"For God So Loved The World..." John 3: 16

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

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."

These words, spoken by Jesus, are the gospel message...the Good News....which the world needs to hear.  Jesus did not come to give us a To-Do list to get into heaven; He gave Himself and the promise that by believing that He is the Son of God, we will be saved and we will receive the gift of eternal life. 

When I proclaimed my belief in Him, I immediately knew that I had recieved this gift.  Over the years, I confess that at times my belief seemed weak and uncertain, but I never fell into unbelief.  It was at those low points when His Holy Spirit, a gift to help me, carried me, loved me, and assured me that His promise of eternity was mine.  Jesus relates to us because He walked this earth  as a man and experienced the same trials and temptations that we face.  That is why he sends His Spirit to abide with believers,  With His help, we feel His love and compassion when we are at our lowest.  He overcomes this world daily as we live this life and he overcomes death with eternal life.

There is power in the name of Jesus and that power is fueled by the love of God for all who believe that He is the Son of God.

Christmas Season Recap

As I look back over the Sermon series during the month of December and we look at Joseph and Mary's journey and the roles of Elizabeth, the shepherds, the wise men, and the angels, we see that God had a mission for all whom he called upon and enabled them to complete their missions (roles) so that His plan could unfold.  The good news is that His plan is still unfolding as He assigns missions to Christ's followers today.  We  must not look back on the birth story as an end event, but must look at it as a beginning of God's redemptive plan for the world. 

As I look forward to a new year, I quite honestly feel somewhat depressed.  I look back and recognize an end of another year and have trouble looking forward to a new year filled with uncertainty.  I think that is the real message we need to embrace from the Christmas story...God sent a chosen few on an uncertain journey to  accomplish what He had already planned.  He is doing the same thing today with us.  The Good News is that He has given us a Counsellor/ Guide; the Holy Spirit, to accompany us on His journey.  Instead of looking back or looking at the uncertainty of the future, we need to crave the voice and the leading of His Holy Spirit.  That is when the certainty of purpose and promise of success will replace the depression and fear that uncertainty brings.

Luke 1: 26-38 God has a plan, Mary. How will you respond?

We learn in these passages that God has a plan and in the Christmas story, we we see that He shares His plans with us and records our responses and / or tells us how He wants us to respond to His plans.  In the book of Luke, we see how Mary, a teenage girl, is told of God's plan to bring Jesus into the world through her.  We don't see God asking Mary to approve the plan or to provide imput before He decided how to proceed.  On the contrary, the angel, Gabriel was sent to share what was going to happen...(vs. 31) "you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus."

Mary, a teenage girl was faced with the fact that she was going to bare a child out of wedlock in a society that could put her to death for such an act.  She was betrothed to Joseph who could save his own reputation by cancelling the marriage and revealing her "sin".  Yet God records in His word how Mary responded (vs. 38)  "Then Mary said, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

In the book of Matthew, we see that God instructed Joseph how he wanted him to respond to the plan of Jesus' birth.  In Matthew 1: 18-25, God told Joseph what was happening and his role in the plan...(vs. 20-21)  "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin."  How did Joseph respond?  Verse 24, "When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did what the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife."

The story of Jesus' birth makes it clear that we are born into God's plan.  I think that we believe that we are here to give God a plan, but actually we are here to participate in His plan as it unfolds.  He asks us to respond, tells us how to respond, and records our responses.  As followers of Christ we know that God's plan is the only plan that will lead us to His side for eternity.