For God So Loved

John 3:14-17 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross], 15In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever! 16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. 17For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

We’ve been talking about love, and the example we are encouraged to follow is that of Jesus. This well loved passage says it better than anything else. For God so loved the world. Note that it doesn’t say the Christians, or the perfect, or the good, it says the world. That encompasses anyone and everyone that has ever lived. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the righteous, the unrighteous, there is no one who is exempt from God’s love. Jesus died for each and every one of us. Just think about this- He died for the soldiers that mocked him, brutally beat Him, and put Him to death as much as He died for His beloved mother and the faithful one He entrusted her care to. We saw the other day in John 15:13No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends. By laying down His life for us, Jesus showed us the greatest, most perfect form of love that we could ever experience.

Do we truly have a revelation of the precious love that was shown toward us? I think we may glimpse it from time to time, but most of us would probably have to say that we sometimes forget, that we take lightly all that Jesus did for us. If daily, moment by moment we stayed in remembrance of all God has done for us, there would be no need to TRY to do what the Word says. We would stay in such a grateful place that we wouldn’t do anything that would grieve Him. Romans 2:4 says that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. When we see His goodness, our lives will be a reflection of the gratitude we feel in our hearts.

I encourage you today to reflect for a bit on the wonderful price God paid so that you could be in constant fellowship with Him and have eternal life. If you are not a believer I challenge you to pray and ask Jesus to forgive your sins, come into your heart, and to be the Lord of your life. Is it that simple? Yes. If you pray that prayer today, please write me and let me know and we will send you some resources to help you on this journey of new life. If you are already born again, I challenge you to take the next step in your relationship with Him. What is that step? That. You already know what to do, so go do it! I want to close by simply saying thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank You for loving me, for dying for me, and for welcoming into your family. I am eternally grateful, and forever humbled at the love and mercy you have shown me in my life.