The Ultimate Love 

   “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may attain eternal life.” (John 3: 16) 

   I’ve often wondered why God would love me and you so much that He would allow His only Son to sacrifice His life to give us eternal life.  It’s not like we’ve done anything to deserve such a sacrifice.

   And yet, all throughout scripture His love is evident in all He did.  He created us out of love.  He has repeatedly forgiven our failings.  Never have we, as a people, remained faithful to Him and lived by His will.  We’ve turned to other gods, both pagan and those of our own making.  Worse, we’ve made a god of ourselves, deciding that we can determine what is right and wrong when God is the author of all.

   Jesus came to pardon the sentence pronounced against our first parents for their sins.  He was the unblemished lamb, the only one who could repay the debt since He was the only one who had no debt.  Of His own free will He chose to accept all the sins of the world upon Himself and suffer and die to redeem those sins for an unworthy and unthankful people.

   Still today He is ignored, rejected, and forgotten.  Yet His love remains,  He yearns for us to turn to Him in repentance and accept the gift of salvation.  He has opened the door to heaven for us, but we must choose to enter.  Because of His unbounded and never-ending love our Lord waits patiently for our reply.  How will we answer?