So Loved!

So Loved!
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

 

For God- The eternal God. The Father. Not a mean, hurtful, abusing, cruel father, but your loving Heavenly Father. Abba. Your Maker. Creator. Life Giver. Giver of good things and all that is good. God of salvation. Giver of the greatest of all gifts.

 

So loved- Not a so-so love! But a love that is…So amazing. So full. So gracious. So great. So abundant. So compassionate and tender. So caring. So giving. So kind…and so much more. Love to the depths and to the heights. Boundless! Upholding! Undergirding! Unending!

 

The world- The stranger, the neighbor, the wayfarer. The lost. The empty. The fearful. The alone. The forgotten. The forsaken. The newborn and the ancient.  Those near or afar. The weary. The hapless, the hopeless, and the homeless. The sinner. The pushed aside and the set aside. No one is outside His call to come.

 

That He gave- Generously. Graciously. Mercifully. From the heart. Gave all that love could ever give. Once, for all time. Completely. Freely. Without reservation. Holding nothing back. He gave with a promise, with a prophecy, with a purpose, and with a powerful plan. Given so you could be His. 

His only begotten Son- The only choice, the only option, the only incarnate One, the only Word, the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, the only One sent to shed His blood-the only sinless One, the only anointed One to be the Savior, Prophet, Priest, and King. Sent to seek and to save that which was lost.

 

That whoever believes in Him- Not ignore, not reject, not turn away, not be indifferent or hardened. Fully turn, fully seek, fully trust, fully receive, fully believe. Believing Jesus can and will save you. Being “all in”-with all your heart, all you soul, all your mind-all you’ve got, and all you hope to be. Totally committed. Holding nothing back. In all things! At all times! 

 

Should not perish- Saved from condemnation, wrath, and hell. Brought into fellowship and companionship. No longer separated, isolated, and fragmented. Found, not lost. Welcomed, not cast out. Walking in the light. Brought out of the darkness. Rescued and not destroyed. No longer an orphan, but His child.

 

But have everlasting life- Possess. Partake. Not, “I hope I make it.” Certain. Sure. Secure. Saved-truly, really, actually, unshakably. Alive in Christ! Always and forever. Justified. Adopted. Never forsaken. Life lived to its fullest measure, for its greatest purpose, for its highest good, for its deepest joys-without end. Eternally His, for He is eternally yours!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV).

#john316 #soloved #meetinginthemeadow #roylessin

©2023 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Roy Lessin. Used with permission, all rights reserved.