God’s Love-Gift, Jesus
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son in to the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I John 4:9-10)
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love my grandchildren! I now have four and a new one on the way… “How Sweet It Is!”
My oldest is Paisley, who is three, going on twenty-five. I just got this text from my daughter-in-love, her mother: “For Christmas, Paisley wants a pair of water skis and Pops to teach her. That is what she has told us for the past three days when you ask her what she wants.” I need some help here! Does anyone out there have any suggestions as to how I go about teaching a three-year-old how to water ski, in Texas, IN DECEMBER? I am facing a true test of how far I can go in giving the Christmas gift that someone I love supremely has asked for.
The aged and beloved, Apostle John, has penned for us, two of the most beautiful and all-encompassing verses of the whole Bible when he wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the words of the passage above. These verses are rarely used in relation to the Christmas story, but when you ponder the words carefully, you find that what John has written is indeed the Christmas story in capsule form…God loved us and sent His Son! God could have merely told us that He loved us, and because He is absolute truth, we could know that He does. However, He did more than just say, “I love you,” He “manifested” (ephanerotha – “made known or revealed”) His love by sending His Son into this sin-cursed and death-destined world that we might have our sin debt paid and have life…eternal life.
I marvel at such an amazing love, because I know that I can have my moments when I am not easy to love. The truth is, there is nothing inherently loveable about us from birth. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). It is almost beyond comprehension that God could love us so much that He would allow His Son to endure all that He endured, so that we might be reconciled to our loving Heavenly Father.
From Bethlehem’s manger to Calvary’s cross, we are seeing the manifestation of how much God loves us. There can be no doubts, arguments, or denial of this fact…He Proved His Love To Us!
Because of His love for us and the manifestation of that love through Jesus, we are now able to also love Him in return and should be expressing that love each and every day. Forgiveness is ours because He loves us; relationship with Him is possible because He loves us; judgment is avoided because He love us; and life eternal is a reality because He loves us…this is a PROVEN FACT!
By the way, if you have a recommendation for a good wetsuit for wintertime water skiing, let me know.
