“For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not parish, but have everlasting life.”
Often I have heard scholarly debate about ancient texts and scriptures. When the debate turns specifically to the Bible, one of the verses on which a great deal of time is generally spent is John 1:1. After all, what excellent material for lengthy and complicated discussion? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Such great dissertations have been delivered, by simply concentrating exhaustively on the explanation that “the Word” John refers to is Jesus. Pages and pages have been filled. Yet, even with so much scholarly attention, the profound theology of this verse can be easily lost. Lost because all the debate and discussion never cause it to reach the hearts for which it was written.
The truth is, where scholarly debate and discussion come up short, and where religion fails, Love reigns. One of the greatest attributes mankind has inherited from being created in the likeness of God is the desire to love and be loved. Paul was inspired to write of this in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Here we are instructed and encouraged to live in FAITH and live in HOPE, but most importantly, live in LOVE
God commands us to love one another with the same love He has shown us. That is a tall order to fill, and most likely not one of us will actually come even close to accomplishing this. Still, we should never give it up as a lost cause. What is so easily missed is that in the case of sharing the love of God, accomplishment may not be in the completion of the task, but is actually in striving to do it.
What then is the love of God? Well of course, it is this stop along Route NT316. It is LOVE itself. As the One who was sent and died put it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) The real question is, “How do we share the love of God”? This is a question that can also lead to much discussion and debate, but the real and simple answer is to share the love God has already given. Just strive to let every single person know that they are so desperately loved by God that He sent His only Begotten Son to die for specifically them.
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