John 3:16 "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."
(After listening the song "You were the reason")
It was because of you and me that Jesus was born.
We were the Reason that he gave his life We were the Reason that he suffered and died
Indeed, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
It was because God so loved you and I that He sent His own Son.
It wasn’t by chance or accident that Jesus came. Rather it was because God so loved you and I that He came. We were the reason He came.
As far as God is concerned, there are only two kinds of people: ones who believe God loves them; the others who don’t believe in the love of God. Unfortunately, there are more people who don’t believe in the love of God than those who believe. I believe that God loves me; I even believe it is more difficult not to believe in the love of God than to believe. Why do I say that?
I believe God loves me because I know I can’t sustain my life physically without God’s provision.
I would like to talk about heart as an example of how God cares our physical body.
Do you realize how many times does our heart beat everyday? Our heart beats about 100,000 times every day, pumping blood to every cell in our bodies, which means about 35 million beats a year and 2.8 billion beats if you live up to 80 years old. Medical science tells us that every contraction is similar to the effort it would take for us to hold a tennis ball in our palm and give it a good hard squeeze.
How is it possible to beat almost 3 billion times in case you live up to 80 years old, without maintaining on our part though some may need operation? Knowing all this, can you still think of our hearts as product by pure chance? For me, I absolutely can not. Further our heart is only a part of our body. I believe all our parts in our body reflect how God cares and loves us.
We just talked about our body parts? How about all the physical conditions around us that sustain our body such as the distance between Earth and the sun, the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis, Earth’s rotation speed, the extent of sea and depth, density and thickness of the crust, atmosphere and temperature distribution, the distance of the Earth and the Moon, and the Earth's size? Do you realize a just little bit change in those conditions would make it extremely hard or even impossible for us to live in this earth. Why so much concern about global warming? It is because 1 or at most 2 degree Celsius difference in temperature since the industrial revolution may cause natural disaster. Such a tiny change cause huge difference. Don’t they tell us the planet we live in is uniquely and specially designed and fitted for life to exist? Don’t they show us God cares for us in special way?
I believe God loves me because He cares for me not only physically but also mentally, emotionally and socially. Do you know what is least favored gift among Korean teens? The gift of heart. They say they don't care unless the gift of not something tangible. But, as you get old, you will learn and appreciate the importance of the gift of heart.
Our God provided us not only with what we need physically, but also what we need emotionally and socially.
When you and I came into this world, we haven’t come alone by ourselves. We came to this earth through our parents into a family. Our parents cared for and loved us so much that they wouldn’t have traded us for the whole universe. That’s how much they loved me. That’s how precious we have been to them our parents.
Where do you think our parents or you as parents got that amazing and even sacrificial love from? BY chance? by circumstance? by nature itself? You will find the answer in Psalmist saying “Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!” Psalms 71:6 God was behind all this care and love that our parents provided for me. No doubt our parents learned their love from someone who is so loving, so caring, so intelligent, so personal, that is, God Himself.
As final point, I believe God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son.
I said God met our physical needs through his unique design of our body and circumstances we are in. I also said God met our mental and emotional needs through our parents and family. Yet, we still have hunger in our hearts for more profound love- which only God can satisfy. Yes, we need not only what God provides but God Himself. We need personal relationship with God because we were Created in the image of God. We are not only physical, emotional being but also we are spiritual being created to have personal relationship with God.
This is why Jesus came so that we may have our spiritual hunger satisfied and spiritual thirst quenched through our personal relationship with God. In Matthew chapter 1, before Jesus was born, 2 names were given to this to born baby by God Himself: Jesus meaning “He will save His people from their sins."; another one, Immanuel meaning God is with us. That is to say, Jesus came to save us from our sins so that God may be with us.
Why Jesus has to save us from our sins so that God may be with us? That is because ever since the first man sinned against God, men are separated from God because each person sinned. The very fact God sent His only begotten Son to save us from sins means how serious God took sin problem and how desperately God wants to restore His relationship with us because He loves us.
Bible tells us, Jesus died for our sins because God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. (Rom 3:25) Bible also tells us, While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son (Rom 5:10) God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. Indeed Jesus as the greatest gift ever given. But, even the greatest gift is no longer gift until you take it. How do you take it? God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, then says, whosoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. It takes trust to receive this gift because this gift is not a thing but a person.
Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Jesus is the only person who can meet your spiritual hunger and thirst. Have you ever accepted Jesus as the one who died for your sins? If not, why do not ask Him to come into your life as your Savior and Lord?
I know some of you may have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior in the past, but if you set him aside living as if you don’t trust Him any more, let me remind you, “ whosoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.” Believing is not an event in the past, but believing is always in present tense. You can’t depend on your past confession for your salvation unless you confess today your trust in the Lord. If you don’t confess Jesus as your Lord today, then May I ask you to rededicate your life to Christ?
As conclusion, let me talk about the greatest gift, Jesus Himself and eternal life. We are talking about eternal gift. It’s not like any other gifts in which we lost interest soon or later. It will take eternity to unwrap and unpack this gift. That’s why day after day we can enjoy new life, love, joy, excitement in Christ. Please, don’t reject this gift of God, please, don’t give up this gift of God, rather enjoy this gift of God day by day as you trust in Jesus. Let’s pray
