God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: The greatest Spiritual battle ever fought – part thirty two
The Holy Spirit put a little change of pace in my mind this week. Compared to the posts I’ve been writing for the past several weeks, I believe this one will be more inspiring and a little less challenging and bold. I’ll start off by saying “the God we serve is an awesome God, and He loves us more than we can imagine!!!” He tells us how much He loves us in the Bible, His written word.
Here’s a little history from the Bible about sin and the blood sacrifice:
Hebrews 9:19-22 (NIV)
19 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The blood of animals, as the law required, was an imperfect sacrifice. Not only did animal sacrifice need to be offered over and over, it did not have the power to actually cleanse man from sin, only to cover that sin temporarily! This temporary system pointed people forward to the One who would be able to take away sins by the shedding of His own blood! Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the one and only Son of God!!!
John 3:16-21 (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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Wow!!! God the Father showed His love for us by sending His one and only Son, to die a cruel death on a cross, to redeem us from our sin! The one man, Jesus, payed the price and freed us from the sin that the one man, Adam, had caused! Sometimes I believe we just gloss over the decision that Jesus made, to sacrifice Himself for us. Yes… Jesus is the Son of God, however, at that moment, He was just as human as you and me. Yet He loved us so much that He gave Himself up for us! Because of His decision, we can become a member of the family of God!
John 17:20-24 (NLT2)
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.
23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
This is the greatest love story ever told! God’s love for us and our love for Him!
1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (NLT2)
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.