4:91 John 4:9

In this was manifested the love of God means that love was made visible and made known by God sending His only-begotten, only beloved Son into the world in human flesh and in action, that fallen men might have life by Him and through Him only.14MR 131.2–3+4 It was heaven's best and fullest gift, pouring out all the treasures of heaven with no reserve left to bestow, made at infinite cost and sacrifice at the risk of failure and eternal loss.ST Feb 5, 1894+4 He was sent because the race stood on the verge of eternal ruin, dead in sin and sold to Satan, needing a Saviour, and that love was drawn not by human goodness or worthiness but by need.ST Feb 5, 1894+3 That men might live through Him means they may have eternal life in union with God as His children and heirs with Christ, received only by personally believing and acting upon Christ's power and righteousness.Lt 41, 1893, par. 1+4 That love is the measure and pattern for loving one another as He loved, not in word only but in deed and in truth even to laying down life for the brethren, which is the proof that one is born of God and knows God.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15+4

The love of God toward us was manifested, that is made visible and made known, by God sending His only-begotten Son into the world in human flesh and in action, in a form the fallen race can understand.14MR 131.2–3+4 That making known came at infinite sacrifice to save fallen man from utter ruin, and it lays obligation to the Father on those who receive it.Lt 41, 1893, par. 1+1 The Son so sent is God's only Son, His only-begotten and only beloved Son, given to die and giving His life for us that man might find pardon and live.AA 548.2+3

The stated purpose is that fallen men might live through Him, might have life by Him and through Christ only.ST Feb 5, 1894+3 The verse belongs to the teaching that love is of God, that everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, that he who loves not knows not God, and that God is love.Ms 46, 1894, par. 1+3 It belongs with the teaching that herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, the atonement for sins.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25+2

So understood, the verse grounds the command that if God so loved us we ought also to love one another, with God dwelling in those who love one another and His love perfected in them by His Spirit given to them.Ms 46, 1894, par. 1+3 John dwelt particularly on this love because brotherly love was waning in the church, and up to the day of his death he urged believers to constantly exercise love for one another.Ms 143, 1903, par. 8–9+2 Its meaning was not understood by the disciples at first but began to be comprehended after Christ's sufferings, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and was revealed after the Holy Spirit rested on them at Pentecost.ST Oct 20, 1898

The gift was the fullest and greatest in God's power, heaven's best gift, pouring out all the treasures of heaven with no reserve of grace or power or glory left to bestow.ST Feb 5, 1894 It was devised from all eternity and purposed in grace given in Christ before the world began, not earned by works, and was made manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.ST Feb 5, 1894+1 It was made at infinite cost and infinite sacrifice to save fallen man from utter ruin.Ms 101, 1901, par. 54–55+2 The sending meant sending Him into a world where Satan claimed dominion, as a helpless babe subject to the weakness of humanity, permitting Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul and to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.DA 49.1–2

This love surpasses a human father's yearning over his son, his trembling at life's peril and longing to shield his child from Satan's power, temptation and conflict, because God gave His Son to meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, that the path of life might be made sure for little ones.DA 49.1–2 The gift is beyond all computation and estimate, unmeasured and measureless in depth, a wonder to all worlds and created intelligences ever enlarging their ideas of the infinity and greatness of God's love, calling heaven to wonder and earth to be astonished.ST Feb 5, 1894+2 Christ is the complete and immeasurably valuable evidence of God's love; no lesser gift could express it as fully, and it is unprofitable to conjecture whether a lesser gift would have sufficed, for no thought alters the eternal plan.ST Feb 5, 1894+1 God gave so much to leave no ground for the tempter to say He did not love men, so that Satan could not inspire jealousy by intimating God could have done more.ST Feb 5, 1894 The sending stands as an everlasting monument at Calvary, where God's wonderful love was manifested on the cross, the supreme evidence of that love, a chain let down from the throne of God long enough to reach into the lowest depths of sin.Ms 21a, 1895, par. 18+2

