He Gave

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have eternal life.

Even before the foundation of the world, He saw the catastrophe. When there was nothing, perhaps that Father looked into His Son and presented the eternal plan to hear His dear child say, "Father, Your will be done." The grandest scheme was about to take place. The stage - planet Earth - was set.

And thousands of years later, the fullness of time came. The Father looked into a broken world and sent a Remedy. He looked into sinful mankind and sent them a Savior. He beheld a sick, lost people; He sent a Healer and a Shepherd. Out of the darkness, Light shined.

And on that hideously wonderful night in Bethlehem, God committed a crime for the ages: He sent His dear Boy - God of God - to become man. "He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted." And one day this baby Boy, who was - and is - the hope of the world, would be pierced through and crushed, bent and broken for our sins. This is the gift.

Yes, that night God flooded the world with His grace. He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable. He loved. And in His love He gave.

So let us, with hearts full of joy and praise, also give. Let us give of our hearts and souls. Let us give of our very lives - our own selves. All we are and all we have, let it be His. For in His mercy He gave His all for us; in our worship we give all we are for Him. Not because He needs us, not because we deserve Him, but because He first loved us. 

Because He gave.