One Very Important Sentence

This one sentence does a great job of summing up the Great News - "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.

 If you wanted to memorize just one verse of the entire Bible, this would be it.
   
God loved us so much that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for all of our sins for all time on the cross.  Because of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection, those of us who put our faith in him can have an eternal relationship with God which starts here on earth and ends in heaven .... forever.

This is the most important news anyone can ever hear.  

People who are not Christ-followers don't realize it, but they are looking for Jesus.  They might think they are looking for a better job, a better spouse or a better house, but they are really looking for Jesus.  We were all created with a God - shaped hole which only God can fill.  There will be an emptiness in our lives until we accept the salvation offered by Jesus, make him Lord of our lives and live in his Light.  

I know this for a fact because I have felt that emptiness.

Have you?

The reality of this unfilled God-sized hole in people's lives explains a lot of what you and I are seeing in our world right now.  People are looking for something and they aren't finding it so there is anger, frustration, confusion and unrest.  Evil thrives in this kind of environment.  

Jesus is the only answer.

I cannot remember a time in my life when it was more important for those of us who have put our faith in Jesus to share our stories, share the Good News, share our trust in God and share that we know how this story is going to end.  Judging those who do not know Jesus is not the right response to what we see happening in our world.  Jesus reminds us today that loving those who haven't accepted the free gift of salvation yet is the right answer.

You and I can see the darkness that Satan is masterminding in our broken world.  Satan is winning some battles, but we have nothing to fear - God has already won the war.

Amen!  Hallelujah!