I always stand amazed in the knowledge that God loves all people and wants the best for all of them. However, not everyone accepts or returns that love, and not everyone wants the best of what God wants for them. It is true based on the Bible and Christian experience that God loves us. I want to take a little of your time and revisit John 3:16 and see what it tells us about the God who loves us.
God’s Love Is Universal: “For God so loved the world….” "The world" refers to everyone in the world. There is no one in the world that God does not love. No one can truly say that he or she is unloved. Jesus revealed this love in His earthly ministry. We read in the gospel accounts of Jesus that He loved the rich and the poor, the sick and the well alike. For example, Jesus loved the wealthy Zacchaeus, who was the wealthiest and the most hated man in Jericho because he was a tax collector who had stolen from the people. At the same time, we note that Jesus loved the blind beggar Bartimaeus. The cartoon character, Charlie Brown, or it might have been Lucy, said: “I love mankind, it’s people that I hate.” Well, God does not just love mankind in general; He loves every person in the world individually. This means that He loves you too. It also means that He loves those people that you do not particularly care for. God’s Love Is Sacrificial: “That He gave His only begotten Son….” Observe that God did not just send His Son – He gave Him. God revealed His love for every person by giving Jesus, His Son, to die for each one. In Matthew 1:21 the angel , told Joseph: “And you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The meaning of this verse is revealed in Romans 8:23: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” We further read in Romans 8:34: “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is ever at the right hand of God, who also make intercession for us.” God gave His Son to die and rise again in order to make salvation possible for everyone. He gave His Son to die for you. You can truthfully say that “God gave His only begotten Son to die for me.” It is God’s intention that every person should take John 3:16 personally. God’s Love Saves: “That whosever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life….” According to this “whosoever believes in Him” can be saved. Notice that our responsibility is to believe. Those who believe in Jesus, those who trust their lives to Him, are saved, and “will not perish but have everlasting life.” There are many people who will not acknowledge the sacrificial love of God. They want to save themselves or find some other means of salvation. It is a pity that so many people who are loved by God refuse His great salvation and perish. This is not cruelty on God’s part, for in His great love He has done all that can be done to ensure eternal life to all. What more could people ask for than the life of God’s Son? What simpler course could people take than to believe in God’s Son? “Whosoever” includes you. You can be saved by believing in and giving your life to Jesus. “Whosoever will” also applies to all of the people to whom you need to witness. You can, and should, share the love of God with other people by the way you live and by witnessing to them. All people need to know that they are part of “whosoever.” Let’s celebrate the love of God. There is no other love that is both universal and sacrificial. There is no other love that can save. Bro. Joe
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“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”
Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee, and we are informed in 4:4: “And He must needs go through Samaria.” In other words, Jesus had to go through Samaria. In His infinite mind, Jesus knew that He had an appointment with a sinful woman there, and that a whole town needed Him. Jesus met the woman at Jacob's Well, where she had come to draw water and talked with her. She was a sinful woman who had been married five times and was living with a man out of wedlock at that time. Jesus told this sinful woman that He was/is the Messiah. That’s when she went into the town and told the town’s people about Jesus, and they went out to meet Him and accepted His message as well. (You can read the whole story in John 4.) This is an incident in the New Testament where Jesus changed a desperate woman’s life, and the lives of the people in the town in which she lived. How was she changed? First, before Jesus came into her life the woman was friendless. Women usually went to the well to get water together, but she was there by herself. Since she was a sinful woman, the other women in town wouldn’t have anything to do with her. I like to think that after she told the people about Jesus, she found a new acceptance in that town. The Bible doesn’t follow up on her life, but I believe that she was a changed woman after that encounter with Jesus, and because of Jesus she found a new acceptance among her neighbors. At least they listened to her when she told them about Jesus, and they went out to meet Him and also accepted Him as Messiah. Most importantly, the woman was, no doubt, able to accept herself because of her changed life. Jesus knew this woman’s predicament, and He acted to change her life. After Jesus came to town, the woman had a new fellowship with her neighbors. This is a beautiful picture of Jesus’ acceptance of sinners. Jesus promised that He would accept all who came to Him in faith. This woman was not too sinful to be saved, nor is anyone else if they will just come to Jesus in faith. Second, before Jesus came into her life, the woman was hopeless. Not only was she an outcast in her own community, she was lost in sin, which was reflected in her lifestyle. I imagine to the people who knew her, this woman was hopeless. I think that she probably thought she was hopeless too, and she was until she encountered Jesus at the well. She was given a new lease on life that was filled with the hope of Jesus. We need to understand that no one is really hopeless where Jesus is concerned, and if they have an encounter with Jesus they will be filled with hope. Jesus came to bring hope into a seemingly hopeless world. All over the world, people are accepting Jesus as Savior. Many of them are accepting His hope in spite of the threats on their lives. There is nothing greater than the hope that we have in Jesus. This woman shows us that people can be saved and enter into the hope of Jesus, regardless of what they have done in the past. To get a clearer picture of what I have written, I would like for you to read the fourth chapter of John’s gospel. It might be that there is something in your life that an encounter with Jesus can help you with and give you a renewed hope. It can also help us see that the people we know who seem hopelessly lost can encounter Jesus as well. Like the woman in the text, it might be that we could lead someone to an encounter with Jesus. Read this chapter and think about your own life. Bro. Joe “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
