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For God So Loved The World
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16 (KJV) We hear this verse a lot. You don't even have to have a very strong Christian background to have come across it, probably even on many occasions. But I really question how many of us can really understand the significance of this verse. Even those of us who believe in God, in Jesus, and fully embrace this, I still question how much we really comprehend the full love of God. There are those who believe, but have a hard time understanding that such love can extend to them. Maybe they feel they've done something, or different things, in their lives that they think they can't be forgiven for. Or maybe they wonder how they could really be significant enough to have even the attention, let alone the LOVE, of the Creator of the universe. You see, here's the thing. We are all precious to God. Every one of us. He wants for all of us to seek Him out, and He wants all of us to be with Him. Think, for instance, of a really good parent. Think of the best parent you know. Those of you who have children probably already know what I mean. But consider a good, loving parent here on earth. This person will have a great love for their children, whether it be one child or several, they will have a great love for each of their children. I know that I've heard people say on more than one occasion that they can't comprehend how it would even be possible to love anything more than than their children. That's just on an earthly level. Think of it like this. The great love that parent has for their child pales in comparison to the love that God has for us. God is our Heavenly Father, and we are His children. He loves all of His children more than we're even able to conceive, so much that it hurts Him when sin keeps us separate from Him. It grieves Him when we choose to remain separate from Him. When man fell, He knew that we could never fully rejoin Him in that condition. Even the sacrifice system that was set up in the days of the Old Testament wasn't enough to really fix the problem. It was more of a patch on the problem. He knew there was something more that had to be done, and so He made a way. But this way is the way that will last, and it cost Him greatly. Jesus came to this world of His own freewill. He was hated and mocked by many. He was arrested, beaten, and hung on a cross by nails. And while on this cross, He took on the full burden of sin. Think for just a moment what that means. The full burden of sin... While He was already in physical agony, He took upon Himself every sin that has ever been committed by all of humanity. Every sin that I've committed, and every sin that you've committed. He took it all. It was this heavy weight that just blanketed across Him. It became so great that the Father had to turn away. He couldn't look at Him. Jesus cried out, Father, Father, why have You forsaken Me? But God the Father couldn't look. He couldn't bear to see His Son, who was good and pure, had become like this thick black mass, all of the sin covering Him. The agony that He was in, not only was physical agony, but it was spiritual agony, too. When the Father turned away, He felt alone. He was in this position, alone, and then He died. But in this death, there was triumph. There was no more, no way of undoing or preventing the sacrifice that He made. After three days, He re-entered His physical body and gave us victory over spiritual death. He knew how much it would cost, and He knew that not everybody would accept it. Most won't. But He made this sacrifice anyway. He gave us this gift, He made the sacrifice, and it's here for us, for anyone who will accept it. The Father loves you so much. He gave His only Son to die for you, and to take on all of your sin so that you could be free, so that you could come to Him and so that nothing could keep you separated anymore. It isn't something, though, that He will make you do. He won't force it on you. It's a choice that you have to make. To not choose it is an automatic choosing against it. If you believe, and you truly repent of your sins, and if you'll acknowledge that Jesus is the only way, then you will be saved. He's there now, and He's waiting for you. All you have to do is take that first step. |