God's Love For His Son

September 16-17, 2013 God’s Love for His Son – Manna by Dorothy Callies

John 10:17 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life …”

Jesus’ sacrificial death was the very reason God loves His Son so much. God naturally loves His Son just as any man loves his child. But God loves Jesus even more, in a much more special way, because Jesus was willing to pay such a price to bring men to God.

The love of God the Father for God the Son is the measure of the love of the Son for believers. How do we measure Jesus’ love for us? John 15:13: “And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends” (NLT). “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (NKJV). Jesus, the Shepherd lay down His life for the sheep.

To lay down His life for us means that Jesus died so that He might arise from the dead. He took the sin of man upon Himself to free man from sin, which is to provide righteousness for man. 1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye are healed.”

You know sometimes we are not able to grasp what that language was about, “a man lay down his life for his friends.” So we try to figure out how does a person really lay down his life for others? I watched one war movie that shows a part of the  story of how an army man “took a bullet” for his buddy. When he held his dying buddy in his arm and he asked, “Why did you take the bullet that was meant for me?” A buddy in his arms just smiled and died peacefully. That broke his heart. It was beyond his understanding to why his buddy died for him. He would always remember that he lives because of his deceased buddy.

We know what real love is because Christ laid down his life for us. And so we also ought to lay down our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. How does God’s love be shown in us? We show our love by our actions when our brothers or sisters are in need of help. [1Jn.3:16-17]

Song: This is My Commandment

This is my commandment, that ye love one another,

that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment, that ye love one another,

that your joy may be full.

That your joy may be full, that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment, that ye love one another,

that your joy may be full.

(Author unknown, collection of songs)