Over the last few weeks, John has been showing us how we can know that our relationship with God is real. In this week’s passage, he addresses the most haunting question anyone can ask themselves: How can I know – really know – that God loves me?
It a question that bites because we are only too aware that there are aspects of all of us that are not loveable. We know deep down that we have not loved God or one another as we should have. Some of us are haunted by a fear that when God judges our lives, we will receive the punishment we deserve.
John’s answer is to take us back to the cross. That is where God displays, in unmistakable fashion, the depth of his love for us. As we look to the cross and see it for the display of love that it is, we can truly know God’s love for us and begin to show it to those around us.
Ed