John 3:16

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is the most profound and critical part of our faith as Christians, by which the mystery of the universe, unknown to the world since its creation, was made known to us by the grace and mercy of God the Father through the obedience of His beloved Son and by the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, we many times forget to study and look deeper into this amazing verse and forget how fundamental it is not only to our faith, but to all of creation.

For God so loved the world

That God had a special plan and a place in His heart for man since the beginning. To the extent of making man in His own image and personally breathing life into him and assigning him privilege and favor over the rest of creation by giving him rule over every creature. And that God personally walked with Adam in the garden and talked with Him. That God Himself, would converse with man and delight, above the rest of creation, in man, what glorious privilege, favor, and grace given unto us from the very beginning.

(God painted an image of Himself on the canvas of creation, which was man, and as death and sin covered the canvas, He had to come into the painting itself to bring it back to life)

That He gave His one and only Son

That although we rejected Him and turned our faces away from Him and prostituted ourselves to sin, God came down to us, that He reached out His hand to reconcile us to Himself, that a Holy and Mighty and Righteous God, who created and reigns over the entire universe, chose “not to consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Phillipians 2:6-8. I cannot even begin to comprehend such a love, that while I was still His enemy, while I was nailing Him to the cross and mocking Him, He chose to endure the shame, the humiliation, the suffering, and the pain of the cross, all so that a worthless sinner like me could be reconciled to Him.

That whoever believes in Him

To believe means that we acknowledge our transgressions through repentance before Him and admit our weaknesses and fully surrender under His Lordship and Sovereignty over our lives. To believe means that we die to ourselves daily by putting to death our fleshly and worldly desires to take up the desires of the Lord, to allow Christ to live through us by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Shall not perish but have eternal life

That because of Jesus, we are reconciled to God and can now spend eternity with Him, in His Wonderful, Magnificent, and Glorious Presence, where He will personally wipe away every tear and where we are completely and utterly lost in worship to Him. That we are set free, not free for the sake of being free, but free to serve and worship the Living God!

Lord, I thank you for your never ending love for me. That you would choose to reveal yourself to me and shower me with your love while I was still your enemy. Lord, I am without excuse before you, my transgressions are laid bare and I acknowledge my weakness and failure before your presence. Teach me to live what I believe and to believe that you live in and through me. Because you are the source of my joy and my life; apart from you there is no other Way, no other Truth, no other Life, no other God. Amen.