Arkansas basketball fans will never forget that night. It’s one of those “I remember where I was when . . .” moments. I was a senior in high school, riding home from an orchestra rehearsal. I listened on the radio as the Arkansas men’s basketball team beat Duke to win the 1994 NCAA National Championship. When we said we were #1, we weren’t just saying it—we had the trophy to prove it.
Have you ever read about God’s love for you, but the words felt hollow? Maybe as empty as the boastful claims of a losing team? We sometimes wonder if He really loves us. Our circumstances don’t always appear to reflect His love—at least not the kind of love we would choose!
And yet, God’s Word tells us that God doesn’t just say He loves us. He’s proved it. There’s no greater proof He could give than the sacrifice of His only Son.
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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)
Here’s how you know God’s love for you: before you ever loved Him, He sent His Son to be the propitiation for your sin. But what is propitiation, and what does it have to do with love?
Propitiation refers to Christ’s turning away God’s wrath from us by taking it on Himself. Christ laid His life over ours like a big shield, taking what we deserve because of our sin. Being our propitiation, our wrath-shield, came at a high price. The sinless One took the punishment our sin deserved and proved God’s great love for us.
When we start to wonder, “Does God really love me?” we can look at the cross and find reassurance. God sent His Son to give us new life. The Son died and took the wrath we deserved. There’s no higher price God could pay and no greater proof we could ask for.
No matter what you face this week, God proved His love for you in Christ.
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