Description
The Message of John 3 verse 16
Errigal in County Donegal is considered by some to be the most iconic mountain in
Ireland. At 751m it is the highest of the range known as “The Seven Sisters”. As one
of the oldest place names in Ireland, Errigal is associated with ancient stories of the
coming to the Emerald Isle of some of the earliest continental settlers.
By contrast, John 3v16 is the greatest story ever told – the story of the coming into
our world of God’s Only Son, of His eternal love and redeeming grace.
For God
Although sceptics have tried to relegate God to the realm of mythology, He
was before them all and He outlives them all. The evidence of His existence is
everywhere in creation for every large-hearted, open-minded person to see – the
glory of everything He made bearing eloquent testimony to His greatness as its
Maker.
Moses, an ancient leader and accomplished songwriter wrote, “Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90v2)
So loved the world
In our selfish world of injustice and pain it is deeply comforting to know that God
cares. The Holy Bible tells us that “God is love” (1John 4v8,16). As God’s creatures,
we can only give and receive love because we are made in His image, and He loves
us – “We love… because He first loved us.” (1 John 4v19) Without a loving Creator
there would be no love in the world.
He gave His Only begotten Son
As the greatest act of selfless, sacrificial love, God gave His only begotten Son to give
us life. “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4v9) In
Jesus Christ, God came much further than the early settlers to Ireland – from Heaven
into this world – to settle here among us, to experience first-hand the injustice and
feel the pain our sin has brought (Isaiah 53v3-5). He was hated without cause, lied
about, mis-tried, abused and ultimately crucified – even though He was completely
without blame.
The Bible says that was God’s loving plan. Knowing that you and I are part of the
problem, Jesus Christ willingly came to suffer and die in our place. Knowing that our
sins result in eternal death, and that we could never repay our own debt or lift our
own burden of guilt, God’s sinless Son willingly died for us. His love for us is so great
that upon the cross, He willingly submitted himself to be punished, once for all, for
our sins. As St. Peter said, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just (righteous one)
for the unjust (unrighteous ones), that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3v18)
Whosoever believes
Our loving God simply asks us to trust Him for salvation and He will fully and
freely forgive. Whosoever means anyone – everyone. Me – you! St. Paul also said,
“through this Man (Jesus) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him
everyone who believes is justified (cleared of guilt)…” (Acts 13v38–39)
In Him
No-one else can forgive your sins. Denying that he himself had power to heal or
forgive (Acts 3v12), in one of his earliest sermons, St. Peter said, “Nor is there
salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4v12)
Not Perish but have Eternal Life
God does not want you to live in fear. Just as He raised Jesus Christ from the dead,
God’s eternal love promises you eternal life. That doesn’t just mean to live forever,
but rather to enjoy the miracle of new life from God – starting right now. It’s the
promise of forgiveness from the guilt of sin and freedom from its power in your life
– and the cast-iron certainty that you will never perish in hell, the place of inevitable,
eternal judgement.
And the greatest thing of all – eternal life is a free gift. Knowing that everything we
do is imperfect and flawed, God offers you salvation freely, as a gift. In fact, you
can only receive it as a gift – the Bible makes it clear that to try to earn salvation by
religious effort or your own good works insults God, who sees our very best deeds
as “filthy rags” – the pathetic, self-righteous attempts to cover up that they really are
(Isaiah 64v6). Put your trust in Jesus Christ now and you will immediately receive the
gift of eternal life – He alone can forgive.
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