I want to pick up on one word in this text, and that is “grace.” This is God’s unmerited favor, meaning that we get from God what we do not deserve. Question: Why do we need God’s grace in order to be saved? The first answer is because of the nature of God. God is completely holy. This is illustrated by Moses at the “burning bush” in Exodus. When Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, he was warned: “And (God) said, Draw near, put off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ( Exodus 3:5) God is too holy to be approached in His heavenly presence. The second answer is because of the nature of people. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Because of our sins we cannot stand in the presence of Holy God. When God visited His people in the Old Testament temple in the “Holy of Holies,” no one could approach that part of the temple where God came among His people but the High Priest, and that only on the Day of Atonement when the people’s sins were atoned. The third answer is that people could only be saved by an act of God on our behalf. In the Old Testament, the blood of animals was shed to atone for Israel’s sins. But when God acted in His full grace for, not only Israel, but for the whole world, His Son came and was sacrificed on the cross so that we could be saved by faith in Him. Ephesians 1:8-9 gives us the gist of how sinful people can be saved: “For by grace have you been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We are not saved by our own volition, but we are saved by the act of God’s Son shedding His blood on the cross, and by putting our faith in Him through the confession of sin and repentance from sin. The fourth answer is that when we are saved by faith, then we work for the Lord’s kingdom as witnesses and in any way that He would use us. We are not saved by works, but we are saved to work. Ephesians 2:10 continues the narrative on our works after we are saved: “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.” All of us have sinned, and all of us need God’s grace by faith in Christ to be saved. Bro. Joe “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me has everlasting life.”
“For by grace are you saved through grace are you saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”
“And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into to the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.”
The question that our title asks came to me the other day and I thought about what the Bible reveals to us to answer the question. There are three things that stand out in scripture that answers what God wants for you. First, He wants to save you from sin. Sin is the big problem in the world that began with Adam and Eve. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Our text tells us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” Christ Jesus has either saved you from sin, or He desires to save you from sin. The big decision that people need to make is what have they done about Jesus? What is their answer to God’s act of love of sending His Son into the world, to die on the cross and rise from the grave to save them from sin? What is your answer? The main thing that the Lord wants for you is that you accept His Son, Jesus Christ, into your life to save you for all eternity. Second, the Lord wants to sustain you. This means that He wants to send the Holy Spirit into your life to sustain you daily. Jesus did not just come into your life to take you to heaven; He comes into your life to make your life better. He wants to give you His love and His leadership that will give you what Jesus called “abundant life.” The Lord doesn’t want to take anything from you; rather, He wants to give all of the blessings that He has in store for you through His Holy Spirit. He gave you His church to give you the joy of sharing the abundant life with others who have received, or need to receive, the “abundant life.” He inspired His word, the Bible, to offer leadership and guidance in your life. The Lord wants to give you the quality of life that only He can give. Third, the Lord wants you to serve Him. In John 20:21 Jesus said to His disciples, “Peace be unto you: as My Father has sent Me, even so send I you.” The Lord saves and sustains you in order for you share what He has given you through His love. Someone wrote: “The fruit of a Christian is another Christian.” This means that you take the “abundant life” that the Lord has given you into your daily. If Jesus has saved you, you are His servant and He wants to use you in His church and in the world to be His witness to the world. There are many other things that the Lord wants of you, but these are three of the most important things that He wants for you. Has He saved you? Is He sustaining you? Are you serving Him? The answer to these questions has eternal significance in your life. Bro. Joe “And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
“Reconciled” is one of my favorite words in the New Testament. This article should demonstrate why this is true? Reconciliation is perhaps one of the most important words in the Bible. When we go back to the Garden of Eden, we discover that when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, there was a breach between God and people. Sin is the incurable disease confronted by the human race. It has to be dealt with, and the only way this can happen is for God to intercede for us. The text tells us that God “has reconciled us to Himself.” Reconciliation is not something that we can mathematically deal with in our own power. So we read that God reconciled us to Himself. Think of it! We have been reconciled to the God of the universe, because He wants to “reconcile us to Himself.” How did God reconcile us to Himself? The text tells us that God “reconciled to Himself by Jesus Christ.” It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be reconciled to God. Even the Old Testament system of sacrifices were pointing us toward Jesus Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no person comes to the Father except by me.” There are a lot of people who really have a problem with this declaration by Jesus, because there must be some other way that God will reconcile us to Himself. The only way that this could happen without Christ is for a person to live so perfectly that God would be indebted to them to reconcile them. The New Testament assures us that this is not possible. