"Knowing God's Love"

 "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me." (John 17:25 KJV)

  "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." (Hebrews 3:19-20 NLT)

 To start with, there must be the realization that we are guilty of sin, that we have no way to cleanse the sin out of our lives, and we will be punished for those sins, unless they are removed from us. Once we can see those facts, believing that there is punishment awaiting us, if we were to die in our sins, then we can be able to know why Jesus was sent by the Father, and just how much the Father loved us! 

 Before I was saved, I really had no clue about the facts of sin. I knew what sin was, I knew that I had sins in my life; but I never realized that God had made a way for me to be cleansed and set free from my sin! I had just imagined that we would all be judged, and that the chips would fall where they may. Some would be allowed into heaven, and the rest would be sent to hell. I figured that hell was where I would most likely end up; and didn't give it much more thought. 

 I had knowledge of the Bible, had read it from time to time, and had some reference to the Gospel, but had never really connected to dots. Even knowing and memorizing John 3:16, as plain and simple as that verse declares God's love for the lost, it never really struck me as the solution; it was mostly just a verse in the Bible that had shown me why Jesus was crucified, but not who He was, or how powerful His blood actually was for taking away my sin. 

 Those that are lost, cannot see the answer to what they need; even if they know that need is to be saved, they will try any other way, but that which God has provided, because they just can't see how it makes sense! Those that died in the wilderness because they did not look upon the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up, they too did not believe that it would work, so they didn't even try to come out of their tent. 

 Again, I will share what I was asked, about almost 10 years ago: "Why would God need to come down here and die on a cross?" Can you see the answer? The answer will show that you know God's love...

""How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked. Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe me if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. "There is no judgement against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son."" (John 3:9-18 NLT)