must mean God is against you. The disciples, when they saw a man born blind, asked Jesus, “Who sinned?” (John 9:2).

It’s the same idea: we measure God’s love and approval based on our circumstances.

But the Bible teaches us to look somewhere far more solid, far more unshakable than our ever-changing experiences.

Scripture does not point to our circumstances as the evidence of God's love—it points us to the Son.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us: that God sent His only Son into the world…” (1 John 4:9)

This is not just a doctrinal truth—it’s a transforming reality.

The sending of the Son into the world is not simply a historical moment—it is a window into the very heart of God.

When we look at the birth of Christ—when we consider the Son taking on flesh, entering into time and space, born into poverty, humbling Himself—we are seeing something far deeper than an event.

We are seeing the eternal love of the Triune God breaking into human history.

The incarnation tells us: this is what God is like. This is how God loves—not from a distance, not in theory, not with mere words—but by giving, sending, humbling, suffering, and ultimately, by bearing our sins in the body of Christ.

So if you want to know the heart of God… if you want to anchor your soul in the unshakable love of God…

Don’t look inward.

Don’t look outward at your circumstances.

Look back—to Bethlehem, to Nazareth, to Gethsemane, to Calvary.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son…” (v. 10)

The incarnation is not seasonal. It is not sentimental. It is theological—it is gospel—it is the heart of God revealed.

This is what we’ll explore today.

Main Text: 1 John 4:9–10 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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.”

The Manifestation of God’s Love

The Purpose of God’s Love

The Initiative of God’s Love

I. The Manifestation of God’s Love

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us…” (1 John 4:9a)

The word “manifest” is important. It means something once hidden is now revealed, made visible, brought to light.

The apostle John is saying, “This is how you know what God’s love truly is. It was shown, unveiled, displayed before your eyes.”

God’s love is no longer a distant concept.

No longer a mere doctrine to be discussed or debated.

No longer veiled behind the curtain of mystery.

In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the eternal love of God steps into time.

What was hidden in eternity past is now revealed in human history.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4–5 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”

Before there was a world, before there was sin, before there was need—there was love in the heart of God.

And that love, which was eternal and invisible, has now been made manifest among us—how?

By God sending His Son into the world.

This manifestation is not God reacting to us. It’s not as if God saw us trying hard to reach Him and then responded in love.

No—the initiative is entirely His. This love originates in God Himself. It flows out of who He is.

As verse 8 says: “God is love.”

And that’s what makes this manifestation so profound. The love of God is not earned.

It is not drawn out by anything lovely in us. It is not a repayment. It is the overflow of God's own nature.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

God did not send a message. He sent a Person. God did not just speak from heaven. He entered into our world.

Philippians 2:6–7 “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

He didn’t stop being God, but He laid aside His glory and took on frail human flesh.

The Lord of glory came not in a chariot, but through the womb of a virgin. He came not to be served, but to serve.

Not with the splendor of majesty, but in the humility of a carpenter’s home.

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

So when the Son came, He brought the heart of the Father with Him. When you look at Jesus, you are looking at God’s love revealed in action, in flesh, in full clarity.

The incarnation is not just a historical event—it is the self-disclosure of divine love.

It tells us something about the very nature of God: He is not remote. He is not detached. He is not indifferent to our condition.

He comes near. He enters in. He manifests His love by taking on our frame and walking among us.

This is not love from a distance.

This is love incarnate.

And John is saying: “This is how you know what love is.”

Not by how you feel.

Not by your present comfort.

But by this: God has made His love visible in the sending of His Son.

So we’ve seen that the love of God has been manifested—made visible—in the sending of His Son. It is no longer hidden or abstract. In the incarnation, we see the eternal love of God on display.

But this naturally leads us to ask: Why?

What was God’s purpose in making His love visible in this way?

What was He aiming to accomplish in sending His Son into the world?

That brings us to the second truth John gives us here—the purpose of God’s love.

II. The Purpose of God’s Love

“…that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4:9b)

This little phrase is full of power: “that we might live through Him.”

The love of God is not merely demonstrated in Christ’s coming—it is purposed to achieve something eternal: our life.

The sending of the Son was not symbolic. It was not simply an emotional gesture from heaven. It was effective, intentional, and redemptive. God sent His Son so that dead sinners might live.

John is speaking of more than physical life. He’s not talking about mere existence. He’s talking about true life—the life that is only found in God and restored through union with Christ.

Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

But why do we need life? Because by nature, we are not spiritually alive—we are spiritually dead.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…”

Dead to God. Dead in our affections. Dead in our ability to respond to Him.

And it’s precisely into that deadness that God sends His Son—not merely to offer life, but to give life.

This is not just a potentiality. This is sovereign purpose—“that we might live through Him.”

That’s a purpose statement. It reveals intent. It reveals design.

As Jesus says in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

So the love of God does not simply make salvation possible—it secures it. It’s not just that Jesus makes life available to anyone who wants it.

No—God sends His Son with a definite purpose: to give life to His people.

And how does that life come? Not through our effort. Not through religion. Not through moral reformation.

