John 3 : 16
A twenty-six-word parade of hope:beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Briefenough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough toweather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of theBible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We allneed the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human.And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16.
He loves.
He gave.
We believe.
We live.
He loves.
God loves you because he chooses todo so. “God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were bigand important… He did it out of sheer love…” (Deut. 7:7-8, MSG). God’s love foryou depends on his goodness, not yours. And since he is totally good, you areabsolutely loved. You don’t need to win his love, you already have it. Andsince you can’t win it, you can’t lose it. He will love you forever. You maystep outside of his will, but never his love. Mark it down. He loves you. Somuch, in fact, that…
He gave.
He gave his one and only Son. Jesusis God’s “one and only.” He is unlike any other person in history. Everyquality we attribute to God, we can give to Jesus. Jesus has an eternal lifespan, unending wisdom, and tireless energy. Most of all, Jesus is sinless. Whenhe lived on the earth, he never sinned. “He never did one thing wrong. Not oncesaid anything amiss” (1 Peter 2:22, MSG).
We, on the other hand, do wrongthings daily. We stretch the truth. We hurt people. We take advantage of theweak and disrespect our family. What should God do? He has made his positionclear. “Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14,NCV). Where does that leave us?
It leaves us depending on the 3:16promise. “God… gave his one and only son…” Though sinless, Jesus took our sin.God placed our sin on his Son and punished it. When Jesus died on the cross, hedied for us in our place. Our response to this great gift is simple…
We believe.
We trust Jesus to do what we can’t.We don’t trust our own efforts to save us. We can’t save ourselves. We don’tplace our trust in other people to save us. We believe in him.
We take similar steps of trustdaily, even hourly. Believing the chair will support us, we set our weight onit. Believing water will hydrate, we drink it. Trusting the work of the lightswitch, we flip it. We have faith in the doorknob, so we turn it. We trustpower we cannot see to do work we can’t accomplish. Jesus invites us to do thesame with him. And when we do, when we believe…
We live.
God gives us brand-new life. Hegives us joy in this life and the promise of eternal life with him. We have joybecause we have his Spirit living within us. Little by little his Spiritchanges us to be more like Jesus. No guilt in life, no fear of death, he giveslife, now.
And life for eternity. In Heavenyou will be you at your best. No anger or sadness, tears or trouble. Neverweary, selfish, or defeated. Clear mind, tireless muscles, unhindered joy. And,most of all, God! “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and the knowledge ofGod” (Romans 11:33, ESV). Heaven is a perfect place of perfected people withour perfect Lord.
He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.
Would you like to accept the 3:16promise? You can. Tell God you accept him.
“Father, I believe you love me. Yougave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, Idie. With you, I live. I choose life. I choose you.”
Jesus awaits your prayer. Believein him and you will…
Not…Perish…You will have life,eternal life, forever.