For the Christian community, the life of Christ is the focal expression of God's nature as sacrificial love. (religion-online.org)
It was only gradually that Christ's death as sacrificial victim came to be emphasized in Western theology as the most compelling proof of God's love. (religion-online.org)
Loney suggests that it may be that these folks were fortunate enough to have «rescuers» — individuals who reached out in sacrificial love and kept them from falling. (religion-online.org)