Christ was sent because humanity stood under threatened justice on the verge of eternal ruin, helpless and ignorant, sold to Satan when the first parents believed his lie, dead in sin and in need of a Saviour and Redeemer to rescue them.ST Feb 5, 1894+2 His love was not drawn out by any attractive character or goodness in men, but by their need, so that it is God's love and mercy and not human worthiness that brings life and renewal.Ms 101, 1901, par. 54–55+1 Every soul is saved through love that originates with God and begins salvation with Him.Ms 101, 1901, par. 54–55+1

He was sent because a clearer revelation than nature was needed to portray God's personality and character.8T 265.4–5+1 Christ came to teach what God desires men to know, revealing so far as human sight could endure the nature and attributes of the invisible God.8T 265.4–5+1 The heavens, the earth, the broad waters of the ocean, food and gladness, and the speech of day unto day and night unto night all testify to His power, wisdom, and love and stand as unceasing witnesses in temporal and spiritual blessings and heavenly provision, yet the personality of God cannot be learned from stars or ocean or cataract as it is revealed in Christ.8T 265.4–5+2

He was sent so that even the most guilty transgressor, however great his sin, would not be kept from coming to Christ and asking pardon at a throne of mercy, for the Lord wills that no soul should perish and His mercies are without number.ST Feb 5, 1894+2 The sending proves the interest of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for every believing soul and proves every soul precious in God's sight.Lt 13, 1905, par. 6–8+1 That love continues while all heaven is in sympathy, with the Holy Spirit interceding in the court of conscience and Jesus interceding in the heavenly courts, bearing mortals on His heart so that even when mistaken and erring in human blindness they are not left.Lt 97, 1892, par. 3–5 He was sent to save all who will believe in Him as their present, personal Saviour, ransomed with His own life so that He will not abandon them to become the sport of Satan's temptations.Lt 50, 1896, par. 3+1

To live through Him is to have the privilege of eternal life in union with God, to be acknowledged as children of God and heirs with Christ to an immortal inheritance, having a life that measures with the life of God.Ms 21a, 1895, par. 18 It is to be complete in Him, living in communion with the only true God with the presence of a living Saviour.Ms 46, 1894, par. 16 That living means loving God and fellow men as self, living out the law of God with strictest integrity and practicing no robbery toward God or man, becoming a blessing to the church by cherishing love toward a brother and manifesting confidence in him that greatly strengthens him.Ms 46, 1894, par. 16

That life brings hope, with life and hope springing up in the heart as believers behold Christ and trust in His death and risen life.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50+1 They hear His everlasting assurance, Fear not, I am He that liveth and was dead and am alive for evermore, and Because I live, ye shall live also.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50 This manifested love is the very work God designs His message to perform in the heart and mind of every human agent, and it is the perpetual life of the church to love God supremely and to love others as themselves.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50 Where there is but little love for God or man, God gives this message as just what the people need, and those who receive it are greatly blessed, seeing the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness and applying the blood of the spotless Lamb to their own hearts.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50

That provision brings forgiveness of sins and life through Christ only, and only when it is accepted.Ms 101, 1901, par. 54–55 It must be taken personally, believed for one's own self and acted upon, not by personal strength but by trusting Christ's power and righteousness.Lt 41, 1893, par. 1 It is not mere nominal faith or legal religion, but faith that appropriates the richest gifts of God, pleads for the gift to give to others, and receives of His fulness grace for grace, by which those who receive Him are given power to become the sons of God.SPBC 152.2–3 This testimony presents the law and the gospel binding up the two in a perfect whole and must go throughout the length and breadth of the world to be impressed upon every heart opened to receive it, giving light and understanding to the contrite and simple.SPBC 152.2–3 Those who would live through Him must not act out the character of Satan but must be good and do good in order to be counted worthy as Christ's jewels, living in communion after the pattern of the heavenly Father's perfection in their own sphere.Lt 41, 1893, par. 1+1

