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. John 3:16 (NIV) God is holy, and we are sinful. Every one of us. Even you who are reading this! How could we come near God? How could we live in His holy presence? How could sin and holiness ever live together? It is entirely impossible. God’s justice demands the condemnation of sin; and if His love would save the sinner, it had to do so at no less a cost than the gift of God’s One and Only Son. Darius loved Daniel, and worked hard to save him from the lions den (Daniel 6); but his love was powerless because of the unbending, unyielding law of the Medes and Persians. If you read this story, you’ll see that Darius spent the night in sorrow and fasting. Yet all he could do is weep at the entrance of the den; but he could not save his friend. His love was not mighty to save. His love showed itself in tears, that accomplished nothing. The law of the Persian kingdom was more powerful than the love of the Persian king. The law, in its stern majesty, triumphed over an impotent love which had nothing but fruitless tears to show. But the love of God is not like this — praise His name! His love is mighty to save. It reigns through righteousness. How is this? Because God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. The law said in the most frightening way: The soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). Was this law less stern less majestic, less stringent, than the law of the Medes and Persians? Absolutely not. How then, was it done away with? It was to be magnified and made honorable, vindicated and established. Not one jot or tittle of the law could ever be set aside. How, then, was the difficulty to be solved? Three things had to be done: the law had to be magnified, sin had to be condemned and the sinner had to be saved. How could these grand results be reached? 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. John 3:16 (NIV) On Jesus cross this records graved, Let sin be damned, and sinners saved.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:10:32 +0000
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