by Barbara Latta
For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten son, that whoever believes in
Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life (John 3:16
NKJV).
Those of us who
have grown up in church have heard John 3:16 quoted over and over. We learned
that verse as a child and could spit it out at the drop of a hat. This scripture is probably the most familiar to everyone, even those who don't know God personally.
But like most
things that we bandy about, it can become overused words that lose their
meaning.
Do we really
know what Jesus was saying when he told this truth to Nicodemus?
God so loved….
This is love
not that we loved God but that he loved us and gave his Son (1 John 4:10).
We can’t love
God apart from Him loving us first because there is no love in us without Him.
The world…
God’s gift is
available to all who will receive it. …Not wishing for any to perish but for all to
come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9b). Unfortunately, not everyone will receive
eternal life, but it’s not because God didn’t give it.
He gave His Son
from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). He knew His creation would
sin and He made a way to redeem the lost. God loved His created ones made in
His image so much he was willing to give Himself to pay for the wrong that we
do.
He gave by
putting His Word into the form of flesh. The
word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14)
God was walking
and talking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden until they sinned. They
threw away their intimacy with their Creator.
God was walking
and talking with mankind in the form of Jesus, but most did not recognize him. They
threw away the God that was before them.
He came to His own, and those who were
His own did not receive Him
(John 1:11).
Love came down
from heaven, but He didn’t have to. But
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross
(Philippians 2:7-8).
This gift from
the Father was presented to the fallen earth wrapped in swaddling clothes. In
insignificance and with no earthly fanfare, He was born in the normal human
way. He became one of us, so He could identify with our hurts, fears and
temptations (Hebrews 2:18).
Jesus came to
earth through a bloody human birth and left the earth through a bloody human
sacrifice.
What does “God so loved the world”
really mean? It means love came down…so we could be lifted up (Psalm 145:14).
Christmas brings us the cross.