Contemplating this manifested love unfolds the justice and mercy of God to the moral perceptions and discerns the grievous character of sin with its results.FE 49.2 When the heart is emptied of vanity and rubbish and the chambers of the mind are purified through grace into a storehouse of knowledge, purity, and truth reaching beyond narrow worldly thought into the vastness of the Infinite, this love as an exalted theme for contemplation with the beauty of holiness strengthens the intellect and brings man into close communion with the Infinite One.FE 49.2 When Christ abides in the heart it gives a true conception of the sacrifices He made and of the perfection of the law He came to magnify and make honorable, making the privilege of obedience seem precious to the soul.Lt 79, 1905, par. 12 A true appreciation of that manifested love fills the heart with wonder and love and melts it, leading to devotion to His service and refusal to let time and attention be taken up with the selfish interests of the world.Lt 79, 1905, par. 12 That gift was purposed in grace given in Christ before the world began, not earned by works, and was made manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for the Lord wills that no soul should perish, His mercies are without number, and He will not abandon those He ransomed with His own life to become the sport of Satan's temptations.Lt 50, 1896, par. 3 All heaven is given to those who believe in Jesus Christ as their present, personal Saviour, so no one dishonors God more than by claiming to believe the truth while wearing garments of mourning as though orphaned and fatherless.Lt 50, 1896, par. 3

The love shown in sending the only-begotten Son that fallen people might live through Him is broad and full, and it is the measure and pattern and divine Pattern to be kept ever before the eyes for loving one another as Christ loved humanity.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15+4 It calls for love not in word nor in tongue but in deed and in truth, even to the laying down of life for the brethren, in lovingkindness of heart, judgment, and righteousness toward all, in sanctified association and cooperation with Christ so that He lives and works within.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15+1 John learned this by beholding Jesus with spiritual vision and appreciating the virtues of His character, seeing His glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth, and by beholding became one with his Master in spirit, changed from glory to glory into His likeness.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15 The sending was love not begun by human love but begun by God, who loved first and sent His Son to be the propitiation for sins, the same love by which whosoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25+1

That manifested love requires loving one another and lays obligation to the Father upon all who receive it.SPBC 152.2–3+2 It should make believers more spiritual-minded and awaken the mind to grasp God because of the great love with which He has loved them.2MR 236.2+1 Those who receive Him are given power to become sons of God, not by mere nominal faith or legal religion but by faith that appropriates the richest gifts of God, pleads for the gift to give to others, and receives of His fullness grace for grace.SPBC 152.2–3 When they love one another God dwells in them and His love is perfected in them, and by His Spirit given to them they know they dwell in Him and He in them.SPBC 152.2–3

Loving one another in this way is the credential that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.ST Oct 20, 1898+1 It is the test and measurement of genuine religious experience and sanctification through the truth, the proof that one is born of God and knows God, requiring action fashioned after the divine standard.ST Oct 20, 1898+1 In those who through revival return to whole-hearted obedience by depending on the merits of a crucified Saviour and trusting His atonement, Christ is formed within as righteousness and truth, transgressions are forgiven and sins pardoned, and God looks upon them with pleasure.ST Nov 13, 1901 Its meaning was not understood by the disciples at first but began to be comprehended after Christ's sufferings, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and was revealed after the Holy Spirit rested upon them at Pentecost.ST Oct 20, 1898

By this all men know they are Christ's disciples, and hereby they know they are of the truth and assure their hearts before Him.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25 Brotherly love should mark those who share one faith, one spiritual family, and the hope of immortality.8T 242.2 It is not possible to love God unless the brother is loved, for he who says he loves God and hates his brother is a liar, and he that loves not his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25 Without Christlike love the case will go against a person in the courts of heaven.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25

Received into the heart like leaven, this love works with life-giving power to bring all mind and soul and strength into complete harmony with the divine life.ST Oct 20, 1898+1 It binds believers to Christ and to each other in the closest bonds of holy union by the golden chain of love, gives sanctification of the soul, and works by faith to purify the soul.ST Oct 20, 1898+2 It purifies the soul, reconciles the will to God's will, produces love for brethren, and changes selfishness to sanctified affection for God and for others, since every soul is saved through love that originates with God.Ms 41, 1890, par. 25–30+1 Contemplation of this love uproots selfishness from the heart and transforms the soul to generosity, self-denial, and imitation of God.ST Feb 5, 1894+1 It begets a pure, fervent love in those who continue in the service of God and return through revival to whole-hearted obedience by depending on the merits of a crucified Saviour.ST Feb 5, 1894+1

