For God so Loved…

I just finished the miracle chapter on the power of the gospel to change lives.  (I say "miracle" because the enemy has literally thrown one obstruction or the other in my way for THREE weeks trying to keep me from writing this chapter.) 

Let me share a couple brief thoughts I've included in this chapter. The first one, I got from my own mother! ;-)

One of the most well known and quoted passages in all of Scripture is that of John 3:16. “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.”

Although most of us probably know this verse by heart, how often do we stop to contemplate the significance it has over our lives today?

God – The greatest being

So Loved – The greatest principle

The World – The greatest people in need (that’s us)

That He Gave – The greatest action

His Only Begotten Son – The greatest gift

That Whosoever Believeth – The greatest invitation

Might not Perish – The greatest rescue from the greatest disaster

But have Eternal Life – The greatest lasting privilege and eternal joy[i]

Do we honestly comprehend the gift God has given us? Do we understand the great love He has reached down from heaven to bestow upon us? He loves us, not because of the gift He gave, but He gave the gift because He loved us![ii]

Of course, it’s hard to comprehend this great gift when we don’t even realize the utterly wretched sinfulness from which we have been delivered? Sin is not just what we’ve done, it’s who we are! We are, by our very sinful nature, guilty of high treason against the King of Kings.

Thankfully, the Lord provided Himself a ransom.

“Christ was treated as we deserved that we might be treated as He deserved.  He was condemned for our sin, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death, which was ours, that we might receive the life that was His. “With His stripes we are healed.” Desire of Ages, p. 25

This ultimate rescue mission of all ages was so expensive that it cost the very life of the Son of God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth to secure it. And yet this solution to the problem of sin, provided at the price of Heaven itself, is offered to us as a FREE GIFT.

Now that is GOOD NEWS!!! Praise the Lord!! 

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[i] Salvation in a Nutshell, by Sylvia Mason, p. 3

[ii] Steps to Christ, p. 13