Late Night with Jesus: Why Would He Give His Son?

“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)

As the proud dad of a son, I cannot imagine any amount of love that would compel me to trade his life for, well, anyone’s. My instinct is to protect him from any bad guys, from anyone that might hurt him.

latenight_350God’s enormous love compelled him to do exactly the opposite; he traded Jesus’ life for the lives of all of us bad guys: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

I don’t get it, honestly. But I love my Father for sending his Son to let me be his son, too. My belief in Jesus was all he required to sign the adoption papers to change me from sinner to son, to save me from eternal death and give me the eternal life I could never earn.

Think: Have you ever wondered why God acted first to save us while we were still against him? Would we ever have been able to reach him if he had not acted to save us?

Pray: Thank your Father for the gift of his son Jesus and the gift of eternal life through believing in him.

Do: Pray the prayer above later today again.