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Ephesians 2:5-6 tell us: “Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened (enlivened) us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved.) 6. And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Why did God reconcile us to Himself? He reconciled us to Himself so that we could be saved and not be lost in sin here or hereafter. But our text gives another reason for our reconciliation: Here it is: “God has reconciled us to Himself, by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” We have been reconciled to God in order to help others become reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Every believer in Jesus Christ has been given a “ministry of reconciliation.” We cannot reconcile people ourselves, but we can invite to them to find reconciliation the same way that we did – by faith in Jesus Christ. So let’s get about the business in introducing people to reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe “Then said Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
This is big subject that I have chosen, but I think that I can show you what you need to know about what Jesus did for you on the cross. First, by going to the cross voluntarily, Jesus revealed to us how much God loves us. That is the meaning of John 3:16-17: “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 sent not His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through might be saved.” Here is the message that you need here: Jesus died on the cross because He loves you! Until we see that, we will miss the message of the cross. Second, according to our printed text above, Jesus went to the cross to forgive us for our sins. This is mercy, for we are all sinners and stand in the need of God’s forgiveness. Until we see that we will not grasp the reality of the cross. Standing in the light of the glory of God shining from the cross, we see our own sins and confess them and repent of them. Standing there under the cross, the Roman centurion saw it: “Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.” Perhaps you think that you have no need to be forgiven for your sins. The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Perhaps you think that your sins are so great that they cannot be forgiven. Look at Romans 23:24: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” In His grace, Jesus can and will forgive your sins. Third, Jesus received the wrath of God that should have been ours, and delivered us from the wrath of God. This is why Jesus cried in Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me…” Jesus had never sinned and He knew that on the cross He would feel the sting of your sin and mine. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…” (Romans 1:18) But the good news is that we can escape His wrath through faith in Jesus Christ. Here is the good news from Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus died on the cross to save you from God’s wrath. Jesus went to the cross because He loves you. When He died on the cross, Jesus secured His forgiveness for your sins. He took the wrath that should be yours and mine upon Himself. That is the gospel, either you have been forgiven for your sins through faith in Him or you have not. Confess your sins, repent of your sins and invite Jesus into your heart and life. Bro. Joe “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”
Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee, and we are informed in 4:4: “And He must needs go through Samaria.” In other words, Jesus had to go through Samaria. In His infinite mind, Jesus knew that He had an appointment with a sinful woman there, and that a whole town needed Him. Jesus met the woman at a well, where she had come to draw water and talked with her. She was a sinful woman who had been married five times and was living with a man out of wedlock at that time. Jesus told this sinful that He was/is the Messiah. That’s when she went into the town and told the town’s people about Jesus, and they went out to meet Him and accepted His message as well. (You can read the whole story in John 4.) This is an incident in the New Testament where Jesus changed a desperate woman’s life, and the lives of the people in the town in which she lived. How was she changed? First, before Jesus came into her life the woman was friendless. Women usually went to the well to get water together, but she was there by herself. Since she was a sinful woman, the other women in town wouldn’t have anything to do with her. I like to think that after she told the people about Jesus, she found a new acceptance in that town. The Bible doesn’t follow up on her life, but I believe that she was a changed woman after that encounter with Jesus, and because of Jesus she found a new acceptance among her neighbors. At least they listened to her when she told them about Jesus, and they went out to meet Him and also accepted Him as Messiah. Most importantly, the woman was, no doubt, able to accept herself because of her changed life. Jesus promised that He would accept all who came to Him in faith. This woman was not too sinful to be saved, nor is anyone else if they will just come to Jesus in faith. Second, before Jesus came into her life, the woman was hopeless. Not only was she an outcast in her own community, she was lost in sin, which was reflected in her lifestyle. I imagine to the people who knew her, this woman was hopeless. I think that she probably thought she was hopeless too, and she was until she encountered Jesus at the well. She was given a new lease on life that was filled with the hope of Jesus. We need to understand that no one is really hopeless where Jesus is concerned, and if they have an encounter with Jesus they will be filled with hope. Jesus came to bring hope into a seemingly hopeless world. All over the world, people are accepting Jesus as Savior. Many of them are accepting His hope in spite of the threats on their lives. There is nothing greater than the hope that we have in Jesus. This woman shows us that people can be saved and enter into the hope of Jesus, regardless of what they have done in the past. To get a clearer picture of what I have written, I would like for you to read the fourth chapter of John’s gospel. It might be that there is something in your life that an encounter with Jesus can help you with and give you a renewed hope. It can also help us see that the people we know who seem hopelessly lost can encounter Jesus as well. Like the woman in the text, it might be that we could lead to an encounter with Jesus. Read this chapter and think about your own life. Bro. Joe |
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