“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]
We know that
this verse from God’s book is about someone who loved the world, and something
this person did to give people eternal life. It is the most amazing Christmas
gift ever. In fact, it is the reason there is a Christmas, and there is
anything about Christmas gifts at all.
Who is this person?
Who is it that “so loved the world”?
Who is it that gave this amazing gift of his own Son as the first Christmas
gift, and the reason that we celebrate Christmas?
You see, this
is what is so important: who is it that did this?
Think about it
this way. When someone says they have an idea for changing the world, for
curing cancer, for stopping environmental damage, for protecting the earth from
passing comets and asteroids, it is the identity of the person talking that
determines our response to their ideas.
For example, I
listen to children talking about their amazing dreams, and their imaginative
story-telling, and I might wonder if their ideas give some indication of what
they will do when they’re all grown up. Or, I might marvel at the creative
detail they can put into their thoughts given that they have no information
about how to actually do what they are thinking.
Other times I
might just smile along with the fun they are having pretending to do things
that cannot possibly be done. I love them as children, and I love their little
ideas and dreams, and I love that they are learning how things work, and that
some of them might stay on certain topics of interest until they build a career
in that field. But they are children. I do not expect that they are immediately going to go into a laboratory and
accomplish what they have described. One day, maybe. But right now they are
playing, and their playing is a wonder-filled world of its own.
On the other
hand, when we hear stories of leading scientists coming up with cures for
diseases, or leading innovators inventing devices for cleaning up oil spills,
or leading research institutes directing improvements to impoverished
countries, we sit up and listen because these people or organizations have both
the capacity to consider the many possibilities of what could be done to help
the world, and they have the means of developing the solutions or improvements
they have imagined.
In other
words, the person who is doing the doing determines how we feel about their
ideas, and what we expect to take place.
When we come
to the origins of Christmas, and the first gift that was given to the whole
world, and the reason that there is such a thing as Christmas at all, it is the
person who thought of this gift, and spoke in advance about this gift, and gave
this gift, and invites people to receive this gift, that is the greatest
authority on Christmas. And love. And life.
So, GOD so
loved the world.
Hold it a
minute. That would mean that there is someone out there who is bigger than our
world. There is someone who claims to have an interest in the world we live in,
and that his interest is a love-interest. This love-interest was so big that he
would give a gift that would save people from perishing, and would give them
eternal life in its place.
This means
that the biggest thing for me to consider is what it means that God is out
there loving the world. He is bigger than me. He is bigger than all the
scientists in the world who say he isn’t real. He is bigger than Santa Claus,
and Rudolph, and Frosty, and the Grinch.
And, he does
more than them all combined. He is not magical, but he is greater than magic.
He does not give gifts like Santa does, but his gift changes lives. He does not
make this world a better place, but he invites us to come into a better world. And
so we are left with this reality, that GOD loved the world, and GOD did
something, and GOD says that we either perish or have eternal life.
One of the
things that has stood out so wonderfully for me in my decades of hearing
people’s opinions about God, is that God himself has written a book, and this
book tells us all about him, all about ourselves, all about our world, and all
about the mess our world is in.
And, he not
only tells us who he is, and who we are, and why there is death in the world
that leads to perishing, and why there is life that comes only from him, but he
tells us how we can know him.
To help us appreciate the significance
of GOD so loving the world, look at him in contrast to any other person. If we
replace GOD with someone else, we do not end up with a gift that gives eternal
life. If we do not have God loving our world, and giving us his Son, and
inviting us to know his Son, and if we do not receive the Son of God, there is
no eternal life. Period.
Try it this way: “For
Santa so loved the world, that he went around giving people Christmas presents,
so that whoever believes in Santa would not perish but have eternal life.”
Never going
to happen!
How about this: “For
the Grinch so loved the world, that he changed his heart from destroying
everyone’s Christmas presents, to return them all to their rightful recipients,
so that whoever believes in the Grinch would not perish but have eternal life.”
I don’t know
WHO would ever imagine such a possibility, but there is nothing in the Grinch,
or what the Grinch can do, that could save Christmas at all, let alone save
people from perishing!
“For Rudolph so loved
the world, that he pulled Santa’s sled through the biggest blizzard of all, so
all the presents were delivered on schedule, so that whoever believes in
Rudolph will not perish but have eternal life.”
Nope.
Hopefully, you can see that such
things as this do not add up. Hopefully, you can see that these warm-fuzzy stories
do not address what is really wrong with the world, and neither do they present
a solution to what is wrong with the world. All they do is give a warm feeling
while watching the movies, or reading the stories, or singing the songs. But
they can never save us from perishing, and they can never give us eternal life
that takes us on forever after we die.
Now, let’s look at this from the
viewpoint of people who love the world. There are environmentalists who love
our world in a particular way, and they are trying very hard to discover and
promote ways of taking far better care of our planet. There is no denying they
have a distinct love for our world.
However, they can’t save our world.
They can’t save our planet. They might bring little improvements. But look at
the volcanoes erupting that destroy whole ecosystems. Look at the hurricanes,
and tornadoes that blow through areas and wreak utter destruction on everything
in their path. Look at the drought conditions that come unexpectedly and cause
whole ecosystems to dry up. In other words, environmentalists loving the world
is not going to save the world.
Just because we love someone, doesn’t
mean we can make them live forever. Everyone has lost someone to death. Some
people have lost their children to awful, terrible illnesses and diseases. It
doesn’t matter how much those parents loved their children, their love cannot
control the world, and cannot command disease to leave their loved ones alone.
It is only GOD whose love for the
world changes EVERYTHING!!!
It is GOD who can give us the kind of
life that stops us from perishing. If we do not have GOD loving the world, and
we do not have GOD giving us his Son, and we do not have GOD giving us this
salvation in which we gain eternal life by BELIEVING, instead of by all kinds
of good works we need to do, then we have no hope.
And this is why this verse is such a
wonderful Christmas gift. God does love the world. God did give us his Son. God
does invite us to believe in his Son. God does cancel our sin-debt so that we
will not perish. God does give eternal life to all who receive his gift.
God calls us to have eternal life,
which means having the experience of life that is about Christ FOREVER!
Constantly! Now! Tomorrow! The next day, and week, and month, and year, and
decade, and FOREVER!
Christmas is about GOD who so loved
the world, and about what God’s love for the world compelled him to do to help
us. If you know him, and you receive the gift of his Son, you have the eternal
life that his love has provided.
So, 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.)
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