Issue #1,172 September 7,2004 Most Wonderful Sentence

 

My craft is writing, some would call me a wordsmith. Like any other craftsman, my skills have hopefully grown over the years. Some of the pieces I turn out are masterpieces, others are pretty mundane to say the least. I'm not qualified to judge which is which.

I'm far from the most brilliant writer who ever lived, but with the blessing of God, I've turned out some work that He has used in incredible ways.

There have been pieces which I have believed to be absolutely brilliant writing that have fallen flat if measured by reader responses. There have been others I have written which I'm almost embarrassed to have put my name to, that have flooded our inbox with responses sharing how God used that particular Gleanings to change people's lives.

I'm a lover of the pun, even bad word plays often bring a smile to my face. Several years ago I took a grammar course just for the fun of it. That's either a love of the written word or insanity (or a bit of both).

If you've read Gleanings for any length of time, you will know that I collect Christian books. It's always a delight when I go to my mailbox and see a reader has sent me their copy of a favourite for my collection.

As a lover of words, and a wordsmith I sometimes ponder strange things. This morning, I was wondering what the most wonderful sentence in the entire world was. The following leapt to mind.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIV

For many people, it's an old hat sentence. They've heard it so many times they fail to even think about what it says. For others, it's fiction. There are undoubtedly better-constructed sentences and sentences that paint more vivid word pictures, but none compares to the message packed into these few words.

There is an entire 45-minute sermon to be done on this one sentence, but I can only scratch the surface this morning. I do believe I'll have to write the sermon though for another day.

It's a picture of what God thinks of us. He loves us so much that He scarified His Son for us. Any parent knows that's a love beyond all measure. That's not trifling affection or infatuation. It's a deep passionate love, the kind of love every one of us yearns to be the recipient of. It's the love a parent feels for their newborn child magnified an infinite number of times.

He gave His son so that whoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life. Christianity is the only faith where your salvation is not by works. It comes only from trust and faith. Since none of us is perfect, there is no other faith that can give us the hope that Christianity does.

Everlasting life, what a concept! I don't think that we can even begin to fathom what that means. The times since the creation of the universe seems so long ago as to be beyond our comprehension, yet it's a drop in the bucket compared to all of eternity.

What a wonderful sentence. What an incredible God. What delightful love, What marvellous hope.

Until next time, take some time to meditate on the truth in those few words then give God the praise and glory He's due.

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

Be blessed

Kevin

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you.

HELP FOR THE HURTING

That sentence contains the most wonderful news there is. God loves you!

God wants to forgive you and have you spend eternity with Him. You don't have to "do" anything or "be" anyone special. All you have to do is believe. Will you?

If you want to know how to do that simply email us and we'll send you some Bible verses that will explain it to you.

You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart; admitting you need God's help; turning away from your sin and saying a prayer along the lines of the one below. There isn't any "magic" in the prayer; it's simply a way to open up to the gift that Jesus already bought for you with His very life. You can't earn it. You don't deserve it. He freely offers it to all who will accept it.

Jesus:

I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord.

Amen

If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. It's not the end of the process. It is the beginning of a wonderful journey to become more like Jesus. It's your starting point.

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