THE CORE OF OUR FAITH [JOHN 3:16-21]
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).
This is the core of our faith, the Good News which has been proclaimed for two thousand years. God the Most High, uncreated Creator, sent His only Son into the world to save the people he had created. He didn’t treat us as we deserved, condemning us as sinners for our disobedience. Instead, in His amazing love, God the Father allowed His Son to become the sacrifice for so much dishonor and shame, redeeming us through His unflinching obedience.
How can we fathom the love of the Father, who offered His only Son for sinners? How can we comprehend the love of the Son, who so eagerly responded to His Father’s call? Try as we might, the story of our salvation will forever defy human reason. We can’t fathom the kind of love that would motivate such a sacrifice. We could never experience absolutely perfect self-giving from any human friend.
Yet God, who has no need of us who is lacking in nothing, has reached out to each one of us to embrace us and draw us to Himself in personal love. This God who knows every detail of our lives calls to us as His children and waits to hear us answer, “Abba” – Father! To meditate on this love brings us to our knees in awe and wonder. It moves us to give our whole lives to Him in worship, service, and obedience.
In sending His Son to save us, God sent the perfect representation of Himself, so that we might know Him as He truly is. In listening to the Son, we hear the Father – the Father’s thoughts, His plans for us, His very heart. As we submit ourselves to the Son, we learn to walk in the Father’s ways, and our lives are filled with light. We could never achieve this on our own; rather, we are lifted up to a whole new life by the power of God’s grace. As His light shines in our lives, it is plainly seen that this is the work of God.
Jakarta, 30 April 2014
A Christian Pilgrim
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