I was in love with my wife Marianne from the first week that we met. Here are a few excerpts from a journal that I began writing on the first day I met Marianne . . . Aug 9, 1997: wonderful week of camp. Not necessarily what we did, but because of who I met . . . Marianne Elizabeth Stanton”. Aug 18, 1997: “I walked into my apartment and saw my machine blinking I said out loud, ‘If only this could be Marianne’”. Aug. 29, 1997: Marianne came to Atlanta tonight to see me . . . . and go to an Olympia football game. Every conversation we have gets better and better, she is so easy to talk to.” Sept 9, 1997: “I truly love her. Never before has that thought entered my mind about a girl”. Jan. 17, 1998: All my life I have waited for your direction and leading in my life, somehow I feel you have created us for each other, help me to love Marianne as you have loved me.” May 2, 1998: Marianne and I are engaged to be married . . . sometime, we know not when.”
I have done a lot of things for Marianne over the years because of my love for her. I have written letters, driven late at night to see her, cancelled plans with others to be with her, bought her an expensive ring, planned a scavenger hunt for our engagement, made a covenant to be married to her . . . all for the purpose of making sure that Marianne understands, without a shadow of a doubt, that I love her. I want her to be in my life forever. My demonstrations of love for Marianne are a faint shadow compared to God’s love for the world!
READ: John 3:16-18
God demonstrated His love in order to SAVE the world, not CONDEMN the world! To what extent did God demonstrate His love for the world?
God demonstrates His love for the world by GIVING His SON (John 3:16) – We love to measure everything . . . carbohydrates in food, miles to a destination, gigabytes of memory in a computer, but how do you measure love? 1 John 3:16 says that, “by THIS we KNOW love, that (Jesus) laid down His life for us”! According to God’s standard, love is measured by sacrifice. We might be willing to sacrifice for someone who is kind and good to us, but God sacrificed His one and only Son for us in the midst our rebellion against Him. God was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son for one very simple reason, because of His great love for us!
God demonstrates His love for the world so we will not PERISH (John 3:16) – I’m convinced that there have been times when I punished the wrong child for something another one did. It’s one thing to be unjustly punished for something someone else did, but to willingly choose to receive that punishment is another. I guarantee we will never here our son Caleb say, “Dad, you can spank me for what Zachary did wrong”. And yet, that’s what Jesus did! God’s justice demands that we “perish” for our sin (Gen. 2:16-17; Eph. 2:1-10). Jesus perished in our place, He received the punishment we deserve on the cross, and satisfying God’s wrath so that we do not have to perish (John 3:36; 1 John 2:2, 4:10; Romans 5:8-9; 2 Pet 3:9)!
God demonstrates His of love for the world so that we will have ETERNAL LIFE (John 3:16) – How would you complete the following statement? “I would like to experience a(n) __________ life!” Many would complete this statement by saying a “rewarding” life, a “fulfilling” life, a “peaceful” life, a “long” life . . . God knows that the greatest life we can experience is an eternal life, a life that is SO much bigger than anything we could experience on this earth. God does not want for us to perish and be separated from Him for eternity. He wants nothing less than to be in relationship with us and enjoy His presence forever. We deserve to perish in our sin, but God gives us the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23)!
CONCLUSION
1 Timothy 1:15 says that, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners". The whole reason Jesus came into the world was to save sinners like you and me. God demonstrates His love for you and me by making the ultimate sacrifice of giving His Son so that we might be saved! Our responsibility is simply to believe!
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