Friday, June 23, 2017
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
O HOW LONG IS THE IMMEASURABLE LOVE OF GOD!
See the length of God's love for you! It reaches from eternity to eternity-- from the eternal councils of God before time began to the eternal life with God Jesus here promises to all who trust in His life and death in their place. Yes! Through the Holy Spirit's gift of faith the eternal will and purpose of the Triune God, planned and promised in eternity (Ephesians 3:11) and carried out in time by Jesus, the eternal Son of God, becomes our own.
From our human point of view time-- that is, this universe's history-- lies between eternity and eternity. The eternal Son of God stepped into time when He was born to Mary of Nazareth in Bethlehem. In time, as part of our human story, He traveled with us and for us on His way to Gethsemane's darkness, Calvary's cross, and to the now empty tomb beyond. At just the right time, the time of God's choosing, the Son of God was delivered up for our sins and raised again to declare us "not guilty" (Romans 4:25). The Son of God came into time to offer Himself, once for all time, for all people of all time. No wonder the Apostle Paul calls this a mystery we come to know only by God's revealing.
See the eternal length of God's love played out in human history, and here in John 3:16, offered to all: "WHOEVER believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." God's immeasurable love is made personal and through words like these God the Holy Spirit moves human hearts to take up faith's pen and fill in that WHOEVER blank with our own names.
