How Did God Reveal His Great Love for You?

 

by Mihran Kulhanjian

 

 

Dear Friends,

In The Gospel of John 3:16 we know this:  “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.”  This does not mean eternal life as you know it on this earth, but a spirit life in heaven with a new body.  It also does not mean that God saves the world because of his love. A sinner is not saved.  Not everybody will see the kingdom of God; sadly, only a few will.  It is by God’s grace we are saved not God’s love; and it is only by God’s grace through our faith that we are saved, but not by any good works we do (Ephesians 2:8-10).

 

When God uses the word “so” as “For God so loved the world,” God is telling us that He loved the world more gloriously than we can imagine. His love is so strong for us that He offered as a sacrifice His only Son, a perfect Son who had no sin.  Jesus was the Lamb of God. Jesus was the pure, perfect, sacrificial Lamb. No person is sinless, therefore only a sinless, perfect person could cleanse us of our sins. He was our substitute. Jesus accepted the punishment for us, for we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). And even one sin, one lie, one blasphemed word makes us unworthy to commune with God.

 

In John 3:16, God reveals his love for us.  God created us to have communion with him.  The words “everlasting life” in the scripture means to have fellowship with Jesus in this life and the next, in heaven. It was 727 years before Christ that the prophet Isaiah said:  “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  Jesus, who became man, to save man is all of these.  Jesus came to save us because we are already condemned in a lost world of sin and we are incapable of saving ourselves. So God sent His Son and His Son obeyed His Father and took the punishment for us so that we might know God and live.

 

“ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:17-18).

“A child is born, unto us a son is given,” Jesus is the child, the son; He is the Lord and Savior.

It is man’s mission to know God and to glorify Him.  Let us not forget this, that God loved us first (1 John 4:19), and that it is time for us now to love Him, to worship Him in spirit for He is spirit (John 4:24), and to enjoy Him and the blessings He has for us.

 

To become a Christian you must recognize God, know Him, believe in Him, surrender to Him, and obey His commandments. If you turn away from God and reject Him, you are rejecting your own salvation; you are rejecting your Creator. Receiving Jesus will free you from the guilt because you are already condemned. Will you remain condemned?  “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

 

To become a Christian you must first recognize and acknowledge God’s great love for you by what he did.  “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).  Once you accept God and what He (the Father) did by sending his only Son (Jesus), and accept what Jesus did by obeying the will of His Father (to take the full punishment of all of your sins, past, present and future), you can now move to the next step to becoming a Christian, a true follower of Jesus Christ. You need to “believe in him.”   The word “in” means to trust and to do [obey] what He says with faith.

 

Thought:  Could you imagine any father or mother offering his or her perfect child as a sacrifice to die for the sins of others by an excruciating death of beatings, of flesh cut deep and torn from bone and being nailed to a cross, suffocating as lungs collapse on the weight of the body? Could you imagine your child accepting this treatment as Jesus did?  He voluntarily was beaten and crucified, put to death, for us sinners.  He accepted our gilt. He became the curse that we might receive the blessing of everlasting live and communion with God. Yes!  Yes! We have a holy God whose love for us is beyond our scope of imagination and understanding.

Turn to Him who loved you first. Love Him. Receive and yield all to Jesus and acknowledge His love for you. Accept His love. It is never too late to humble yourself to God.