1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: (and we are) therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Oh my beloved Friends, greater words were never spoken on man’s behalf by his fellow man! ‘Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: (and we are)’ Oh people, there are no words to aptly describe the kind of LOVE that the Lord bore for us, and still bears. Words like great, magnificent, real, tender, fatherly, heart-warming, unconditional, strong, enduring, positive, everlasting, eternal, all add their own particular brush stroke to the texture and colour of the palette, but none by itself really does it justice. For what single word can adequately capture this heroic gesture, this gesture of immeasurable proportions? ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that He LOVED us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10) Yes my Friends, we can never find one suitable word to describe the extent of the Father’s LOVE for us. It’s obvious we didn’t care that much for Him, cause we dwelt, were thoroughly enmeshed in sin and disobedience to His Holy Word. But He knew that death, damnation and eternal darkness were our rewards if we remained in that state of separation from Him, and His heart ached so much for us, His greatest creation, that He devised a most ingenious plan to allow us to return to His fold. And a most heart-wrenching plan it was since it meant sacrificing His innocent only Son for us inveterate sinners. But He was caught between a rock and a hard place. As the champion of truth, justice and righteousness, He just couldn’t pardon us, write off our sins without some kind of payment. Something or somebody sinless had to pay the debt we owed. He was tired of the blood sacrifices of animals. As Samuel told Saul; to obey is better than to sacrifice. The Lord desires obedience, not sacrifices. But sadly, besides God, only His Son, Jesus was innocent and unblemished. Now can you imagine my people, how the Most High God Jehovah must have agonized over that situation? Just like we would agonize over sending our innocent only child off to war or some such negative venture, knowing there was a great likelihood they would not return alive. And here, His Son’s death would have to be assured for that was the only way a blanket payment could be made for us all. But He cared for us so much, desiring not to lose even one of His creations to the fallen angel Lucifer, that he banned His belly and His jaw and just did it. And all God’s people said; Wow! Hallelujah! Praise His Most Holy Name! Oh mih breddren, I ask us to sit for a moment and contemplate the immensity, the magnitude of that gesture. Now let’s ask ourselves, how many of us would have done that for a bunch of greedy, ungrateful sinners? The truth be known, very very few, if any of us, would have made that superhuman sacrifice. On top of that, He then adopted us; ‘we should be called the sons of God; (and we are)’ According to the scholars, the words in parenthesis should be added there as they are found in many ancient manuscripts. And it does make sense, for we are the sons of God. But Friends, can we really comprehend the magnitude of God’s LOVE for us? I doubt it, since His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. So after sacrificing His innocent Son for us, He then adopts us, makes us His children. Oh Friends, as believers we become children of God by virtue of being born again unto His son, unto His cleansing Spirit. ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ (John 1:12-13) And when John adds; ‘therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not,’ He’s just reiterating what Jesus stressed to His disciples; the problems, persecution and hard times His followers would face, simply because of Him. ‘If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you…But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me…He that hateth me hateth my Father also.’ (John 15:18,21,23) Yes Friends, it’s certainly…and I have to laugh at the words that come to mind because they bear negative connotations, but they do seem to best describe the intensity of the relationship we have with our God. It’s a hell of a relationship! And it truly is. He LOVED us enough to sacrifice His innocent Son on our behalf; then He adopts us. Meanwhile we believe on His Son’s Name and are cleansed of our sins, but we’re still disobedient. He punishes us; we repent. He forgives us; we follow His Word and His will. He rewards us, looks after us and keeps us safe from harm and in the end takes us to live with Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit till eternity. Oh Friends, it’s at once simple but complicated; just like all LOVE stories are. But this is by far the biggest and most important of them all; the Father’s LOVE for His sinful, earthly children. Oh my people, our God made a great sacrifice on our behalf, so please don’t allow it to go to waste nuh. Remember, it’s in our best interest. If we don’t accept the LOVE He’s graciously bestowed on us, then we’ll be experiencing death, damnation and eternal darkness with that fool Lucifer. And that’s not wisdom by any stretch of the imagination! So I plead with us, don’t let this be an unrequited LOVE affair! We’ve all experienced it and know it’s by far the worst pain in the world; a pain that racks our very hearts and souls and drives us crazy. And we certainly don’t want to do that to our Heavenly Father after all He’s done, all the sacrifices He’s made on our behalf. So instead, let’s just LOVE our God, and LIVE our Faith! That’s the answer to all our problems. Much LOVE!…Praise Him, Praise Him… Glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
