God So Loved the World That He Gave

For God so loves the world, that He gave in only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

God chose us, we did not choose Him.  In fact, without His loving hands around us we would deny and reject Him every chance we could.  Knowing that, He knew there would be no way we could ever be good enough, or righteous enough to come into His presence.  He watched while His perfect creation rejected Him, then the nation He raised up turn against Him.  But His love is so great that while we were still sinners He made the way of redemption available to those who would accept it.

God sent His Son, finally, as so many had looked and longed for.  But He came differently than they had expected, they wanted a vengeful King to destroy their enemies and set up His kingdom.  His kingdom wasn't ready yet, it was the start of a mustard seed, that would eventually grow larger than anyone would have imagined.  It even included those that were called His enemies that would eventually turn to Him.

God showed Himself through Jesus, He dwelt literally among us (John 1:14).  He was meek, gentle, and love.  His "people" didn't recognize Him, so they killed Him.  Not because they over powered Him, but He went to the cross by His own free will.  He could have called legions of angels to rescue Him and destroy those persecuting Him, but instead He asked the Father to forgive them, for they knew not what they were doing.  

He was the sacrificial Lamb, the blood He shed is powerful enough to save all those who seek it.  By His life He conquered sin for us, by His death He conquered hell for us, and by His resurrection He conquered death for us.  He was killed and buried, but His life was not over.  On the 3rd day He was resurrected, about 40 days later He ascended to the Father and now sits on His throne and reigns as our King.

Now Christ reigns as He was always meant to.  His church flourishes throughout time and the world.  Through persecution it grows, and that once small seed has grown into billions upon billions of those who have accepted Him, now a part of His kingdom.  His kingdom will continue to grow until His enemies are put under His feet and death is conquered.  Then He will come again, and everything we long for will come, and we will see His eternal kingdom be established.  We will see His face, and feel the glory of God as it radiates throughout His kingdom and His Spirit will run through us like the wind, and at once we are with Him in paradise.

Until then we now reign with Him on earth to spread His word, His love, His righteousness, and His gentleness.  There is no sorrow anymore, He has conquered satan and hell and with our death comes life.  Through Him we now have Faith, Hope, Love, Truth, and Glory!!

And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for Him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:22-24)

The power of God dwells in us.  Most of us can't feel it or see it because we have yet to really believe it.  Once you truly believe, not just as a believer, but as one who knows that the power of God resides in you then you will be amazed at what you will be capable of.  

I'm not talking about name it and claim it stuff, nor am I talking about physical healing or financial prosperity.  What I am talking about is the faith that overcomes fear.  The faith that those had when they were burned at the stake, or fed to wild beasts.  I'm talking about faith that those around the world have that face death and persecution for the name of Christ. They walk without fear, the truth of Christ is spread even as their life is being threatened for doing so.

Most of us reading this probably don't deal with those types of things, so we come up with what those verses mean in our world, and we come up with worldly things we try to apply that to.  But what I'm talking about is when sickness sets in, when poverty strikes, when death comes knocking at your door, or at the door of someone you love that you walk with faith, not fear.  

When integrity would cost you something, when talking about your faith would be frowned upon or laughed at, that you would walk as one knowing that the power of God resides in you, and your faith triumphs fear.  

See that is what God has given you, the faith that moves mountains, the faith that the face of death or persecution can not shake you.  The faith that when one that you love is in pain or dying, that we put our faith in the God of love and know He has them in His hands, knowing that death leads to life.  

So many of us walk in fear, not of persecution, but of losing something or not gaining something.  Most of that has to do with worldly standards that we are trying to meet.  But the faith from God that moves mountains knows that God is in control, and as long as we do all that we can then He will do everything else.  And have the faith that accepts whatever that 'everything else' is.  Have the faith knowing you are in His hands.  The more you know Him by spending time with Him in His word and prayer, the greater your faith becomes.  And one day you will move mountains, as the apostles did, as the disciples did, as many throughout history have done, and as many are doing around the world today.  Have Faith!

And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 

(1 Peter 5:10)

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people. (Ephesians 1:18)

The hope we have has to do with the promises of God.  That He loves us, that He will never forsake us.  That this isn't it, we don't just live and die and nothing more.  But the hope that our citizenship is in heaven.  That Christ does reign, that He prepares a place for us, and that He will come again.  

Hope is not a wish, It is a confidence, an assurance.  We don't live for worldly desires or to please men, but we live for what is coming, for the kingdom of God.  We rejoice in suffering because we know it produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-4). 

This is not a hope that we will live in worldly peace and worldly desires.  It is a hope that no matter what we face here, we will honor and glorify His name because we know our home is with Him.  We all will see God one day, we will all be judged by Him, by Christ.  Those covered by His blood will be judged by His blood, those that reject Him will be judged by their rejection of Him.  If you know that, then it should change your life.  To know Him is to live for Him, and your hope will be in Him; not in or of this world.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is Love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)

God is love!  The only reason we know and experience love is because, God Is.  Love is like light, when light is present it pushes out the darkness.  Because God is present, there is love, and love pushes out the evil and hate.  He has given us love, and the ability to love, as well as to experience it.

