Stone
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“For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.”
There
are few superlatives that I have not heard applied to this verse. It has been
called the Bible in a sentence. That description is true enough, but no verse,
including this one stands alone. To appreciate this statement of God’s love it
is necessary to remember its context. Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus why an
ardent adherent to the law of God needed a savior. Remember what Lewis said
about clear thinking. Until a man understands and accepts the fact that he is
cursed and living contrary to his Creator’s design; a savior is nonsensical.
This is never truer than when dealing with a man fervent to follow religious
teachings. A man must recognize the cancerous work of sin in him before he
seeks a remedy. It is those which see the dire plight of their present state who
cry out for a savior. To afflicted souls, this verse has something powerful to
say.
On
the sixth day of creation God created a being in His likeness. God pronounced
this being called Man, “very good.” Because God is love and He made this being
for the purpose of fellowship, it is safe to infer God loved him. In the
scripture God says of Man, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” On
occasion this love wounded the heart of God so deeply that God wished He had
not made Man. Nevertheless, God’s love for Man has not diminished. Aside from
the love of God there is one other thing in the relationship between God and
Man still unchanged. Man refuses to return God’s love. Man consistently places
his own desires above God. Man still opts for estrangement and cursing from God
rather than fellowship and blessing with God. This choice is as clear today as
it was in Eden. “For the invisible things
of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Man has rejected,
slandered and denied God to His face. But while breath remains in man, God
refuses to let condemnation be His final word. God so loves us that, despite
repeated rejections, He sent his Son to our rescue. The admonition for
Christians to love their enemies and pray for those who despitefully use them
is no idealist theory. It is what God does every day. Man divorced himself from
God by rejecting God’s authority and word. This brought the promised curse on
man, but it did not diminish the love of God. Rather than sit idly by while man
destroyed himself, the love of God took action. God threw His drowning enemy a
lifeline. His name is Jesus. He is the word of God made flesh “that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life.” Faith in Christ is enough to exchange a
lifetime of cursing for blessing; death for life; and hell for heaven.
God’s love is not
puffed up. His love does not seek its own profit. It is a selfless, giving
love. God gives mercy to the condemned; life to the dead; hope to the lost; God
gives Himself. Because He still lives and loves, God continues to give. The
miracles of the Bible are the invitation to trust a giving God.
Men pray for all sorts
of things and for many different reasons. Men come to God with their needs.
They tell Him what, when, and how it is best delivered. God is judged by His
response. If God answers us; He exists. If He seems not to hear; He is not
there. Men neglect to consider the nature of God’s gifts. God gives according
to need. When He sent manna to Israel, those who gathered much had no excess
and those who gathered little had no lack. God really has only one answer to
the need of man—Himself. God has answered every prayer of every man in Christ.
When a man has God, all things are possible. Once the breech between man and
God is repaired, divine fellowship begins and man’s true purpose is reborn. How
then, shall God not give to us all things?
God has accomplished
all that His word requires in the person of Jesus Christ. The debt of sin is
paid; justice is satisfied; and righteousness restored to man. One thing
remains to complete salvation; a choice. In the garden man chose to break with
God. Though God has since healed the breech, man must, of his own free will,
choose to be reconciled to God. In Christ salvation is provided to all men. It
is realized only by those who claim redemption. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
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