1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, ams sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The promise of God is that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means appeasement necessitated by sin. It is a sacrifice that makes God pleased with us. It atones; it makes us ”at-one” with God. Sin separates; separation is death. When Adam sinned, and when we were born in sin, death is immediate for we are separated from God and His life, even at birth. We are born dead in sin, and God is displeased, aye, even angry, with us. We are deserving of God’s wrath and just judgment,
But although the Life of God was taken away from us, the Love of God was not. He still loved the human He created, but His wrath was against the sinner he became. His unquenchable love moved Him to come up with a rescue plan no human or devil could ever imagine: He would send His Son. The Son’s sacrifice unto death would propitiate the wrath of God upon us, and it would make Him pleased with us. In this propitiation we clearly see the Love of God and gratefully receive the Life of God. Because of Jesus we are reunited with God and connected to Him. And in Him is life.
In this promise verse the Lord gives a definition of love. It is this: Love is not that we loved God, but that He loved us. Love is of God and it comes from God. Love does not, and it cannot, originate from us. True, genuine, perfect, lasting love is God’s love for us. This is how we know: “God sent His Son….” The word love summarizes the Bible. The Law is summed up: ”Love God, love people.” We fail at this and it is sin. The Gospel is summed up: ”God so loved the world.” He did not fail and it is salvation.