“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” John 3:16
What happened when God gave his Son? God became man in Jesus Christ. God the Son, who is one with the Father and is at the Father’s side, came to us, took his stand with us, and acted on our behalf.
If Jesus was only a man, he would be as far from God as we are. If Jesus was only God, he would be as far from us as God is. But Jesus Christ brings God and man together in himself! He dealt with all that alienates us from God.
Jesus lived the life that all of us are required to live, but none of us has. He fulfilled all that God requires of us. Then he took that perfect life and laid it down as a sacrifice for us. He stood in the place of sinners and he entered into the condemnation that we deserve.
And then on the third day he rose from the dead. He ascended, returning to the Father from whom he came. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
However far you are from God today, whatever the ways in which you may have sinned against him, if you look at the gift of God’s Son and believe in him, you will see and know that the Father loves you.
Jesus is the most costly gift that God could ever give. Jesus is the most valuable gift that you could ever receive, because in Jesus Christ we have this promise: “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (3:16).
Do you see, personally, what makes God’s gift of Jesus Christ so valuable?