Oh my beloved Friends, greater words were never spoken on man’s behalf by his fellow man! ‘Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: (and we are)’ Oh people, there are no words to aptly describe the kind of LOVE that the Lord bore for us, and still bears. Words like great, magnificent, real, tender, fatherly, heart-warming, unconditional, strong, enduring, positive, everlasting, eternal, all add their own particular brush stroke to the texture and colour of the palette, but none by itself really does it justice. For what single word can adequately capture this heroic gesture, this gesture of immeasurable proportions? ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that He LOVED us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10) Yes my Friends, we can never find one suitable word to describe the extent of the Father’s LOVE for us. It’s obvious we didn’t care that much for Him, cause we dwelt, were thoroughly enmeshed in sin and disobedience to His Holy Word. But He knew that death, damnation and eternal darkness were our rewards if we remained in that state of separation from Him, and His heart ached so much for us, His greatest creation, that He devised a most ingenious plan to allow us to return to His fold. And a most heart-wrenching plan it was since it meant sacrificing His innocent only Son for us inveterate sinners. But He was caught between a rock and a hard place. As the champion of truth, justice and righteousness, He just couldn’t pardon us, write off our sins without some kind of payment. Something or somebody sinless had to pay the debt we owed. He was tired of the blood sacrifices of animals. As Samuel told Saul; to obey is better than to sacrifice. The Lord desires obedience, not sacrifices. But sadly, besides God, only His Son, Jesus was innocent and unblemished. Now can you imagine my people, how the Most High God Jehovah must have agonized over that situation? Just like we would agonize over sending our innocent only child off to war or some such negative venture, knowing there was a great likelihood they would not return alive. And here, His Son’s death would have to be assured for that was the only way a blanket payment could be made for us all. But He cared for us so much, desiring not to lose even one of His creations to the fallen angel Lucifer, that he banned His belly and His jaw and just did it. And all God’s people said; Wow! Hallelujah! Praise His Most Holy Name! Oh mih breddren, I ask us to sit for a moment and contemplate the immensity, the magnitude of that gesture. Now let’s ask ourselves, how many of us would have done that for a bunch of greedy, ungrateful sinners? The truth be known, very very few, if any of us, would have made that superhuman sacrifice. On top of that, He then adopted us; ‘we should be called the sons of God; (and we are)’ According to the scholars, the words in parenthesis should be added there as they are found in many ancient manuscripts. And it does make sense, for we are the sons of God. But Friends, can we really comprehend the magnitude of God’s LOVE for us? I doubt it, since His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. So after sacrificing His innocent Son for us, He then adopts us, makes us His children. Oh Friends, as believers we become children of God by virtue of being born again unto His son, unto His cleansing Spirit. ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ (John 1:12-13) And when John adds; ‘therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not,’ He’s just reiterating what Jesus stressed to His disciples; the problems, persecution and hard times His followers would face, simply because of Him. ‘If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you…But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me…He that hateth me hateth my Father also.’ (John 15:18,21,23) Yes Friends, it’s certainly…and I have to laugh at the words that come to mind because they bear negative connotations, but they do seem to best describe the intensity of the relationship we have with our God. It’s a hell of a relationship! And it truly is. He LOVED us enough to sacrifice His innocent Son on our behalf; then He adopts us. Meanwhile we believe on His Son’s Name and are cleansed of our sins, but we’re still disobedient. He punishes us; we repent. He forgives us; we follow His Word and His will. He rewards us, looks after us and keeps us safe from harm and in the end takes us to live with Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit till eternity. Oh Friends, it’s at once simple but complicated; just like all LOVE stories are. But this is by far the biggest and most important of them all; the Father’s LOVE for His sinful, earthly children. Oh my people, our God made a great sacrifice on our behalf, so please don’t allow it to go to waste nuh. Remember, it’s in our best interest. If we don’t accept the LOVE He’s graciously bestowed on us, then we’ll be experiencing death, damnation and eternal darkness with that fool Lucifer. And that’s not wisdom by any stretch of the imagination! So I plead with us, don’t let this be an unrequited LOVE affair! We’ve all experienced it and know it’s by far the worst pain in the world; a pain that racks our very hearts and souls and drives us crazy. And we certainly don’t want to do that to our Heavenly Father after all He’s done, all the sacrifices He’s made on our behalf. So instead, let’s just LOVE our God, and LIVE our Faith! That’s the answer to all our problems. Much LOVE!…Praise Him, Praise Him… Glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
SCRIP-BITS 