Jesus Acts Out of His Love
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. 1 John 4.9-10
The best friends that any person has in this world are the people who are there when you need them. Something happens and you need a person on the other end of the phone, or a person to share a cup of coffee with, or a shoulder to cry on. It is comforting and wonderful to have these people in your life. These people are friends because they love you as you are and give you the love that you want from them.
Like a good friend, God is always there ready to talk to you when you come to Him. But the much more amazing aspect of God’s love is that He did not wait for you to make the call, and He doesn’t just love us as you are. God doesn’t love you because He cares about your friendship or because He thinks that you are a really great person. God loves you because He is love. God’s love is not a response to anything, it originates from Him and makes itself manifest so that you can know what love is.
Jesus makes the love of God visible to you. In Jesus, you can see how God pursued you, even as you sinned against Him. You can see how Jesus sacrificed for people who were unwilling to sacrifice their own glory for His. You can see how Jesus redeemed and forgave people as they beat, mocked, spit at, and eventually killed Him. He did all of this, not because any of us are worth saving, but because we have a loving God.
Although Jesus love is not because of you, it is aimed at you. Though you are not worthy of His love, you are the recipient. This is why God’s plan of redemption is so exciting: you get to benefit from God being awesome!