March 27, 2025 -- John 3:35-36 -- For God so loved the world. Now how will you respond?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:35-36 ESV
 
You are likely so familiar with John 3:16 that I do not even need to quote it here. However, the text today is closely connected to it. The love of God that reaches people demands a response from every single person on this planet. Jesus Christ is the Father’s fullest and best demonstration of love. The love of the Father took on flesh, became human, and on Him is pinned all the hope of the world. In His hand is life and death. In the hand of the Son is either freedom from the wrath of God or the confirmation that the wrath of God remains on a man.
 
To say you believe means you have eternal life. That new life is birthed in you by the Holy Spirit. Everything changes. You who were adulterers, idolators, wicked, malicious, angry, greedy, insolent, and disobedient to parents, have been changed. People can say to you, “I remember when you did this. I remember when you acted in that way.” Your response is: “True. That is what I did, but in Christ I am a new creation, the old has passed away, the new life of Jesus has entered in.” How you act now is in sharp contrast to how you used to behave.
 
To say you believe means your whole way of living is transformed. What is the difference between a child of God and a son or daughter of the devil? It is evident in what a person obeys. If you obey the dictates of the world, if you say one thing, but by your life show something else, you are still under the condemnation of God. One day, when Jesus returns, you will face God’s justice and be thrown into hell. You may protest, “But I believed!”. Here is the truth. What you believe inevitably will show up in how you act.
 
You can say you believe God is your priority—but you avoid worship in church for sports, for shopping trips, for family times, for sleep. You prove you are your own priority. You can say Jesus is precious to you, but you do not care for widows and orphans in their distress, you ignore the cries of the poor and you don’t care about the immigrants in your land (all these people are, according to Scripture, the ones whom the Christian will care for, having been born again and taking up the same priorities God has). You can say you love Jesus, but your Bible is unread. You see, your actions reveal your core beliefs.
 
To say you believe in God means that you meditate on all His attributes. He is love. He is holy. He is good. He is just. He is patient. (He is so much more, but you get the idea.) Notice that His love does not override His justice. For love to have shape or meaning, it must be defined. There is a circle of those who are loved and respond to the love of God and another circle of those who are loved by God but those in that other circle hate Him. God demonstrates His love in this way: you have life from Him. You have breath from Him. You live in His beautiful world. You have food from Him. All your suffering is purposeful. You have joys that are courtesy of His goodness. You enjoy seasons as a sign of His blessing. Now, how will you respond? Those who believe in Jesus are so transformed by their gratitude to God. For believers all of life is a response of thanksgiving to Him. Those who want the presents from God, but not His presence, will seek to hoard the blessings but by their actions prove they hate the Giver of every good gift.
 
Do you believe in Jesus? How does you life prove this? How do your interactions with others, even your enemies, prove this?
 
Oh, God, my Father, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You. When I rise from my Bible reading, from times of prayer, let my belief in Jesus be proved by my interactions with people. Spirit of God, help me in every areas of my lfe, in every part of the day, to be utterly dedicated to Jesus. Amen.
 
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