John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
With all the bad things going on in the world, do you ever question God’s love for you? Is it hard to see beyond the troubles of the day? When you going through a difficult time, are you able to focus on the goodness of God or would you say you have trouble remaining positive? Well, that’s why we are writing Encouragement Daily.
John 3:16 is the most famous verse in the New Testament but many have trouble understanding the full breadth of its meaning. I cannot fully explain it here (or anywhere else for that matter with my limited knowledge) but there are some thoughts I would like to highlight for you now. God sent Jesus to atone for our sins because He knew we would never be able to make restitution for ourselves. There is basically no way we can be perfect as God’s holiness requires to be in His presence. There is no way we can measure up. But before you get discouraged, God already knew that so He always had a plan by which we can be redeemed. (Redemption is a whole discussion by itself.) That plan was and is Jesus. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. What we could not do on our own, God already did for us through the perfect sacrifice of His Son. Think about that. The wages of sin is death. Therefore, God entered the world as a man, in the form of His Son Jesus, to offer himself as a substitute for your death. Jesus gave Himself up for you and me!
For me, verse 17 is most important because it tells me that God loves you and me so much that he already planned to come into the world not to condemn, but to redeem. He planned to offer you what was lost in the Garden with Adam and Eve. God wants a relationship with you and is willing to give Himself up to make that happen. My hope is that you will begin to understand what it says in Ephesians 3 that you 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. His love surpasses our understanding. Let His grace surround and redeem you!
Lord, thank you that you love us so much that you already gave Yourself up to redeem us. Help us to accept Your offer of grace and enter into a relationship with you. Walk with us please. Amen!