What Does 1 John 3:16 Teach Us about Christ’s Sacrificial Love?
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“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).
There are so many different aspects of Christ’s character we can learn from. As believers Jesus is our greatest example and whom we always strive to emulate while we live on this earth. I am sure you would agree there is room for improvement in this area for all of us.
Since we are looking at the character of Jesus, I want you to pay close attention to what 1 John 3:16 teaches us about Christ. His genuine love and humility – which this verse speaks to – are what is needed in the body of Christ now more than ever before.
What Does 1 John 3:16 Mean?
There are three key parts of this verse I would like to highlight for you. Make sure you keep the question “what does 1 John 3:16 teach us about Christ” in mind as we break down these three parts.
1. The Setup - This is how we know what love is…
When I read these words, for some reason the song by Foreigner pops into my head. The lyrics to that song were “I want to know what love is, I want you to show me.”
In the first part of this verse, John sets the stage to define for us what love is. I appreciate the fact that John is going to give us a definitive answer as to what love really is. It’s as if he does not want there to be any doubt in your mind as to what love looks like.
2. The Definition - Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...
After setting us up to tell us how we can know what love is, John proceeds to tell us. Love is defined and demonstrated by Christ laying down his life for us. This is not the first time in the Bible that we have heard this truth. This verse agrees with what Jesus said earlier in the Gospel of John.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
When Paul was writing to the church in Rome, he also used similar language to inform us of how God demonstrated his love for us.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
When you think about what love is, it must include some level of sacrifice. If you are going to love someone and demonstrate that love, at some point it will cost you something. Sometimes these costs can be measured in dollars, but often the cost is something far more valuable. Love requires a sacrifice of time, talent, possibly treasure, but the real sacrifice of love comes when it costs you something that has real value to you.
In Jesus’ case, he showed us his love by laying down his life for us. I think you would agree that is something of real value and something that is of a high price. What makes this display of love a true sacrifice is that Jesus died for us when we had nothing to offer him. He was not a bad man dying for good people. He was a sinless man dying for sinful people. Just the fact that he would be willing to bear the punishment of our sins is proof of how great his love is for you and me.
3. The Response - And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Knowing what 1 John 3:16 teaches us about Christ, what should your response be? This is the last part of this verse.
John tells us what our response to each other should be in correlation to what Jesus did for us. Because Jesus laid down his life for us, we should be willing to do the same for our brothers and sisters. Does this mean we have to die for them? Not necessarily. But it does mean we may have to die to ourselves for them.
One of the challenges facing the body of Christ – and maybe this is just in Western culture – but it feels like we have forgotten to put others ahead of ourselves. Either we have forgotten or have simply chosen to ignore it. The concept of dying to yourself is foreign and this verse is a reminder of what we need to get back to. Imagine the difference the church would make if we stopped thinking so highly about ourselves and started putting the interests of others ahead of our own. This may not be popular, but this is what Christ did and this is what we are called to do.
What Is the Context of This Verse?
In chapter 3 of this book, John is talking about the love of God, the children of God, and how you identify them. Some of the ways we do this are tied to our attitudes about sin and how we choose to love each other. For example, you can’t say you know God and continue to live in sin. Neither can you say you love God and at the same time hate your brother or sister. These two things cannot exist in someone who is a child of God.
This does not mean you may not have a struggle with sin or find some people who are difficult to love, it means you don’t willfully continue in sin or choose to hate your brother or sister.
What Does This Verse Show Us about Christ's Character?
One thing 1 John 3:16 teaches about Christ’s character is his willingness to lay down his life. He didn’t have to do it, he chose to do it. This speaks volumes to the mindset we should have when it comes to laying down our lives for others. We should not see it as a “have to,” where we do this begrudgingly; we should see it as a “want to,” because Christ did it for us.
How Can We Lay Down Our Lives for Others?
If we are going to lay our lives down for others what does this look like? While there may be many ways to demonstrate this, I simply want you to think about the little things. In this same chapter here is something John says.
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17).
One thing laying down your life for others means is to help your brother or sister when you can do so. If you see your brother or sister in need and can do something about it, then that is what you do. You don’t do this because you have to, but when you remember the sacrifice Jesus made for you, it compels you to.
This verse in 1 John 3:16 is a true reminder of what Christ did for us, but also what we must do for each other. If we are going to live this Christian life right, then it will require submission, sacrifice, and surrender. These aren’t the most popular themes in Christianity today, but it is exactly what Christ modeled for us. Moreover, this is what we should be displaying toward each other.
If we can get to this level of Christianity, this is the kind that can truly impact the world around us. I must also say this is the type of Christianity that will draw many people to Christ. For this reason alone, we should strive to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If it wins one more person to the Kingdom, then the sacrifice will all be worth it.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Shuang Paul Wang
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