The Gift and the Life

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:9 (NIV)

When we have only one of something, it becomes all the more precious. A single photograph of a loved one, a one-of-a-kind gift, a final letter—we guard it, cherish it, and don’t give it away lightly.

So when John tells us that God sent His “one and only Son,” we’re meant to feel the weight of that phrase. God didn’t give us something extra. He gave us what was most precious—His heart, His Son, His very self.

And He gave Him not because we earned it, but because we needed it. A gift given freely from His grace. Verse 10 reminds us:

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

This is love at its most vulnerable and generous. God gave His one and only so that we might know we are never alone, never unloved, never beyond redemption.

But the gift wasn’t just to rescue us—it was to reshape us.

“…that we might live through him.” (v. 9b)

To live through Christ is to learn from Him. We learn love not just by hearing about it but by watching it in action—through Jesus’ compassion, courage, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Then, we imitate it as witnesses of His love.

We live through Him when we forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it, when we serve without expecting recognition, when we love, even when it costs us something.

John concludes in verse 12:

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

In other words, the invisible God becomes visible through our love. The one and only Son now lives through us. We become the continuation of the gift.

Gracious God, You gave what was most precious—Your one and only Son—not because we earned it, but because You are love. Teach us to live through Him. Let His compassion shapes our actions, His mercy softens our hearts, and His courage strengthen our witness. May Your love be made complete in us, so that others might see You, not in grand gestures, but in quiet acts of Your same grace. In the name of Jesus, the gift and the guide of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Peace & Grace,

Pastor Tim