Through His Incarnation — John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Through His Perfect Obedience — Romans 5:19

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Through His Atoning Death — 1 John 4:10

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.

Through His Resurrection — 1 Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Through Union with Christ, We Are Made Alive — Ephesians 2:4–5

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

As Paul says in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Brothers and sisters, the love of God is not a vague feeling in the sky. It’s a saving purpose from the throne of heaven.

God loves not in word only, but in power. His love accomplishes what it sets out to do.

It gives eternal life to those who were under judgment.

And that’s what the incarnation was for: Not merely to teach. Not merely to model love.

But to bring life—real, eternal, spiritual life—to those who were perishing.

So when you look at the Son, you are looking at the love of God not only revealed—but active, saving, rescuing.

So far, we’ve seen the manifestation of God’s love—He revealed it in the sending of His Son. We’ve seen the purpose of God’s love—that we might live through Him.

But John doesn’t stop there. He wants to make something very clear—because even now, we may be tempted to think that somehow this love was prompted by something in us.

So he tells us explicitly where this love began—not in our hearts, but in God’s.

III. The Initiative of God’s Love

“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)

This is perhaps the most humbling part of the passage. John draws a bold line through human pride:

“Not that we have loved God…”

We tend to think of ourselves as spiritual seekers—as if we were reaching out to God and He responded to our longing. But Scripture paints a far more sobering picture.

Romans 3:11 “no one understands; no one seeks for God.” – Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

We did not move toward God. We did not love Him first. We did not even desire Him.

So what hope was there for us?

Only this: “He loved us.”

The origin of our salvation is not in our love for God—but in His love for us. He loved first. He moved first. Before we ever desired Him—He had already set His love on us.

As Deuteronomy 7:7-8 says about Israel, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you…but it is because the Lord loves you…”

That’s it. The reason God loves… is because He loves. He is not compelled by anything in the creature. He is moved by the freedom of His own sovereign mercy.

And how does He show this love?

“...and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

That word—propitiation—is rich with meaning.

It refers to a wrath-bearing sacrifice.

A substitution that satisfies justice and turns away righteous judgment.

So the love of God is not shallow.

It is not soft or sentimental.

It is holy love. A love that deals with sin.

A love that requires the blood of His Son in order to redeem sinners.

At the cross, God’s love and God’s justice meet.

His holiness is not compromised—His wrath is not ignored—it is satisfied, fully and finally, in the death of Christ.

Romans 3:25 “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

This is what love looks like: Not a vague feeling. Not a gentle breeze.

But the Father crushing the Son in our place (Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

so that sinners like us might be forgiven and reconciled.

This is love:

Not that you cleaned yourself up.

Not that you came halfway and God met you there.

Not that you tried really hard to love God. But that God loved you first, and that love cost Him everything.

Closing Statement:

So what do we see when we look at the sending of Christ?

Not just an event. Not just a doctrine. We see the very heart of God laid bare before us.

A heart full of love—sovereign love, saving love, initiating love.

A love that comes down to us, breathes our air, walks our soil, and dies in our place.

When we see Christ, we are seeing the ultimate proof of God’s love. The incarnation and the cross are not just acts of God—they are expressions of who God is.

“God is love.” (v. 8)

Self-Examining Questions:

As we close, let me ask you to examine your heart:

What are you trusting in today as the proof of God’s love for you? — Are you looking to your circumstances? Your emotions? Your performance? — Or are you looking to the cross?

Do you see the depth of your need? — Do you recognize that you did not love God first—that you were dead, blind, lost? — Or are you still clinging to the illusion that you had something to offer Him?

Has this love transformed you? — Are you alive through Christ? — Are you resting in the truth that you are loved—not because of who you are, but because of who He is?

Do you respond to this love with worship and obedience? — Have you bowed your heart to the One who loved you first? — Are you living as one who has been purchased by sacrificial love?

Let us not leave these truths as theology only. Let us respond with wonder, humility, and praise.

If you are in Christ today, This passage is meant to assure you. Not that God loves you because you’re faithful enough, strong enough, or holy enough.

But because He loved you first—and He proved it beyond all doubt in the sending of His Son.

You are secure not because of your grip on God, but because of His eternal love for you in Christ.

So rest in that love. Live through Him.

Let your life be shaped by this unshakable truth: You are loved by the God who sent His Son to be the propitiation for your sins.

And if He loved you when you were dead and rebellious, how much more now, as one who belongs to Him? Let this love fuel your worship, anchor your assurance, and empower your obedience.

But if you are not in Christ… Friend, understand this:

The fact that God sent His Son reveals two things at once: His love—yes—but also your need.

You are not okay as you are. You are not neutral toward God.

You are dead in sin, and under the just wrath of a holy God.

But God—rich in mercy—sent His Son.

Not to condemn you, but to save you. Not to invite you to try harder, but to give you life through faith in Him.

The same love that sent Christ into the world now calls you—today—to turn from your sin, and to trust in Him.

“Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16

“To all who received Him… He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

Don’t ignore that love. Don’t harden your heart to the voice of the One who gave Himself for sinners.

Come to Christ. Rest in His finished work. And know the love that gives life—eternal life—to all who believe.

Lets Pray