We tend to focus on the evil and hate in the world, but remember man has chosen that by not choosing God.  Because of His grace He has continued to pour out His love on us that while we are surrounded by evil, hate and selfishness in the world, If we look to Him then peace beyond our understanding comes and we are able to love.  

In Philippians 4, it says that if we meditate on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and good then the God of peace will be with you.  To be anxious for nothing, but in everything give prayer.  The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

If we walk around in life relying on our own selves and accomplishments then most of the time it leads to a never enough outlook.  We get frustrated, become anxious on what might come, often leads to fear and then fear produces anger and defeat.  But God has given us Himself to find fulfillment in Him, which brings peace, and peace produces love and victory, even in the storm.  This is such a great gift God has given us, experience Him and let others around you experience Him through you with love.  

The 2 greatest commandments are about love.  To love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  And to love your neighbor as yourself.  He even tells us to love our enemies, our love may eventually lead them to Christ, which should be the goal of every believer.  Loving others is loving God, and we are able to love because God is love.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. (James 1:18) 

The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free. (John 8:32)

God has given us truth.  Without God's truth there is no absolute eternal truth, to know what is and what is to come.  God has set the standard of what real truth is.  God wrote Himself on the hearts of man so that we all long to worship.  When that got confusing He sent Moses from whom came the law of God.  To guide and direct them on how to find, know, and worship Him.  That showed us that we needed a Savior because His righteousness was too difficult to hold.  Then came the Messiah; Jesus Christ, who was God Himself and He dwelt among us.  He showed us what truth really is.  

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)  

Jesus came to explain God to us, so that we can truly know Him and find the truth.  Because we have His word we have a standard of good and righteousness.  Without it we are left to our own ideas of what is good and bad.  What might be bad to me, might be good to you, or vice versa.  We can recognize evil because God has given us His revelation of Holy.  

We think this is possible without God, but what if as time goes on things become more and more accepted, which in turn become the norm and considered good.  A perfect example is abortion, the killing of innocent babies.  At one point it was considered bad, then it was OK. After a while the term in which abortion could take place became later and later, which in time becomes the norm, and considered OK.  Now many places consider it OK to kill babies as they are being delivered.  Who is to say that in time there won't be an ability to terminate up to a certain age?  Or at some point, over time, there won't be the ability to steal something if you want it, or the government to take something they want from individuals. Do you think that is far fetched?  Read up on some history, it has been done and could be done again, actually is being done in many countries.  

The point is, is that because we have God's truth we know killing and stealing is wrong, and no matter what happens in society we can recognize it and stand against it, which many are doing now.  See worldly ways will move towards rejection of God and truth, but as His chosen people grow and multiply, His ways will be victorious!  

It may look like, on ground level, that things are getting worse and worse but God is moving.  Remember that after Malachi there was over 400 years of silence before Christ came.  During that time when it seemed that God had gone silent, He was getting the world ready for His Son.  He was getting empires built ready for the Word to spread and reach the World.  We may think He is silent sometimes and given up on us, but usually those are the times great things and revolutions are about to happen.  We also see that with Israel, when they were held captive as slaves for over 400 years in Egypt.  They thought God was done with them, but He was actually multiplying His people so that they could take hold of their promised land.  God is always moving and always in control.     

He has told us who He is with His word, He has shown us the true path to Him, Jesus Christ. Now I know many might say there seems to be so much "truth" out there with all these other ways to God; How do we know what truth is?  There is actually an easy answer; seek and you shall find!  

If you truly seek God's truth, then seek it.  Remember God is all powerful, He knows everything and is everywhere all the time.  His Spirit will guide you to Him, He will guide you to Christ.  See the section about King Jesus, and it will go into detail on why Jesus is the only way.  I've seen and heard of others with other beliefs start to really seek the truth, and guess what, they end up at Jesus.  The truth will set you free!

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21)

God, the creator of the universe, in all of His glory has reached down and touched us.  He has given His glory in all the heavens and the earth so that we may see Him.  That we may see the depths of earth, the creatures on it, and the countless stars and galaxies in the heavens, and cry out to know Him who made it all.  

He not only sent His Son to show us who He was and personally teach us His ways, but when He was killed He raised Him from the dead by His glorious power.  So we see by His glory He has given us a Savior, the Messiah.  

God Has given us His glory by having His glorious Son, King Jesus, reign on His throne next to Him.  His name is above every other name, He is above all kings, presidents and dictators, and one day all His enemies will be put under His feet.  

So the glory that God gives us is the Faith, Hope, Love, Truth and Assurance that our inheritance in in Him, His Son, and His kingdom.  Our citizenship is not here in this life or body, but it is with Him, our Glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!