By This We Know Love

Easter is this Sunday. We will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ– the moment He came back to life! But in order for us to get to Sunday, we have to experience Friday first. It's not fun to think about everything that Jesus went through on our behalf. There are details and images that we would rather not think about. It's easy to see the victory of God at the resurrection on Easter, but what are we supposed to take away from everything leading up to it?

There's a short verse in the book of 1 John that helps us understand everything that happened around Easter. 

John was a guy who spent a lot of time with Jesus. He lived and traveled with Jesus; and saw miracles firsthand. John saw Jesus die and even saw Him after He came back to life. After Jesus left the earth, John wrote a series of letters. He sent these letters to those who believed in Christ to help them live out their faith.

In 1 John 3:16 he drops this simple phrase:

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us”

John says that the cross teaches us something very important. Our understanding of what Jesus did on the cross is crucial to our fundamental understanding of what love is John says that the way we know love is by looking at the cross. John would take every person (those who believe and those who don’t) and turn their shoulders to the cross. He wants us to see Jesus. The cross, the resurrection, Jesus' act of forgiveness and victory is the most important moment in history.

On the cross we see love. We watch it. We are experiencing God’s love for us. When we go to church on Easter this weekend, we’re not reading a collection of historical details, we’re seeing the reality of how God loves us! Jesus gave himself up because we needed it.

On the cross, we see Jesus meeting our greatest need. We see His love. We cannot be convinced of God’s love in any other way. Our blessings, successes, or circumstances cannot be proof that God loves us. They can easily change and try to convince us that God’s against us. The cross has the final word– it proves God’s love for us, once and for all. It’s how we know love– by the cross. It’s 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.”

This Easter weekend, rejoice in the love God has for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus and watch Him transform your heart!