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.
I read about a small boy who was
consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that
he must be home on time that afternoon, but he came home even later. His mom
greeted him at the front door and said nothing. At the dinner table that night,
the boy looked at his plate but only found one slice of bread and a small cup
of water. As he looked at his father's full plate the father did not say a
word. The boy was devastated to say the least. His father sat there and did not
mutter even a sound. The father gave the situation some time to let this sink
in to his son. After a few minutes of complete silence at the table the father
took his son's plate and placed his plate filled with meat, potatoes, and green
vegetables in front of his son and gave him a big smile. When that boy grew to
be a man, he said, "All my life, I've known what God is like by what my
father did that night."
This is one of the greatest
truths in all the Bible. The Creator of the Universe, the Greatest Being in
Existence, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, loves the world. The word
"world" doesn't refer to our planet. It refers to the people on our
planet: you, me, and everyone else!
Keep in mind that God doesn't
love us because we deserve it. Heavens no! We are sinners, and the Bible says
the wages of sin is death! We don't deserve God's love and eternal life. We
deserve His wrath and eternal death. But thankfully, He loves us, even though
we don't deserve it.
God doesn't love us because of
who we are. If you want to get a good picture of what humanity is really like,
then read Romans 3:9-18. But I warn you, it isn't pretty. It paints a picture
of wicked and evil people. God doesn't love us because of who we are. He loves
us because of who he is. God is love and that's why He loves us. He loves us
because it's part of His nature!
A reported asked Billy Graham, "What is the greatest
theological statement ever made?" It is said that Brother Graham thought
for a moment and then replied, "The greatest theological statement ever
made is “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
But what exactly does the Bible tell us of God's love? The
answer is found in our text John 3:16. First, let us not forget how God gave
His one and only son. Jesus was crucified on a Cross. Some ask,
"Why?" There are great theological reasons and explanations that we
could mention here, to simply put, God didn't want you and I to die and be
eternally separated from Him, so He let His own Son die in our place, taking
our punishment, so we could go free.
Oswald Chambers writes, "In the Cross, we may see the
dimensions of Divine love. The Cross is not the Cross of a man but the
exhibition of the heart of God. At the back of the wall of the world stands God
with His arms outstretched, and every person driven there is driven into the
arms of God. The Cross of Jesus is the supreme evidence of the love of God.
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