“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16

“Truly, truly, I say to you that the one hearing My word and believing the One having sent Me, he has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

— John 5:24

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

— John 10:11

“Greater love has no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends.”

–John 15:13

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.”

–John 10:28

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace and joy from Jesus Christ to you.

Jesus is the love gift given to us by God the Father. The amazing message of Jesus’ coming to reach out to the sinful world crystallized and summarized in the most familiar Bible verse—John 3:16. Out of His great love, God the Father willingly offered His only Son to die on the cross as an atonement for our sin. God’s own Son suffered so that eternal life and joy would be available to all who believed.

Had God’s love for humanity been less or had there been another way, God never would have sent His Son to die. Those who receive God’s love gift of Jesus receive life for all eternity. When we truly believe that Jesus died for our sin and God raised Him on the third day, we receive wonderful salvation, we have everlasting life now and have crossed over from death to life. Believing this, we can live with confidence in Jesus’ profound promise: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” We thank God for this amazing salvation gift.