Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
I John 3:16
Perceive means “to understand.” Therefore, we understand that God loves us because He laid down His life for us.
Romans 5:6-8 says, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Few people would be willing to die for a righteous man, and some might sacrifice their lives to save a good man, but Christ died to save the wicked, which includes all of mankind. God sent His Son to die for us when we were still His enemies.
Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
That’s the love of God. We might sacrifice our lives to save someone precious to us, but would we give our lives for someone who hates us? And yet, God did just that when He sent His Son to the cross. Jesus gave His life for all those who hate Him, including you and me.
I John 4:10-11 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 says that God gave His only begotten Son whereas I John 3:16 says that God laid down His life for us. If God laid down His life for us, and Jesus died for our sins, then Jesus is God.
In John 10:30, Jesus told His disciples, “I and my Father are one.”
Then in John 14:9, He said, “…Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…”
Jesus claimed to be God.
John 1:1, 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
God loved the world so much that He laid down His life for all mankind. What are you doing with that love?
II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
He wants you to trust Him as Savior before it’s eternally too late.
Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
We should love others as God loved us.