“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son”
John 3:16a
“See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are!”
1 John 3:1a
There is no love like that which a parent has for a child. Other types of love we are called to: Love for a spouse, our neighbors, the church body, but love for a child is the most natural kind there is. Our hearts and minds and biology reinforce it. This is the order the Lord has written into the human experience.
Our God could have enacted any plan for redemption, but He chose to demonstrate the depth of His love with an action we can viscerally understand. He gave – indeed He sacrificed – His son to rescue us.
Can you imagine doing this? Sacrificing your child to save someone who has sinned against you? But that is exactly what God did for us on the very first Christmas: He sent his son into the world in an unfathomable act of love. And He did not only redeem us but brought us into His family! The sacrifice of one son purchased eternal life for billions of others who would become children of God.
See what great love the Father has given us? As you celebrate the birth of a baby named Jesus, remember that because of him, you too have been born into a new, eternal family, founded upon the greatest act of love the universe has ever known.
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