Understanding God's Love in 1 John 4:9 through Jesus Christ
First John 4:9 states, "By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9 ESV). The Greek text uses the phrase "ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν" (en toutō ephanerōthē hē agapē tou theou en hēmin), which the Lexham English Bible translates as "By this the love of God is revealed in us" [1, 2]. This verse highlights the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the ultimate demonstration of God's love for humanity.
This passage is part of a larger section in 1 John (4:7-21) where the apostle John explains the origin and expression of Christian love [5]. John emphasizes that love originates from God, who is himself the source and embodiment of all love [6, 9]. The sending of Jesus, God's "one and only Son," into the world is presented as the clearest evidence of this divine love [1, 2]. This act of sending Christ is not merely a display of affection but has a specific purpose: "that we might live through him" [1]. The world was under a sentence of death due to sin, and Jesus came to offer life to believers through his atoning work [7].
The concept presented in 1 John 4:9 echoes themes found elsewhere in the New Testament, particularly John 3:16, which states that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" [7]. The "sending" of the Son refers to Jesus' embodiment of God's love through his life on earth and his sacrificial death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice [3]. This manifestation of God's love is not a new development but a revelation of a love that was eternally present in God's heart [8].
Commentators like John Gill emphasize that this love is specifically directed towards God's elect, though it is publicly manifested through Christ's mission [8]. Adam Clarke notes that the mission of Jesus Christ serves as the most profound proof of God's infinite love that humanity could ever receive [7]. The love demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice then becomes the foundation for believers' love for one another, making their love for God evident [4].
Sources
- 1 John “By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. -- 1 John 4:9”
- I John “I John 4:9 (LEB) — By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world in order that we may live through him.”
- 1 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 John 4:9: 4:9-10 Jesus Christ, sent from God the Father, embodied and demonstrated God’s love in his life on earth and in his sacrificial death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice.”
- 1 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 John 4:11: 4:11-12 Those who have received God’s love cannot help but spontaneously love those who have done the same. As this love flows through us to each other, it becomes evident that we love God.”
- 1 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 John 4:7: 4:7-21 John explains the source of a Christian’s love and its outworking.”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 4:7: Resumption of the main theme (Jo1 2:29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to us: compare Jo1 4:9 with Jo1 3:16, which Jo1 4:9 resumes; and Jo1 4:13 with Jo1 3:24, which similarly Jo1 4:13 resumes. At the same time, Jo1 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, Jo1 4:2 setting forth Christ's incarnation, the great proof of God's love (Jo1 4:10). Beloved--an address appropriate to his subject, "love." love--All love is from God as its fountain: especially that”
- 1 John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:9: In this was manifested the love of God - The mission of Jesus Christ was the fullest proof that God could give, or that man could receive, of his infinite love to the world. That we might live through him - The whole world was sentenced to death because of sin; and every individual was dead in trespasses and sins; and Jesus came to die in the stead of the world, and to quicken every believer, that all might live to him who died for them and rose again. This is another strong allusion to Joh 3:16 : God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso”
- 1 John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 John 4:9: In this was manifested the love of God towards us,.... The love of God here spoken of, and instanced in, is not his general love to all his creatures, which is shown in the make of them, and in the support of them in their beings, and in his providential care of them, and kindness to them; but his special love towards his elect, and which was before it was manifested; it was secretly in his heart from everlasting, and did not begin to be at the mission of Christ into the world, but was then in a most glaring manner manifested: there were several acts of it before, as t”
- 1 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 John 4:8: 4:8 God is love, the source and embodiment of all love. This concept and the concept that “God is light” (1:5) form the foundation on which John writes this letter.”