John 3:16
Posted by David Dodd, Colonel US Army Retired / COO Shields of Strength on 1st Jul 2018
“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
Animal Sacrifice
Why did God send Jesus to earth? Answer, God sent Jesus to earth so that all who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will have eternal life.
Why?
God is perfect, sinless, righteous.
Man is imperfect, sinful, unrighteous.
For man to be acceptable to God, Man’s sins must be paid for, atoned, forgiven.
For man to stand in the presence of the 1 and only Holy, Sinless, Perfect God, Man’s sins must be absolved.
Before Christ, man offered blood sacrifices of their valuable animals as a payment for their sins.
Annually, they went to Jerusalem to the Temple to offer an animal as payment for their sins...normally a lamb.
The lambs neck was slit, the blood was captured in a large bowl and sprinkled onto an alter.
The lambs body was placed on the alter and burned.
The aroma of the smoke would rise and it was pleasing to God.
The sacrifice was an atonement, payment, or offering from the man to God for the sins of the previous year.
The problem with this method of repentance was it did not change the heart, character, or behavior of man. It was temporal.
Why? Man’s attempts to pay for his sins was based on his personal actions. It was a reaction to his sinful nature. It was a payment for past sin. It did NOT change his nature. It did not change his future actions.
Man was trapped in an endless cycle of Sin, Sacrifice, Sin, Sacrifice, etc.
God did not want man’s sacrifice, He want Man’s love.
Then came Jesus
Only God could provide a solution for Man’s sinful nature.
God’s solution was this, He sent His Son Jesus to be the sacrifice, the payment, the substitution, the atonement for Man’s sin.
Jesus was Sacrificed through death on a cross, death by crucifixion, as the final payment, atonement, substitution for man’s sin.
His blood was shed on the cross as a sin offering for all who accept Him as lord and Savior.
Miraculously, when man accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, his heart is changed. Sin looses its firm grip on the man who loves Jesus. A change occurs and man desires sinful behavior less and less. It is through man’s love of Christ that he is transformed.
All of this is summed up in one beautiful verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life.”
If you would like to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you may do so by praying the following prayer. What are you waiting for?