Receiving God's Love

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)

It is a beloved, well-loved verse. It is a verse about love. Specifically, it is a verse about receiving God's love. To know love is one of our great needs. To know God's love is certainly the greatest of human needs.

John 3:16 addresses this need for knowing God's love in three ways.

First, it sums up the entire message of the Bible. The central theme of all Scripture can be stated as follows:

It brings to light the love of God for the people He created, the mission of Christ to offer redemption from sin for all people, and the invitation to all people to receive God's gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

The mission and life of Christ is predicted in the Old Testament: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27, NIV).

The New Testament presents the gospel accounts of His life (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and His instruction to the churches that bear His name (the other 23 books). Through all of Scripture, the "Spirit of Christ" (1 Peter 1:11-12) points us to the marvelous love of God who offers redemption for anyone who will believe in His Son, Jesus Christ.

So this one verse clearly proclaims to us the main point of all Scripture: the love of God extended to people all over the world through Jesus Christ.

Second, to the one who seeks God, it provides the hope of eternal life.

One who realizes his/her own sinful behavior has little hope of ever appeasing a holy God. The Bible clearly teaches that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23, NIV) and that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23, NIV).

Yet John 3:16 offers the hope of eternal life to whomever will believe in the LORD Jesus Christ.

The word "believe" in the original Greek language is "pisteuo" which contains the basic meaning of affirming the truth, but also means to entrust and commit yourself to that truth.

To "believe" in the LORD Jesus Christ, then, means that you believe the truth that
 

• Jesus Christ is the LORD God who came in the flesh (John 1:1,14).
• He lived the perfect life you and I could never live (2 Cor. 5:21).
• He offered His life on a cross for your sins (Romans 5:8).
• He was resurrected from the dead (Romans 5:24-25) to prove He is the LORD with the authority to forgive your sins and the power to give you new life, eternal life.

Have you believed in the LORD Jesus Christ? If not, I appeal to you to place your faith and trust in Him today!

Third, John 3:16 provides a prescription for the Christian to receive God's love on a daily basis.

Doctors provide prescriptions to help people overcome sickness and diseases. Many times the prescription is for a drug which targets the root cause of the sickness. Sometimes the presciption is for a change in behavior such as a new diet.

The prescription in John 3:16 helps you to receive God's love, not just for salvation, but for your new life in Christ. Briefly, the prescription is:
 

1. Accept the fact that God loves you.
2. Understand your great need for God's love.
3. Entrust your life to the God who loves you.

Accept the fact that God loves you: Life can bring you down quickly. A job can be lost. A child can grow sick. A dream can be shattered.

Yet God still loves you no matter the circumstances. "For God so loved the world..." (John 3:16, NIV).

The Christian must be willing to accept the fact that God loves you at all times, good or bad. As Job said in the Bible, even after He had lost everything, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10, NIV).

Often, a Christian will fail in life by sinning in a really big way. Consider a man and woman who have been married for many years.

In a weak moment, the husband gives in to lust and commits adultery. Disgusted with the matter, he hates himself.

Moreover, he cannot bring himself to confess it to his wife, because he is sure she will not forgive him. So he just leaves and files for divorce.

In spite of the fact that his wife has loved him for so many years and most likely would have forgiven him, he would not accept her love. And so he no longer enjoys his life or her love.

The Christian's relationship with God is very similar. When one sins against God, it is hard to believe that God can still love you. And so you give up on God and stop living by faith in Him.

Life will be miserable for you until you accept the fact that, in Christ, God loves you as His own chlid. If "God so loved the world..." (John 3:16, NIV), specifically sinners, then certainly He loves the child of God.

So accepting God's love is the first step in experiencing His love for you.

Understand your great need for God's love: Even as a Christian, your memory of past sin haunts you, the reality of present sin depresses you, and the fear of future sin constrains you.

King David cried out to God, "for I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me" (Psalm 51:3, NIV). Yet David also prayed for God's mercy on the basis of God's "unfailing love" (Psalm 51:1, NIV) for him.

The great Apostle Paul called himself the "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:16, NIV) yet he counted on "the grace of our LORD ... poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 1:14, NIV).

Many Christians stop growing in their faith because they become frozen by the awareness of their own sin -- past, present, or future.

A Christian will sin on occasion, sometimes sin greatly. The Bible tells you that if you confess this sin to God (agree with Him that it was wrong, see it from God's perspective as a sin that you want to avoid in the future), He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all your unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

In this way, you bring your life back into alignment with the One who loves you. It was for this reason "that He sent His One and Only Son..." (John 3:16, NIV).

Even as a Christian, understand that you need the love of God made possible by His sending Jesus Christ into the world. You are in great need of God's love in order to keep moving forward by faith.

Entrust your life to the God who loves you: Eternal life is a personal relationship with God made possible through His Son, Jesus Christ.

To really know God's love and experience it daily, you must believe that He has granted you the gift of eternal life -- "that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV) -- the gift of knowing God personally (John 17:3).

Remember that word "believe" means to affirm, trust, and commit -- all at the same time. The love of God is appropriated through believing in Him who gives eternal life.

This eternal life is not just for the hereafter in Heaven. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV). Eternal life starts the moment you first trust in Jesus Christ.

Through Christ, you experience His love in a personal relationship in time and for eternity with the Creator who loves you more than you can even understand.
 

• You have His love in the morning to give you a reason to get out of bed.
• You have His love in afternoon to help you get through a really bad day at work.
• You have His love in the evening to comfort you when the bills are not paid, the children are tired and complaining, and work around the house is still waiting to be finished.
• You have His love when you are falsely accused.
• You have His love when you lose your best friend.

In all of life you have His love available to you. You experience His love as you believe in Him and commit yourself (and your situation) to Him.

You see, God is fully aware of your situation and will walk through it with you. That is His promise: "Never will I leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews ).

Rejoice in the love that is waiting for you from the God who loves so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son for you!

For you who do not know for certain you will go to Heaven one day, John 3:16 offers you the hope of eternal life through our LORD Jesus Christ.

For you who have already trusted in the LORD Jesus Christ, are you experiencing His love today? You should. You can.

But if not, are you really believing (affirming, trusting, committing) in the LORD Jesus Christ or holding on to doubts and fears that maybe, just maybe, He really does not love you?

Circumstances and feelings can lead you astray. But the word of God is clear and certain in John 3:16. So,
 

• Accept the fact that the God who so loved the world loves you!
• Understand your great need for His love on a daily basis!
• Believe in the One who grants you eternal access to His love!

By taking this prescription, you will experience God's love moment-by-moment, day-by-day, for the rest of your life. Receive God's love today!