Jesus Christ Loves You!

 

In John 3:16(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and he is God’s greatest treasure. Although it is quite astounding and seems too good to be true, God was not only willing to give over His most precious treasure for our sakes, but in truth God allowed the sacrifice of His only begotten Son in the most humiliating, painful, and agonizing death that any human being could ever suffer. Jesus Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He paid the highest price that could be paid with his life in order to take away our sins for all eternity. Because of him, any person can become a new creation by accepting Christ into their hearts as the Lord of their lives.

In Ephesians 2:10, God tells us that we are His masterpiece. We are His finest work, and He created us as new creations in Jesus Christ for His purpose. God has good things for us to do, and He planned all of this long before we entered our mother’s wombs. Ephesians 1:11 says that God predestined us according to His purpose, and He works out all things according to the perfection of His Will. It is important for us to know that God is not making things up as we go along. He has a Will and Plan, and no matter what any human being does, no matter how powerful they may think they are, nothing will supersede, interfere, or override God’s Will. Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.”

God has made us in His image, and as the psalmist declared in Psalm 139:14, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The reality is that we are God’s creation, yet we are so perfectly fashioned that we have the capacity to know and marvel at what He has made us to be. This is miraculous in and of itself. We are extraordinary creatures made by an extraordinary God. Because of the magnitude of this reality, God demands that we accept it and appreciate it with humility. This has proved very challenging for most people. They are of the mindset that they can live a blessed existence without being obedient to God, but this will not happen, because blessings cannot be maintained outside the example of our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We were shaped and formed to fit into God’s plan, and we were created for God’s purpose. Separating ourselves from this truth is completely and utterly impossible. Yet, many of us will try to live our lives as though we can. We must know that if this is how we want to live, God will allow us to do just that. He will allow us to be blinded by satan and live in darkness if that is what we choose. 1John 4:8 tells us that God is love. Love is not only what God does; it is who He is. Everything that He does is about His love for us. God teaches us in 1Corinthians 13:4(NLT), that “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.” Love doesn’t push, or shove, or force. God reveals this in His nature and demonstrates all of this in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, with Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve were the first couple, and they disobeyed God’s Word and caused the cataclysmic fall of human beings. They no longer wanted to submit to God’s sovereignty and wanted to strike out on their own. This is the mindset of many people living today. Adam and Eve bowed to satan, the devil, and caused a separation between them and God. Our Heavenly Father is holy, and in order to have a relationship with Him, we must be holy too. Adam and Eve were created out of God’s holiness. They were holy and everything surrounding their lives was holy too, but when they disobeyed God’s Word, they lost their holiness.

The thing that kept their bond to God strong and holy was their absolute belief in who He is. His Word is the truth. His Word is His testimony of Himself. When they took the word of the devil over the Word that God had spoken, they bowed to the devil and moved themselves away from God’s sovereignty and all the blessings that came with it. Heavenly Father could have slapped that ol’ apple out of Eve’s hands. He could have prevented Adam from following along with Eve’s dastardly devastating plans, but God did not do this. He allowed them to sin. He had given them free-will choice, and this was the way they chose to use it.

1Corinthians 13:8 tells us that love never fails. God is perfect and so is His love. God knew that Adam and Eve would mess up, but He did not create human beings to be robots. He wanted a family and created us to be His children. He gave us free-will, and He will not overstep it, for Romans 11:29 tells us that His gifts and His call can never be withdrawn. Our free-will choices, whether good or bad—right or wrong, do not hinder God or His Will in any way. There is no mistake that you and I can make that God’s love cannot restore and make better than we could ever have imagined. Yes, Adam and Eve made a colossal mistake, but God sent His Son to rescue us from their catastrophe. 

The magnificent truth that you and I must never forget is that just as we have free-will, Jesus Christ had it too! He came to earth from our Heavenly Father’s glorious throne in heaven, but he was not lavished with crown jewels. There was no fanfare and huge gala or celebration on earth surrounding his birth. Jesus Christ had very humble beginnings, yet he is the most powerful human being that has ever lived. He could have chosen not to die. He said in John 10:18(NLT), “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” Jesus Christ willingly endured the humiliation, degradation, and suffering of the cross to save us! We are his brothers and sisters! He loved us so much that he laid down his life for our sins, so that we could be born again, filled with God’s Spirit, and live a more than abundant life on earth. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Jesus Christ Loves You!”, written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.