“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV)
God loves the world enough to sacrifice His Son for it. He loves the sexually immoral, the drunkards, the liars, the murderers. He loves all sinners enough to sacrifice Jesus, His only Son, on the cross. If you were the only person on earth, Jesus would still have gotten on the cross. God wants a relationship with you so badly, He’d have Jesus die for you. How much does God love the world? Enough to give His only Son to save it.
Enough to give His only Son to save it.
Why do we need Jesus to have a relationship with God? God can’t be in the presence of sin:
O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked. (Psalm 5:4 NLT).
If we think of God as light and sin as darkness, we can begin to understand. When you walk into a dark room in the middle of the night and turn on the light switch, the darkness disappears. You can’t have darkness and light together at the same time. In the same way, God’s light can’t be together simultaneously with the darkness of sin.
Jesus is the light switch. When we believe in Him, we are turning on the light in our lives. We are trusting that He bore our sins for us, so we wouldn’t have too:
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV)
God wanted a relationship with the world so badly, He sent Jesus to save it. In our darkest hour, Jesus’ light is with us. But we can’t turn on the light without flipping the switch by believing in Jesus. Each day, as we face new challenges, we have to access the power.
We have to strengthen the light by spending time with Jesus. We spend time with Jesus when we read His word, play worship music, spend time with His followers. Each time we seek Him, we’ll find Him. Each time we draw closer to Him, we make the light shine brighter and brighter. Eventually, the only thing people will see in us is Jesus’ light shining through.
God loved the world so much, He gave His only Son to save it. God loved you so much, He gave His only Son to save you. God’s light saves us from our sins. He releases us from the bondage of past heartaches, and gives us a new way to live. Jesus is the light in our lives.
Question of the Day:
How strong is Jesus’ light shining in your life?
Further Reading: Judges 17:1-18:31 NIV, John 3:1-21 NIV, Psalm 104:1-24 NIV, Proverbs 14:20-21 NIV
