2 Amazing Love Part II

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.

As we have already learned from John 3:16 God’s love is, Unconditional, Sacrificial and Valuable, today as we continue to look at His love from the greatest verse in the bible we see that God’s love is:

• Personal

 “Son”

God’s love is not merely some abstract concept, it isn’t just a philosophy or a theological construct it is personal. It is personable first because it was made manifest through a person, His only Son, Jesus and second because it is bestowed on a person, you. God revealed His love in all of its depth to us through the person of Jesus Christ in a way we could see and touch when He showed us the love of God in human form. Christianity is different because it’s about God reaching down to us instead of us trying to reach Him. He is a God that not only stepped into our lives but clothed Himself with skin so we could see Him. God has gone to great personal lengths to love us in a personal way, Max Lucado said if God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it, if he had a wallet your photo would be in it. The Bible says He has a book and your name can be written in it. What will you do with the Love of God’s Son?

• Accessible

“that whoever believes in him”

Just when we think it couldn’t get any better we discover that God’s love is not only available to all but it is not difficult to obtain. God’s love is not limited to a select few, available only to those born with the right color of skin or on the correct continent. It is not reserved for only the intellectual elite or athletically built or the power brokers or the financially competent. No, the love of God is accessible to “whoever believes in him” Jesus. The reality is that God came down to our level, not in the sense that He has lessened his holiness or lowered His standards, but in the sense that he has made his love accessible to us the ordinary. He is not some distant God who loves us from some faraway place that is completely removed and inaccessible to us. Instead He stepped into our world so He could enter our lives. Will you believe in His Son who revealed the ultimate expression of God’s love by giving His life on the cross for your sins? When we choose to believe in Him you access the love of God, the grace of God and the forgiveness of God. By believing in Him receive the new life He provides.

• Saving

“should not perish”

God’s goal in sending his Son from heaven to earth was not condemn you or show you how bad, unworthy and helpless you are but to save you. His desire is to show you His love and invite you into a love relationship with himself. Jesus didn’t come into the world in order to rebuke you but to rescue you. He didn’t come to criticize you but to cleanse you. He didn’t come to punish you but to pardon you. He didn’t come to destroy you but to deliver you. God didn’t come to be judgmental but that doesn’t mean that He is not a God of judgment. There is a huge difference between recognizing right and wrong and being judgmental, there is a difference between judging the unrepentant sinner and being judgmental. One who is being judgmental has a critical spirit that only looks for the bad in people and then is quick to condemn them when it is found. God on the other hand will judge us for our sins.

• Gift

“but have eternal life.”

God’s love is all about His work, we are just the recipient because God’s love is a gift. Three of the greatest realities of a gift are 1. it is free, you can’t buy it, 2. it its yours and you get to keep it forever 3. It has to be received and accepted. As much as the reality that this gift of love is ours for all eternity and that it will never run out is an amazing truth, the fact that it is free becomes overwhelming. The question becomes will you receive or reject God’s gift of love?