John 3:12–17 God loves us that much!!!!

It is so hard to believe that the Maker of heaven and earth loves you…but believe it! It is the power of the Godhead to accomplish  everything that cannot be earned.

Faith plus nothing. The simplicity of the Gospel saves man from himself. We cannot save ourselves by works. But faith gives God the right to save those who place their faith in Him alone and the salvation that He gives in Christ Jesus. If a person works for salvation it is a debt to God. But to those who by faith believe it is a free gift given to mankind in His mercy and grace. 

God loves us that much… He made a way in Jesus where there was no way.

1 John 4:7–12 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love…

Let us pray that as we begin the season of lent
we embrace the opportunity to:
Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill our hearts with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so we can listen.
Pope Francis

Are you so focused on what you don’t have that you’re blind to what you do?  Paul asks in Philippians 2:1, “Have you received any encouragement? Any fellowship? Any consolation? Then don’t you have reason for joy?” You’re blood-bought and heaven-made. A child of God! So be grateful, joyful. Max Lucado

John 3:12–17

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The New King James Version

Jesus is alluding to His heavenly origin. Since He comes from heaven, He is qualified to speak authoritatively about heavenly things. The implication is that no one has both ascended to heaven to receive divine revelation and descended to earth to give an account of that revelation in the same way that Jesus has as the incarnate Word of God. Moses lifted up alludes to the events of Numbers 21:9 and presents the Son of Man as superior to Moses. The Son of man lifted up alludes to both the crucifixion and the exaltation of Jesus in His death and resurrection. Faithlife Study Bible

Earthly things refers to things that occur on earth, like the new birth, the wind and perhaps miracles. Heavenly things refers to events like Christ’s ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

Nicodemus may have believed in Jesus’ miracles the majority of the Jewish council did not. 

Nicodemus, referring to the new birth, asks, “How can these things be?” Here Jesus answers the question. New birth is by the Son, by the Cross and by faith. Every time the words lifted up occur in the Gospel of John there is a reference to Jesus’ death. When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness those who looked at it lived. So it is with the Son of Man. 

This is the first time eternal life is mentioned in John’s Gospel. When a person trusts Christ, he or she is born again and receives eternal and spiritual life, God’s kind of life.

God’s love is not restricted to any one nation or to any spiritual elite.

At His first coming, Jesus came so that the world through Him might be saved. When Jesus comes again, He will come in judgment upon those who refused His offer of salvation. The NKJV Study Bible

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.