Verse of the Day 2/15

Verse of the Day 2/15

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  English Standard Version (ESV)

In reading today''s verse and noticing the reference I was reminded of another John 3:16 which is probably the most well known, the most memorized and most often seen verse in the Bible " for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son".  Today's verse in 1 John 3 refers back to the original 3:16, by this we know that God loved us because He laid down His life for us.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and millions upon millions of cards were exchanged which expressed love for another person.  Few people who expressed love for another will ever have to, let alone be willing to lay down their life for another.  But God did, for you and for me.  John Piper writes, "Every step on the Calvary road meant, "I love you." ...Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was."   

John MacArthur notes that this love "becomes the measuring stick for every expression of love".  Love was expressed in words written on a card all over the country and perhaps the world yesterday, but God showed how much He loved us by giving us His Son and His Son laid down His life for us, and He did it before we could have ever done anything to earn it.

Romans 5:8 ^"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Praise God for His love for us.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

1 John 3:16-18 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister^[a] in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person?

¹⁸ Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.