God’s Greatest Gift
John 3:16–21
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son. John 3:16
One reason Jesus Christ is the greatest of God’s gifts to fallen man is that he is perfectly suited to the needs of fallen man. Nothing else is! What are the needs of man? What are your needs?
Your first need is for a sure word from God, for knowledge of God. Jesus is the answer to that need, for it is Jesus alone who brings us the knowledge of who God is, what he is like, and what he desires for mankind. This is why Jesus is called the Word so many times in John’s writings. Do you want to know what God is like? If so, do not spend your time reading the books of men. Do not think that you will find out by meditating. Look to Jesus Christ. Where will you find him? You will find him in the pages of the Bible. There you will find the strength, mercy, wisdom, and compassion that are the essence of God’s character.
Your second great need is for a Savior. We do not merely have a need for sure knowledge. We have knowledge of many things but we are unable to live up to our knowledge. We are sinners. Consequently, we not only need a sure word from God, we need a Savior. Jesus is the Savior. He died to save you from sin and from yourself. Do you know him as Savior?
Finally, we have those needs that are part and parcel of living a finite sinful life. Psychiatrist Erich Fromm suggests that man is confronted with three dilemmas. The first is the dilemma of life versus death. We want to live but we all die. Jesus is the answer to that problem, for he gives eternal life to all who believe on him (John 11:25–26). The second of Fromm’s dilemmas is the dilemma of the individual and the group. Jesus answers that problem too, for he has come to break down all walls and to make of his followers one new man, which is his mystical body (Eph. 2:14–16). The last of Fromm’s dilemmas is the one arising from the conflict between our aspirations and our actual achievements. We all fall short of what we would like to be and believe ourselves intended to be. Jesus promises to make us all that God created us to be in the first place. We are to be conformed to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:29).
The Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that God has ever offered or could ever offer to the human race. Are you indifferent? Or do you respond to the offer, joining the millions of others who have believed in Christ with all their heart and mind and who now say, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15)?
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.