1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. I. STATE THE CASE, WITH REGARD TO THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT, AS REPRESENTED IN SCRIPTURE. II. ESTABLISH THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS OFFERED A TRUE AND PROPER ATONEMENT FOR SIN. 1. I am well aware it does nothing towards the proof of this proposition to observe that this is precisely such a provision as the circumstances of man required, while it was perfectly consistent with all the attributes of Deity that God should grant it. There is nothing in the Scripture doctrine of the atonement by Jesus Christ repugnant to the most correct ideas of fitness and propriety, with regard either to the offending or the offended party. If man had never sinned, we should have seen the glory of the Divine power, wisdom, and benevolence in the creation of the world. If, having sinned, man had been left to perish, we should have seen the glory of the Divine justice. If he had been freely pardoned, without any satisfactory atonement, we should have seen the glory of the Divine mercy; but, having sinned, and receiving free forgiveness and eternal life by means of an adequate, because infinitely valuable, atonement, we see the glory of all the Divine attributes, and, overwhelmed with the astonishing exhibition, exclaim with the apostle, "Herein is love." 2. The universal prevalence of sacrifices. 3. The sacrifices of the Mosaic economy. 4. The language of the prophets. 5. The testimony of the apostles, from that of Philip, in his preaching to the eunuch, to that of John, in the visions of the Apocalypse. 6. The language of Jesus Christ Himself. (T. Raffles, LL. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. |
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