“God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16, CEB)
One of the most surprising twists of John 3:16 is that we are told God loves the world. We might be tempted to think that there is much about the world for God to love. What’s not to admire about all the textures, intrigue, opportunities, and joyfulness planet Earth has to offer? The problem is that for all that is excellent about the world, it is overrun with sinners.
1.
We
often diminish our Heavenly Father’s power in our lives.
“Lord, why are people
important to you? Why do you even notice us?
Our life is like a puff of air. It is like a passing shadow. Lord.” (Psalm 144:3-4, ERV)
Our life is like a puff of air. It is like a passing shadow. Lord.” (Psalm 144:3-4, ERV)
“It is about the greatness of God, not
the significance of man. God made man small, and the universe big to say
something about Himself.” (John Piper)
2.
We
often diminish the power of our Heavenly Father’s unconditional agape love.
“God showed how much he loved us by sending
his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his
death. In this act we see what
real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his
Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.” (1
John 4:9-10, TLB)
"It was not nails that held Jesus to the cross.
It was love." (Rick Warren)
3.
We
often diminish our brokenness in a fallen world.
“We are unfit to worship you; each
of our good deeds is merely a filthy rag. We dry up like leaves; our sins
are storm winds sweeping us away.” (Isaiah
64:6, CEV)
”God uses pain and brokenness to
lead our hearts to repentance and love.” (Wendy Blight)
"Telling people that God loves them is good theology. [You] showing people that you love
them is what transforms the world." (Jim Palmer)[i]
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