John was not written by John the Baptist,as many believe, but by John the youngest of the 12 apostles. It is an extraordinary book because it deals with the deepest questions of life. The most quoted verse of the Bible is in today's reading. John portrays Jesus as the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16 is often referred to as the heart of the Gospel.
"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."
What a powerful verse this is. Most of us learned this verse as a child but do we stop to think what it is telling us. God has only one son but He gave Him to come to earth to die and shed His life's blood for us. Jesus didn't just die a natural death but he died in the most horrible imaginably way. He had to shed his blood and not just part of it but ALL of His blood was shed that day. He was beaten and scourged while being mocked. The Roman soldiers worked themselves into such a frenzy that they spit on him and bit off pieces of his flesh. Would you be willing to give up one of your children to die such a horrible death knowing that in doing so the world could be saved? I don't believe I could do that. What amazing and deep love God has for us. All we have to do to accept this wonderful gift of everlasting life in heaven with our Lord and Savior is to believe on Him. How then can people refuse to accept this. It just blows my mind, how people can give up an eternity of happiness for a short time of what they think is pleasure on earth but often ends up being problems for them.
We are told about the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well. She recognized Him as the Christ or Messiah. She went and got the people in the town to come and meet Him. They to believed and the whole town was saved.
Are we on fire for God. God doesn't require us to sacrifice our children or ourselves. All He ask of us is to believe on Him. We should want to serve Him and tell others about Him. He tells us to go out and preach the gospel to every living creature but that is not required for our salvation. We should be letting everyone we know about the saving power of our Lord. Do we have friends and family members that are not saved but we want to see them in heaven. Are we doing all we can to lead them to God. Time is growing short. We need to proclaim the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today while there is still time.
Oh how true! After this mornings service, I am reminded again of how fervent I should be for sharing the gospel. Lord, make me bold enough!
ReplyDeleteWe have heard the gospel so many times in our lives. It was amazing to me to hear the question asked by the Nepal people - who is this Jesus? What am I doing to help spread the good news?
ReplyDeletePastor Chris said this morning that we have heard the Gospel so many times that we can become calloused to it. We MUST guard against this! The awe of Jesus should never become old and hence the verse of John 3:16 should never lose its awe. What am I doing to spread the Gospel? Time is short. Great post Ms. Boots!
ReplyDeleteThese two chapters are packed with wonderful truths and nuggets! I did not realize that John 3:16 was in the context of Nicodemus' conversation with Jesus. I have to admit that my questions would be similar to Nicodemus'... "how can that be?" Sometimes my need to think logically hinders me from simple trust.
ReplyDeleteI love the conversation of Jesus and the woman at the well. What a precious encounter! Can you imagine speaking physically face-to-face with Jesus and him saying, "I am he"???
Great stuff! Thanks, Ms. Boots!