“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

I remember when my son, Jacob, was born. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. He is a beautiful gift of life, as I behold him being placed in a glass crib by the nurse. It was a fulfilling miracle to hold him in my arms and see his eyes locked into mine. As time passed, it was a real blessing to see how he slowly learned how to crawl and then walk on his own two feet. Now, he has grown into a very strong young boy at age thirteen, surpassing the height of his dad. I am sure it is the joy of every father to see their children grow and mature and to celebrate the milestones of accomplishments in their school and career. One day, I want to see them find their soulmates and begin their own family.

Nearly two thousand years ago, God the Father placed a special child into our world, born of a virgin and placed in a manger. His birth was announced by angels, acknowledged by a group of shepherds, and visited by renowned wise men. At the same time, this child was feared by a treacherous king who sought to destroy him when he was still an infant by ordering a mass genocide of every young boy up to the age of two. Despite the threat of a death sentence made by an evil king, Jesus continues to grow into a young man favored by both men and God. He lived his entire life not knowing or participating in a single sin in thought or action. He was humble, full of compassion, and anointed by God to heal all who were sick, tormented by the works of Satan, and raise the dead back to life. He was acknowledged by His followers as the Messiah who is to come, the Son of the living God, and the Savior of all mankind. However, this man Jesus was not destined to be a great prophet or worker of miracles, even though Jesus did all that, as many might have thought. He was destined for only one purpose: to become the ultimate sacrifice for all the sins of humanity, humiliated and despised by men, and to be given up nailed upon the cross of Calvary.

This is why Jesus, the Son of God, is given to us. At the cross, Jesus became our sins, our curses, our sicknesses, our poverty, our guilt, and our shame. He was brutally tortured and condemned to the cross by merciless people, judged by God for our sins, and left to die alone in a tomb. Surely, this was not the end of the story for Jesus, as, on the third day, the tomb guarded by soldiers miraculously rolled away by an angel who announced His resurrection from the dead! Jesus was raised back to life for our justification so that anyone who comes to Him can receive the full pardon of his sins and receive the gift of his righteousness and eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave all of us, Jesus, to take away the sins of the world and to give all who believed in Him and accepted Him the right to become children of God for eternity!

 Scripture Reading: John 1:9-13

This Devotional is from:

“Live The New You – 365 Days Devotional in Living the Real You”