GOD SO LOVED

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)

This has always been one of my favorite bible verses. Here, Jesus tells us how much God truly loves us. GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD. When he says “WORLD” here, he’s referring to the people in the world. He loved us SO. This word SO here means so much. He Loved us so much that HE GAVE… HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. He had a plan to save us, so he GAVE his SON to be our substitute, to come to earth, suffer, and die for our sins.

When Adam sinned, by disobeying God, he died spiritually. He passed that spiritually dead condition down to his children, and to all his descendants. Every person who has ever been born on earth is spiritually dead. This is the first death; Spiritual death. (1 Corinthians 15:22, Ephesians 2:5) 

We are all sinners and sinners sin. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is Death. Wages are what we earn. It’s our payment. It’s what we deserve. We deserve to die because we are sinners. Since we’re already spiritually dead when we're born, because of Adams's sin, this death we earn by continually sinning is a literal death. Eternal death. For more information on that, read FIRST AND SECOND DEATH, FIRST AND SECOND RESURRECTION.

God doesn’t want us to die. He doesn’t want to give us what we deserve and destroy us. He loves us, and he wants us to live with him for eternity, so he GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON to take our punishment for us. It should have been us on that cross, but instead, Jesus suffered and died in our place. To claim this substitution, all we have to do is accept it and we won’t have to suffer the second death.

God GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON… The Bible teaches that Jesus is God(John 1:1-3). He has always existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 11:4,7). All three of them were there in the beginning, and Jesus is called the Son twice in the old testament (Proverbs 30:4, Psalm 2:12). He was not created, as some believe. He was begotten as a human by God when he was placed in the womb of a virgin named Mary, about two thousand years ago (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:30-35 — John 1:1-2,14, Hebrews 10:5, Psalm 2:7) For more information on that, read ONE GOD.  

He GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT (So that) WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM… Whoever means anyone. No one is left out. WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM… To believe in Jesus takes action. James, the Lord’s brother, said, the devils also believe, and tremble (James 2:19). Just believing he exists is not enough, though. Jesus says you have to believe IN him or ON him. It’s the same thing. That means to trust him. We must allow him to be the Lord and Master of our lives. If you want a mechanic to work on your car, you have to give him the key. Believing involves trust. It also involves obedience. It requires action. It’s simple really. Rom 10:9 says, “if you will confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.”

WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH… Perish means just that, Perish. To die or be killed. To disappear or be destroyed: to cease to exist. (Webster’s Dictionary)

In the Strong’s Concordance, the definition of the Greek word which was translated into the English word PERISH is “to destroy completely.” That’s what will happen to everyone who refuses to accept the free gift of salvation God offers us. Not because he is evil, or vindictive, but because he must destroy sin. Everyone who chooses to hang on to sin will be destroyed along with it. (*)The wages of sin is death, and he loves us so much that he died in our place. He took our punishment so we wouldn’t have to. There was no other way. He has done all he can. Now it’s up to each individual to accept his substitute or reject it.

BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. In this verse, Everlasting means just what it sounds like. Everlasting; lasting forever. The same Greek word translated into the English word “Everlasting” in this verse, is the same word translated into the English word “Eternal” in verse 15. This is an example of the dictionary, built into the King James Bible, which I mentioned in the post called UNDERSTANDING BIBLE TRUTH. 

The Father loves us so much that he sent his only Son from heaven, down to this earth to suffer and die in our place so every one of us could have the opportunity to live with him for eternity. Jesus loves us so much that he was willing to do it. That’s love. It’s a love that humans can’t fully grasp, but knowing that he has that kind of love for us should make us love him back. In fact, in 1 John 4:9, John says that is why we love him. “Because he loved us first.”  That’s so amazing and life is so short. We must live one day at a time, but we need to prepare for the future as well. Not just our immediate future, but our eternal future. Our destination is in our hands. No one can choose for anyone else. The choice is ours alone. If you haven’t made it yet, I encourage you to do it today. Don’t put it off. Tomorrow may be too late.

