What is the purest love you have ever seen or experienced? Real love is demonstrated by actions such as serving, giving, and helping rather than merely speaking words of love. Real love does not expect to receive anything in return.
It is definitely hard to find a lot of that kind of love in this world. Right?
Jesus, the Son of God whom you can read about in the Holy Bible, offers you real love that never ends. Along with God the Father, He created you. He truly loves you with an everlasting love and wants to give you incredible gifts – such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version) and after your time on earth is completed, He offers you the incredible opportunity to live forever with Him (Matthew 19:28-30). He offers eternal life.
We are called to believe in Jesus (John 11:25-26) and dedicate ourselves to following Him (Matthew 10:37-39) instead of our own way. That means we are to believe what the Holy Bible says — that He is the Son of God who was promised in the Old Testament — and choose to follow His way rather than the enemy’s way.
Our vicious enemy Satan rebelled against Jesus. His purpose is to “steal, kill and destroy” you and me (John 10:7-10). He entices us to follow him so we will rebel against Jesus in three ways, which the Bible refers to as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
Here’s an example of each. He tempts us to fulfill the desires of our flesh in ways that will harm us and others (lust of the flesh). He tries to get us to desire so badly the things that we see that we will do anything to get them, including evil acts (lust of the eyes). He wants us to be so focused on money that we forget that He is the true source of our provision when we follow Him (pride of life).
When Jesus came to earth in the form of a man, which scholars say was between 6 BC and 4 BC, He was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) He was obedient in every way, loving in every way.
Because He created us, He knows that it is impossible for us to be perfect. He knows that we will do wrong. So instead of making us pay for our wrongdoing, He paid for it
With
His
Life.
Evil people did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God even though He tried to show them. He did miracles (Mark 6:2). He healed people who had been sick for many years (Matthew 9:21-22). He fed crowds of thousands with a small amount of food (Mark 6:35-44). But they still did not believe.
These people could not stand Jesus so they sought to kill Him.
Jesus could have stopped them, but He didn’t. He laid down His life willingly (John 10:17-18). He “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), where He knew He would be killed. He even told His followers what would happen.
These evil people tortured Him, insulted Him, spat on Him and nailed Him to a cross to die (Matthew 27:27-56). He went through it all so we would not have to receive the punishment we deserve for our own wrongdoing, called “sin.” He also promised to send His Holy Spirit to live inside us to help us (John 14:15-27).
His death was the ultimate expression of His love for you and me because He stepped in to pay for our sins so we would not have to live with our enemy Satan for eternity, as our sins deserve.
But He did not stay in the grave!
On the third day after His burial, He rose up out of the grave (Matthew 28:1-10).
Many people saw Him after He arose (John 21:1-14) and many saw Him ascend into heaven (Luke 24:50-53).
Now that I believe . . .
Now that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 10:36-38, John 6:35-40), make a decision to live for HIM and not for self.
Living for Him means we choose to repent (to change our mind and hate our past sins, which are wrongdoings against God). These behaviors or attitudes do not glorify God and He will help us be FREE FROM THEM! Here are some examples of sins.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
- Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- I Timothy 1:9-11 “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”
- 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
- Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
You can be FREED from all of these sins. But not on your own. You and I need Jesus!
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Have you made a decision to follow Jesus — to declare Him your Lord? Obey Jesus’ command to be immersed in water (called baptism) in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). Your sins will be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39, Colossians 2:9-12).
Jesus forgives us. He has paid for all our sins.
Our commitment leads us to continue learning about Him and obeying His teachings, using the gifts He gives us for His glory (rather than for our glory) and dedicating our lives to Him, which is demonstrated by obeying the two greatest commands, loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:28-31).
Jesus tells us He will be with Christians always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
He wants us to build relationships with other believers so we can worship Him together (Acts 2:42-47), encourage and be encouraged (Hebrews 10:24-25), serve and be served and use all the other gifts He so abundantly gives us. We do this by becoming a part of a church family. He helps us share His pure love with those who don’t know Him and to lead them to follow Him.
By devoting our lives to Him and obeying His teachings, we will live a life of love. We will have a higher purpose than any other purpose on earth.
And He has promised that His followers will live FOREVER with him (John 14:1-3). So after this life is over, we know that there is a better life waiting for us. Our time on earth is a preparation time.
Jesus offers you a pure, everlasting love.
Will you accept His most generous offer?
If you wish to learn more about this lesson or become a Christian, we will seek to put you in contact with someone who can help you if you email us your name, city, state and country at NLBIministry@gmail.com.
Women of Worth Worldwide 