SENT OR SACRIFICED?

by Pam Clark

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Most all of us know that verse and have it memorized in one translation or another, but the other day as I was contemplating it, it seemed as if the Lord asked, "What does that mean 'that He gave'?"

You know I think for a long time I thought it meant "He sent" His only begotten Son. I never was sure even what "begotten" meant, so I looked it up and it means "only born".

And then it was like, I realized, "For God so loved the world that He sacrificed His only born Son...." and then the verse took on a lot more meaning.

Adam was created. Jesus was born of God as divine impartation in a virgin woman's womb. He took on human form but was fathered by God so that through faith in Him, we also might be born again -- so that just as Jesus died and rose again, through the impartation of His Spirit in us through faith, we also might rise again and have "everlasting life."

I think many do think of Jesus apostolicly as "a sent One" with the signs, wonders and miracles, but there is more to it than that. God birthed something and then sacrificed it - His only born Son - that if we would believe, we could have redemption from the death curse of sin (that ends up in eternal hell fire) into everlasting eternal life with Him who is Life!

He could have written us off. But He didn't just send a message, He sacrificed His Son. It cost God.

Many at this Christmas season will celebrate a baby. We all love to think of "special babies." They are so cute and sweet and we love things that don't harm us and Jesus did not harm us, so He is really special.

But do we realize the Sacrifice that was made? It was God's only born Son. He loved Him, He was well pleased with Him. And He allowed Him to be sacrificed as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Happy Holidays,

Pam Clark