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© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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FIRST AND SECOND DEATH, FIRST AND SECOND RESURRECTION

“If you’ve been born twice you’ll only die once, but if you’ve been born only once, you will die twice.” Have you ever heard that expression? The Bible mentions two deaths and two resurrections. Everyone is born once, to a mother, when we enter this world as a baby. This is the FIRST BIRTH. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are born again. This is the SECOND BIRTH. In Revelation 20:14, we read about the SECOND DEATH. John tells us here that the SECOND DEATH is hell fire. So what about the FIRST DEATH? There are differences of opinion on this subject, so what’s the answer? The Bible doesn’t mention the FIRST DEATH by those exact words, so how can we know, without speculating, what the FIRST DEATH really is? There’s only one way. Let’s see what God says it is.

Romans 5:8 
8. But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:14
14. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all were dead:

Ephesians 2:5
5. Even when we were dead in sins, God has made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)

We were ALL DEAD. Dead in sin. Many say, “When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, he didn’t die that day like God said he would.” Yes, he did. He died spiritually. Adam was made in the sinless image of God. Then he sinned, and his son, Cain was born in the sinful image of Adam. He was born spiritually dead, and that condition has been passed down to all of Adam’s descendants. Since then, every person who is born on planet earth is born spiritually dead. This is the First Death. Keep reading.

Romans 5:12 
12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men because all have sinned:

1 Corinthians 15:22 
22. For as in Adam ALL DIE, even so, in Christ all will be made alive.

Like Adam, everyone dies physically when the body wears out or is damaged beyond repair, but the Bible refers to this as sleep. But, this verse is not referring to physical death, because the contrast is, being MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST. This death is SPIRITUAL DEATH. We are all born with a sinful nature. We are all born Spiritually Dead, and we need the sacrifice of Jesus to make us alive again. (See Ephesians 2:1-13)

What we call death, the bible refers to as sleep. That’s why Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me will never die.” (John 11:26) 
When Lazarus died Jesus said, he was asleep. (John 11:11)

When they told Jairus, the synagogue ruler, that his daughter was dead, Jesus said, “she is not dead, she is sleeping.” (Matthew 9:24, Mark 5:39, Luke 8:52)
Now, look at these verses.

Psalm 13:3 
3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God. Lighten mine eyes, lest I SLEEP the SLEEP of death;

1 Corinthians 15:51 
51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all SLEEP, but we shall all be changed,

1 Thessalonians 4:14 
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, those also who SLEEP in Jesus will God bring with him.

So God’s word says that we are all DEAD in sin because of Adam. This is the FIRST DEATH. We are born again when we accept Jesus as our Savior. This is the SECOND BIRTH.

1st BIRTH ---- Born into the world.
2nd BIRTH --- Born into Christ. (Born again)
1st DEATH --- Dead in sin (Because of Adam)
2nd DEATH -- Hell Fire

Now The Resurrection

Ephesians 2:5-6 
5. Even when we were dead in sins, [God] has made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) 
6. And has RAISED US UP together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Romans 6:4 
Therefore we are BURIED with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE.

Colossians 2:12 
BURIED with him in baptism, wherein also you have RISEN with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath RAISED him from the dead.

Colossians 2:13 
And being DEAD in your sins and the uncircumcised of your flesh, he has MADE YOU ALIVE together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

2 Corinthians 5:17 
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

John 11:25 
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet he shall live,

John 11:26 
And whoever lives and believes in me will never die…

Again, we are all DEAD in sin before we meet Jesus. When we are converted and baptized, we are BURIED with him, then RAISED UP or RESURRECTED as a new person. Spiritual Resurrection from Spiritual Death. This is the FIRST RESURRECTION.

DEAD, BURIED, AND RESURRECTED.

1st BIRTH --- Physical Birth (Born to a mother)
2nd BIRTH -- Spiritual Birth (Resurrection from Spiritual Death)
1st DEATH -- Spiritual Death (Born dead in sin, because of Adam)
2nd DEATH-- Physical Death (Hell Fire) Revelation 21:8

For more on 2nd death read Eternal Life Or Eternal Death

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https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

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