MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):
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 everlasting life.
John 3:16 is the most famous verse in the entire Bible and virtually every Christian knows it by heart. Why is that? Christians love this verse because it tells us what we want to hear and it brings great joy. Everyone needs to be loved and to give love in return. John 3:16 lets us know without a doubt that God loves us dearly. God not only tells us he loves us; God proves it by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross so our sins might be forgiven by a loving and merciful God. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is, “the wages of sin is death.” In the Garden of Eden Adam sinned against God by his disobedience. Adam was evicted from the Garden of Eden and God changed Adam from being an immortal man into a mortal man who would die both a physical death and a spiritual death in hell because of his sins. Adam and Eve were headed to hell before God forgave their sins. We’ll see Adam and Eve in heaven. All men who came after Adam have inherited Adam’s original sin and we’re also all born on the path to perdition, and therefore we all need God’s forgiveness to enter heaven.
However, God in his love, mercy, and grace also decided to save us to heaven by forgiving our sins. Another spiritual truth of heaven is, “without shedding innocent blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.” God is just. God cannot lie or change his position. There had to be a shedding of innocent human blood before God could forgive the sins of man. All men are born into sin from Adam’s fall so there was no sinless human sacrifice available to save man from eternal death in hell. God had to come off his throne in heaven and come to earth as a man, in the flesh, as the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a human mother like we all are so he was fully human so he could qualify as a sacrifice for us before God. At the same time, Jesus Christ was also fully God because his father was the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a God-man with both natures in his body at the same time, but separate from each other. Jesus was the only person who could save us from hell and he did so voluntarily. Jesus could have halted his crucifixion at any time and called down a legion of angels if he wanted to. When we say Jesus is our Lord and Savior we’re not saying empty words. By his sacrificial death, Jesus saved us from hell and saved us to heaven. When we call Jesus Lord we’re acknowledging Jesus is God and saying yes we will obey the commandments of God.
The problem with John 3:16 is people think that verse saves them to heaven and they don’t have to do anything else. They are wrong. Notice that God didn’t say whoever believes in Jesus “shall” be saved. Instead, God says whoever believes in Jesus “should” be saved. That means salvation unto heaven is a two-step process contingent on man taking a second step to complete the process. Just believing in God and Jesus won’t get you to heaven. Even Satan and his demons believe in God and Jesus because they know them. The difference is Satan and his demons haven’t repented of their sins. They haven’t declared Jesus Christ as the Lord of their life whom they’ll obey because they can’t and they won’t. However, it’s not too late for us. Jesus already took the first step by dying on the cross for our sins. All we need to do is repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to complete the process. Google “sinner’s prayer” and then pray to God in faith and you’re saved.
Let’s restate John 3:16 in such a way that it’s still true but it reveals what’s at stake for our eternal souls:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever does not believe in Him should perish and not have everlasting life.”
This statement is the mirror image of John 3:16 and is therefore also true. God is putting a positive spin on the truth of God in John 3:16 to exhort nonbelievers to come to God while at the same time bringing the peace of God to believers. People need to look beyond the obvious and understand that doing the opposite of what God says to do in the Bible will also cause an opposite result. I love John 3:16 like everyone else. But as a warrior for Christ who has dedicated his life to witnessing for Christ to save many nonbelievers to the kingdom of heaven, I look at John 3:16 and ask myself, “What about those who don’t believe because they don’t know the truth of God?” “Shouldn’t somebody tell them?” “I should tell them!”
Every day roughly 16,000 believers die and go to heaven. Around 160,000 nonbelievers die every day for lack of a witness for Christ. That’s a ten-to-one ratio. The sad thing is many of these nonbelievers think they’re going to heaven when they die but they’re all going directly to hell within the earth where they’ll be in pain and agony 24/7. On the last day, they’ll all be resurrected bodily to stand before the Great White Throne judgment of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to heaven and if you don’t accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before you die your ultimate destination and your fate is decided by Jesus. If you find yourself before the Great White Throne you aren’t going to heaven. After your judgment, an angel of God will throw all nonbelievers into the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity. God’s salvation plan for man calls for nonbelievers to be saved to heaven by believers witnessing for Christ, and if you want to please God you’ll go save someone.
MY AFFIRMATION:
God, I thank you for making me and loving me. Lord, I thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in my place so my sins could be forgiven by a loving and merciful God. Thank you Holy Father for calling me and saving me unto eternal life in heaven in your presence through my confession of faith in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I will share the gospel message of Christ with nonbelievers all the days of my life.
In summary, yes John 3:16 is a wonderful Bible verse worthy of being the favorite verse in the Bible. For me, John 3:16 is also not the end of the road on my walk with God but the beginning. God leaves us here on earth after our salvation so we can work alongside our King in his harvest field helping to save lost souls for heaven by our testimony about God. 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus alone, never having saved even one soul to heaven through a witness for Christ. These are the worker bees of heaven because they have no fruit. Some believers will save one person to heaven, some thirty, some sixty, and some even one hundred souls to heaven. A harvest of one hundred souls to heaven is a good harvest according to God. I’ve accomplished that already. My goal is to save at least 1000 nonbelievers to heaven. God has confirmed to me that saving 1000 lost souls to heaven will qualify as “many” in the eyes of God and the person who does this will shine like the stars in the heavens as promised in Daniel 12:3. I don’t know what that looks like but I know it’ll be good because only good fruit can come from God.
Man has no idea of the honor, glory, and riches God has in store for those who believe in him, for those who love him, and for those who are obedient to his commandments. Because of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden, man’s fellowship with God was broken. Because God made us and loves us, he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that our fellowship with God could be restored. God did his part 2000 years ago by sending Jesus and he’s still waiting for us to do our part to restore our fellowship with him. God has shown us the way to salvation in the Bible, which is God’s wisdom. If you don’t believe in God there is a cure. If you read the Bible in its entirety, with an open mind, there’s a 95% chance you’ll come face to face with God and believe. If you ever start to doubt your faith the same cure applies.
When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through faith we’re saved unto eternal life in heaven. This is our part to restore our fellowship with God. God doesn’t hear the prayers of nonbelievers. However, when we become children of the Most High our prayers are heard. Our prayers come from our lips and pass through the spirit world into the very throne room of God; into the ears of God himself 24/7. Even the angels don’t have the access to God that we have. Praise God! If you want to keep your fellowship with God strong, pray to the Lord daily and read your Bible every day.