For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that who so ever believes in him will not perish but have ever lasting life. John 3:16

The verse John 3:16 is a very well known verse. But, John 3:17 and 18 are a little less well known (For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.) It was actually John 3:17 that the Holy Spirit used to help me to understand that redemption from sin was even possible for me.

Even after coming to know Christ as my Lord and Savior, I struggled with the idea that Jesus died for me. I mean, I somehow understood how He could die for the sins of the rest of the world, but me? I knew me….I didn’t deserve the kind of love and forgiveness that Jesus brings when we accept Him.

In Galatians 2:20 the apostle Paul says “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We could certainly read this and say, of course God died for the apostle Paul. But when we look more closely at the verse we see that Paul says “I have been crucified with Christ”, so have I. Then he says “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”, when I accepted Christ I vowed to die to myself and live my life for Him so, He lives in me too. And, then Paul says “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”. Well, the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God too. The Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

When we think about Jesus leaving paradise with our Heavenly Father, to come to earth and suffer and be beaten and rejected and die for the sins of the world. It is pretty powerful.

But, when we think about and truly comprehend that Jesus knew us before the foundations of the world (Even before he made the world God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4) it is so much more powerful. The Savior of the world, new me (He knew you), He knew the sins that I would commit (and that you would commit), He knew the unkind, thoughtless, selfish, me who is in my heart (and yours) and that only He sees. Yet He chose to go to the cross and we need not ask Who Did He Die For? Because He died for YOU and I personally and individually.

I pray that today, you would come to a new, more vivid realization that God sent His Son to die in our place, and that Jesus would allow Himself to be sacrificed on the cross, as an act of love and forgiveness toward you personally. He knew you, loved you and died for YOU! I pray that not only would this cause you to bow down before Him in gratitude and love and that you would praise Him. But that it would also cause you to desire to share the magnitude of what He has done for you with the world. Glorify and share Him.

And if you do not know the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father and the magnitude of Christ’s love for you, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page and pray the prayer outlined there. When you do, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com so that I can help you grown in relationship and knowledge of the Lord.

Luv ya!