“FOR God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”[1]
As we take a
dozen days to explore this wonderful verse from God’s book, the first word
might look rather small, but it is of huge significance. The word “for” is
another way of saying “because.” This means it is pointing us back to something
already said, and explaining why that thing is so.
What came
ahead of this wonderful expression? Let me tell you the story. One night a man
came to see Jesus. His name was Nicodemus, and he was one of the leaders of God’s
people. He had heard enough about Jesus and his ministry to know there was
something distinctive about what was taking place. He acknowledged that God was
with Jesus because he knew that no one could do what Jesus was doing without
God’s presence.
During the
course of their conversation, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.”[2] Nicodemus
had no idea what Jesus was talking about. Knowing this, Jesus started teaching
him about a spiritual life that was far different, and much better, than just
our physical life. He then reminded Nicodemus about some things that God had
already taught his people, and applied those teachings to himself as the
Messiah. He concluded by saying that “whoever
believes in him may have eternal life.”[3]
Then Jesus
continues to explain this by saying, “for” or, because…
Think of it like
this. Whoever believes in Jesus may have eternal life, because God so loved the
world that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. Since
God did love the world, and since God did give us his Son, and since God’s gift
of his Son means that people can have eternal life, anyone who does believe in
Jesus will have eternal life. Always.
HOWEVER!!!!
What Jesus
means by believing in him is what he means by being born again. If we believe
in Jesus in the born again way, like someone who is dead being made alive again
by paramedics, we get another kind of life that lasts forever. Jesus makes
people alive in him in a certain kind of way, and it is just like someone being
born all over again.
The point is
that, God wants people to believe in his Son and have eternal life. To
accomplish this, he gave his Son to the world. Now people can learn about what
Jesus did for us, and how God is still giving his Son to whoever will come to
him and believe in him, and we can receive that life.
The question
is, when you hear Jesus say that we MUST be born again, and then you discover
that God makes it possible for us to be born again by giving us his Son, and when
people believe in Jesus in the born-again
way they actually receive this eternal life, does that sound like the
best Christmas present ever, or do you think the life you already have is
better than God’s gift of life?
You see, if
you have the life that is not born again, then you can’t have relationship with
the God who created you. If you say no to God’s gift of Jesus the Christ, you
say no to all the good things God has planned for those who love him. Christmas
is about God sending his Son as the Christ (or Messiah) so that people could
have eternal life. He tells us why we need to be born again, why we need to
believe in Jesus, and why Christmas reminds us of these things year after year.
For the
moment, the issue for us all is that God explains why we must believe in Jesus
in order to have eternal life. It is because God so loved the world that he
gave us his Son, and whoever believes in his Son in that born-again kind of way receives the eternal life Jesus
purchased for us while he was here.
Much more on
that later!
However,
today’s question is this: do you accept God’s explanation for why we must
believe in Jesus in that born-again kind
of way? For me, it is not only amazing that God gave us the gift of his Son, but
he gave us a book full of explanations for why he gave us the gift. In his book,
he reveals how that gift is the most life-changing, life-fulfilling, gift
anyone could experience.
Yes, folks, so
that we could be born again is what Christmas is “for." So, with God’s
explanation for why we need to believe in his Son, Jesus the Christ, remember
to have a blessed “About Christ” Day!
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures
are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment