John 3:16 FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
If there is one phrase or sentence that would encapsulate the whole Bible in its simplest form, it would be John 3:16. Throughout the beginning of time, God's love has always been the constant theme in every book and chapters of the Bible. God had shown His love for us in varied forms: through His Holy Spirit, faithfulness, grace, mercy, kindness, patience, forgiveness, abundant blessings, covenant, and among many others. But most of all, He had shown His great love towards us through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
“But God the Father, being rich in mercy, BECAUSE OF THE GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with CHRIST - BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED - and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”
JESUS IS THE ULTIMATE DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S LOVE FOR HUMANITY.
God loves us in a way that is beyond more than our minds can comprehend. He moved heaven and earth, and spared not even His Only Begotten Son just to save us from our doomed destiny caused by our sins. "He gave Him up for us all" with no reservation (Romans 8:32).
GOD'S MISSION: TO SAVE
“For God did not send His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
Ever since the Fall in the book of Genesis, the entire human race through all generations have been the subject of God's rescue mission. Jesus did not come to earth to point fingers at us, to revoke any of our chances to be forgiven, to shame and damn us with His anger, or to completely withdraw all remaining hope to reconcile us back to Him. No. He came for all the opposite reasons. He made it His priority goal to save us from our absolute end which is DEATH that we took upon ourselves. And it is all because we "loved the darkness rather than the light because our works were evil" (v.19)
"you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE - among whom we all once lived in the PASSIONS OF OUR FLESH, carrying out the DESIRES OF THE BODY and the MIND, and were by nature CHILDREN OF WRATH, like the rest of mankind."
Ephesians 2:1-3
But Praise be to God because Jesus conquered death and has risen from the grave! He gave us victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:57). By believing in faith and then being born of the spirit, Jesus gave us both access to the kingdom of God in eternity!
PRAYER
Lord, Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great love for me and the whole world. Even in our sins and unworthiness, nothing held You back to bring us to Your arms again, not even Your Son. You allowed Him to go through so much pain, betrayal, and even a gruesome death on the Cross because You could not bear to give us over to Satan. You did it all because You have loved us with an incomparable love. Lord, open our hearts so that we will completely believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and give our lives fully surrendered to Him. Just like how He surrendered His life for us. Forgive us for our sins and empower us to turn away from doing them. Baptize us with Your Holy Spirit and change us from the inside out. Thank You Father, in Jesus' Name. Amen!