And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14)

When the apostle John wants to point us to the love of God, he does so by highlighting the very truth that we celebrate at Christmas: “. . . the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” That simple yet profound truth should give us confidence in God’s love.

One of the primary purposes of 1 John is to give genuine believers confidence that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13), and one of the primary ways John does this is by reminding us of the character of God and His saving work in Christ. Gratefully, our assurance is not ultimately based on our own obedience or faith, which is always imperfect, but rather on God’s sacrificial 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)

The fact that God has demonstrated His love reassures us that Christmas is not merely wishful thinking or a blind hope. It is grounded in the reality that God Himself has come to dwell with us. As the old Christmas hymn says,

“Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see,
Hail the Incarnate Deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.”

God demonstrated His love through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and He did not wait for us to earn that love. He did it “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). And if we received such love while we were sinners, how can we doubt that God will stop loving us now that we have been reconciled to Him (Romans 5:9-10)? Along with the apostle John, we should be able to testify with confidence that “the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

PRAYING IN LIGHT OF TODAY’S PASSAGE

As you praise God for the love that He has demonstrated in Christ, pray that He would open the hearts of family members who are not Christians so that they might receive this good news in repentance and faith.