"For God so loved the world”… Such a simple phrase as this one is wrapped in such incomprehensible beauty that even the most brilliant person can merely scratch the surface of its meaning. This line is more than mere words on paper; it is a divinely composed melody that is matched with a magnificent harmony in the following phrase. Before I can read the next phrase, the voice of a thrilled and baffled child in my head cries out, “Why does He love it!?”. My mind is drawn to Scripture, where my Heavenly Father seems to say, “I love it because I love it.” Now, my eyes meet the following phrase: “He gave His only Son.” These words sink deep into my chest, and I feel as if a gush of wind knocks me to the ground, and my mind says, “Listen here…this is important”. A moment later, my eyes meet the next line, which says, “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This line causes my heart to cry, “That cannot be! There must be more!”. I do not cry out for more because the words are lacking in beauty or truth; rather, my sinful heart is unwilling to accept such grace, for it has been fooled into believing it can merit this supremely precious gift—eternal life. However, the Son that was sent to the world pulls the veil from my eyes so I may see the simplicity and depth of what I have just read.
Indeed, a holy and righteous God loved weak and hardened people. A people who would not and could not love Him–that is, until He first loved them. So He lavished His love upon those who declared themselves to be His enemies. He said, “I will send my Son to save them,” and they responded, “we will kill his son!”. They did as they pleased, while God did what He pleased, for the Scripture says, “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (Is. 53:10). Therefore, the holy and righteous Christ, a man without sin, became a curse as He took the sin of all those who reviled Him. It all took place as was prophesied, for the scripture said, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not”(Is. 53:3), “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away” (Is. 53: 7-8a). So as His enemies tortured Him with great physical sufferings, He took on their spiritual torment. Indeed, He bore their damnation, for the sins of those who reviled Him were placed on Him. He was innocent and blameless.
My friend, you and I are the enemies I speak of who killed Christ. With our sin, we have mocked Him, spat on His face, beat His body to the point of deformity, pierced thorns into His skull, and nailed His limbs to a tree. More than this, we caused Him the most horrific suffering that is our due punishment; we afflicted His soul to death as God’s fierce wrath for our sin was poured out upon Him. Oh, how hopeless we would be if this were the only message Scripture has given us. So now, we return to the first few words I began with; the words that God breathed–“For God so loved the world.” It is true! Christ died, and God punished Him for the sins of those who would believe in Him because He so loved the world. He so loved the sinners who loathed Him. He so loved the ungodly. He so loved the helpless orphan. He so loved people from every nation, tribe, and tongue that he chose to die so he could give life to those He would someday call adopted children. So now, whoever believes Jesus Christ is the Lord, whoever looks upon Him as a precious Savior, whoever sees their sin, turns from it, and loves Christ will be saved from the wrath of God and have eternal life.
Lastly, you do no good to believe He merely exists, for you know the woman writing to you exists, and you cannot call me your friend because of it. Likewise, you cannot make yourself a friend of God by merely believing He exists; you must believe in Him as your Lord. I urge you with every ounce of my being to look to Christ now. Look to Him this very moment and truly examine whether or not you are in Him, for He will return to this world, and on that day, He will take His adopted children home, and all those who rejected him and failed to look upon Him will suffer eternal damnation. Turn to the gracious Lord; He desires all to come to repentance, but He will return like an unexpected thief (2 Pet. 3:9). Oh, how I wish for you to know the God of whom the Scripture says, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” (Ps. 145:8-9). So put away the cup of poison and drink from the fountain of living water, for He is all satisfying.
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