That love, received by faith with Christ abiding in the heart, is the perpetual life of the church to love God supremely and to love others as self, and it is the very work God's message designs to perform in the heart and mind of every human agent.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50+1 Where there is but little love for God or man, God gives this message as just what the people need, and those who receive it are greatly blessed, seeing the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness with life and hope springing up as they behold Christ.Lt 57, 1895, par. 49–50 John dwelt particularly upon this love because brotherly love was waning in the church, and up to the day of his death he urged believers to the constant exercise of love for one another.Ms 143, 1903, par. 8–9+1 Losing sight of the Saviour and of that love shuts the love of God out of the heart and brings darkness and loss of happiness and joy.Ms 143, 1903, par. 8–9+1

Revealed first in the home, it bursts its bonds to become a working power in the church and extends to the neighborhood, the community, and the nations and kingdoms of the world.Ms 41, 1890, par. 25–30 It requires believers to be one as Christ is one with the Father, and to put away selfishness, enmity, strife, contention, discord, evil thinking and evil speaking.Ms 41, 1890, par. 25–30+1 Those filled with Christ's love must love one another as brethren, be pitiful and courteous, refuse to think or speak evil of anyone, cherish confidence in brethren and love toward brother that greatly strengthens him, treat with care every soul Christ died to redeem, live out the law with strictest integrity practicing no robbery toward God or man, and reveal Christ's love as the sign of discipleship and proof of genuine conversion.Ms 41, 1890, par. 25–30+2 Because God so valued souls as to send His Son for human redemption, proving every soul precious in His sight, this care is owed to each one.Lt 13, 1905, par. 6–8

This same love burns like sacred fire on the altar of the heart in all true disciples.RH May 6, 1902 God's children are to let it shine out through blameless lives, and with power provided in Christ sufficient to reach the high standard of Christian perfection it is to shine through loving deeds and sympathetic words.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15+2 So sinners are led to the cross to behold the Lamb of God, and many respond to the gospel.RH May 6, 1902+1 Ministers of the gospel are to make this love plain and simple by teaching and by example, tangibly exemplifying Christ's kindness, forbearance, mercy, and love in their own lives despite being fallen beings.Ms 18, 1902, par. 9 All who believe are to have this same love in their hearts and reveal it to the world and to the heavenly universe, since that love comes from God as the Source of all love and sending the Son in human flesh manifested it in a form the fallen race can understand.Ms 18, 1902, par. 9

Teachers who are truly converted can teach young people about God's love received through personal religious experience and help them understand what they must do to be saved.CT 168.2 Children should learn this revelation of love in Christ from their earliest years.ST Mar 11, 1908 The perfect harmony, joint counsel, and united labor of physicians and gospel ministers engaged in the same work bears witness to that sending to save all who will believe as their personal Saviour.CH 596.1–2 Christ entered human woe and loved people in their sin and degradation in order to uplift them, patient and persistent, returning with greater mercy even when met with pride and ingratitude.RH Jul 21, 1910 Those moved by His love help others and point sinners to God, relying on Christ to enable them to live as God intends, and presenting Christ's love and the death of Christ on the cross as its supreme evidence breaks down prejudice and resistance and moves hearts.RH Jul 21, 1910+1

Christian religion is that revelation in action continued in Christian practice.Ms 121, 1906, par. 4 All gifts are of no value unless controlled by a softened, subduing spirit of love.Ms 121, 1906, par. 4 Love for self is not essential, but love for brethren is essential to daily happiness in this life and in the life to come, bearing fruit in loving what God loves because God loves it.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25+1 That love discourages jealousy and mistrust and urges loving and trusting fellow believers rather than dwelling on imagined slights, cultivating love instead of exposing variances.Lt 77, 1893, par. 21–25+2 This testimony presents the law and the gospel binding up the two in a perfect whole and must go throughout the length and breadth of the world to be impressed upon every heart opened to receive it, giving light and understanding to the contrite and simple.SPBC 152.2–3