1 John 4:9-10

1 John 4:9-10
More about God's love! "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

The Life Application Study Bible on page 1793 had the following comments (in blue) about these two verses.

Love explains:
1)  Why God creates--because he loved, he creates people to love.
2)  Why God cares--because he loved them, he cares for sinful people.
3)  Why we are free to choose--God wants a loving response from us.
4)  Why Christ died--his love for us caused him to offer a solution to the problem of sin.
5)  Why we receive eternal life--God's love expresses itself in us forever.

v. 10 reminds us that God loved us first. Though He is loving, He cannot overlook sin. Sin has consequences. We don't have to bear those eternal consequences because Jesus bore them for us. This is real love!