Sunday Reading: John 3:13-16
Key Verse: John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Key Verse: John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Devotion:
It is difficult for us to understand how God could be in heaven and on earth, away from us and with us. Christ's words here showed that He was still God, that He had always been God and that He was able to descend from heaven and then ascend to heaven at the time that He chose. This must have been a bit of a brain strain on the disciples until they learned why Jesus died and remembered this passage that He had spoken. They had remembrance of the scriptures that told them of how the serpent was made and lifted up for everyone to see and that everyone who looked up at it would be saved from the lethal snake bites.
It is difficult for us to understand how God could be in heaven and on earth, away from us and with us. Christ's words here showed that He was still God, that He had always been God and that He was able to descend from heaven and then ascend to heaven at the time that He chose. This must have been a bit of a brain strain on the disciples until they learned why Jesus died and remembered this passage that He had spoken. They had remembrance of the scriptures that told them of how the serpent was made and lifted up for everyone to see and that everyone who looked up at it would be saved from the lethal snake bites.
We still have that same choice now. Christ has been lifted up onto the cross to die. We need just look up and recognise what He has done, believing that He has done that and that He is the Son of God. That is all we have to do. He has already been lifted up and died for us. He has accomplished all that has to be accomplished. He has fulfilled the scriptures. It is all there in black and white...
God has done what has been done out of His love for us. He has showed us that He loved us so much that He was willing to allow His Son to die for us, to take on our sentence so that we would be allowed to be set free from our sins. His loves was shown to all people of the world, no matter how good or evil. It was not thus shown to the angels because they were expected to follow Him no matter what. We, on the other hand do have the choice that we can turn back from our evil ways and turn to Him once more. Once we have made that simple choice, we will be saved forever. Once we have accepted God back into our lives, we are with Him forever more. What a wonderful, wonderful gift!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like getting presents?
Why do so many people refuse to open His free gift to us all?
Do you like getting presents?
Why do so many people refuse to open His free gift to us all?