What is the meaning of 1 John 4:14? And John starts with a simple connector, reminding us that this thought flows out of the previous verses about God’s love. The love God shows is not abstract—it arrives in history. (See 1 John 4:9: “This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”) We have seen • John speaks as an eyewitness. • He and the other apostles literally saw Jesus, heard Him teach, touched His resurrected body (1 John 1:1–2: “What we have seen with our eyes… this we proclaim to you”). • Their firsthand experience anchors our faith in real events, not myths (John 1:14; Acts 1:3). and testify • Seeing led to speaking. The apostles could not keep silent (Acts 4:20). • Testifying is ongoing: “You also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:27). • Our own witness today rests on their reliable testimony preserved in Scripture. that the Father • Salvation originates with the Father’s heart: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). • He is the One who planned redemption (John 3:16). • A true confession about Jesus must include the Father who sent Him (1 John 2:23). has sent • The verb is decisive—an accomplished mission. • At the right time “God sent His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). • He did so “in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin” (Romans 8:3). • The sending underscores divine initiative; we did not climb up to God, He came down to us. His Son • The Sender and the Sent share the same divine nature (John 17:5). • At Jesus’ baptism the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). • John defends this truth against anyone who denies the Son’s deity or incarnation (1 John 4:2–3). to be the Savior • Title and task meet: “Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:11). • God promised Israel “a Savior, Jesus” (Acts 13:23). • The woman at the well concluded, “We know that this man truly is the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). • Salvation means rescue from sin’s penalty, power, and—ultimately—presence. of the world • The scope is universal. Jesus is not merely Israel’s Messiah but the Redeemer for every nation (Isaiah 49:6). • “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17). • While the offer is worldwide, only those who believe receive its benefits (1 John 2:2; John 1:12). summary 1 John 4:14 assures us that the apostles personally witnessed Jesus and have passed on a faithful, Spirit-inspired testimony: the Father lovingly and decisively sent His divine Son on a rescue mission to save all who will believe, across every nation and generation. Our confidence in salvation rests on this eyewitness proclamation, and our calling is to echo their witness to a world still in need of its Savior. |
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