For God So Loved: An Easter Message

“For God so loved”

Going into this Easter break, I wasn’t sure if I would have any Easter message to share. But while reading my YouVersion devotion of the day (15^th April), the opening text (see quote above) of John 3:16 leapt out to me. The beauty of studying the bible is that you will always learn something new or gain a new perspective to verses you’ve previously read.

While reading the verse, it seemed like God felt a need to explain why He did what He did. He’s the almighty God and from what I know about people in power, they don’t believe there is a need to burden themselves with explanations for their actions. Merely asking for an explanation could get you in trouble or in the ancient times, imprisoned. But God did and His explanation was succinctly captured in four words: For God so loved! And because of this love, He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten son.

As children of God, the bible on numerous occasions talks about love and its importance. When the religious leaders of the day were looking for a means to implicate Jesus, they asked Him what the greatest commandment was, and guess what, His answer illustrated the importance of love. He gave them two answers: the first was to love God and the second was to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:28-34). His answer was so perfect that no one dared ask another question. But why is love so important? I daresay that it is because when we love, we will go beyond our selfish desires to help others to the point of sacrificing for them. In this scenario, love is not just a noun but a verb and forms the foundation to explain why we do what we do. Take for example a parent and their baby. Because of the love they have for their baby, they would go to any length to make sure the child is cared for and protected. One too many times, we hear stories of actions parents undertook that defy logic but because of the love they have for their child, they sacrificially did whatever it took. If it were an accident, they would be searching for a means of escape for the child instead of themselves or if it were an attack, use themselves as a shield even when there is no hope of fending off the attacker. But that’s what love does. It makes you go beyond yourself to care for the needs of others and that’s what God was showcasing through the death of His son. That He is willing to go to any lengths to bring us closer to Him and take care of us.

When we think of heroes of the bible, Abraham’s name tends to be the first on the list. Why? Because he loved God so much that he trusted him to the point of sacrificing a child that he had waited on for years (Heb. 11:17-19). Imagine the struggle he would have faced to carry out such an action and it will give you an idea of how difficult it must have been for God to sacrifice His son. Even the great Apostle Paul struggled to understand the logic behind the action and debated on the reasoning before ending up with the simple answer “For God so loved” (Rom. 5:8). If we never got the explanation that preceded the action of John 3:16, we may still be clueless as to the reasoning behind the action. But God being God knew that by giving us this context, He also provided a template for His children to follow in their interaction with others. The parable of the Good Samaritan sheds light on how we should live as Christians (Luke 10:25-37).

There is not enough that can be said about God’s love for us, but the bible captures it all and when you read it, you’d be amazed about the recklessness of God’s love. His love is so great that when one of us returns to Him by giving our lives to God, heaven throws a party (Luke 15:7). The parables of Luke 15 let us know the joy God feels when we accept His love and return home to Him. This Easter season, I’m here to tell you that God loves you and He loves you so much that He will do anything for you. Accept His love and come home to him (Rev. 3:20), nothing would make Him happier. And as you do so, I charge you to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. Happy Easter!

 

P.S. In keeping with the tradition of previous posts, here are two songs that speak powerfully about God’s love for us:

Jireh- Elevation Worship and Maverick City

Reckless Love- Cory Asbury

 

Photo Cred: YouVersion

For Every Mountain

We all have different reasons to praise God. It could be because of the birth of a new baby or receiving that long-awaited congratulatory email. But have you ever thought of thanking God for the mountains you face(d)? Imagine if your life was a constant straight line with no peaks or valleys. Would you consider that a life well lived? Without the mountains, there will be no way to know what we are capable of and how powerful we are. So why don’t we ever say: “God thank you for this mountain. I praise you because of the mountains ahead”. Mountains represent the challenges and obstacles we face in our daily lives and like our last post (Magnify the Lord!) instructed, we should be thankful for both the blessings and the mountains. Over the course of my life, I have faced challenges at different points. Some were big, others were small. Some lasted for a long time, others were over in the blink of an eye. Through these experiences, I’ve learnt two key lessons which I’ll be sharing below along with songs that have being a blessing to me.

The first lesson was that challenges were a way of drawing nearer to God, hearing His voice and building our trust in Him. At a much younger phase of my life, I had a very simple plan: enjoy all life has to offer and around age 40, re-dedicate my life to God and become serious about my Christianity. It took a mountain to completely rip up those plans and it was a financial challenge that lasted for a long time. While going over this mountain, I got closer to God. I learnt more about His ways and began to let go of my worldly ways. If I never faced this challenge, I may never have gotten serious about my Christianity. I stumbled on a song recently that speaks to this by Gaither Vocal Band- Sometimes it takes a mountain. The beauty about God’s mercy is that He is willing to receive you with open arms, just approach Him and let Him in (Heb. 4:16, Rev. 3:20). His love is so strong that He sent His son to die for you (John 3:16).

The second lesson I learnt was the importance of praising God during a challenge. It sounds strange saying we should praise God for the challenges. You’re not praising God because of the challenge; you’re praising Him despite the challenge and from a place of understanding. You’re praising Him because you know that victory is yours as His child and that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (I John 4:4). So, when you magnify the Lord like David did (Ps. 34), its because you understand that you should thank Him in all circumstances and that all things work together for your good (I Thes. 5:16-18, Rom. 8:28). There may be times when it feels like all hope is lost, simply remind yourself off all the other times He brought you out and the thoughts He has for you (Jer. 29:11). This song by Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir- For Every Mountain, has being a blessing to me. It constantly reminds me to give God the praise for every mountain and trial I’ve faced.

Every word that is written in the bible is there for a purpose and every word spoken by Jesus was said for a reason. It is not for nothing that Jesus told us that we will have challenges in this world, but He also told us that He has overcome the world (John 16:33). There is absolutely no mountain that is too great for the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has never been and will never be defeated. If you find yourself facing a mountain or if you’re currently scaling a mountain, I charge you to draw closer to God and take on an attitude of praise. He has already sorted out the challenge!

 

P.S. Have a great Easter and remember, He is risen.

Here are a few of our Easter posts from years gone by:

2021- He is Risen: Rejoice!

2020- Hope: The Easter Message

2019- He is Risen

Photo cred: YouVersion