An update from Rob Van Wey on his missionary work with Soldiers in North Carolina.

"For God so loved the world."

One of the most familiar passages out of the Christian Bible, this passage is always appropriate! In creation, "For God so loved the world." In good times and bad, "For God so loved the world." In life and death, "For God so loved the world." In all situations, the message of God's eternal love for us all can bring comfort, guidance, and joy. God loves us all!

Especially in times like the Christmas season, is the message ever appropriate. A man and his very pregnant wife are looking for a place to stay in a strange land. No room in the in; a bed in a backroom stall; a piercing cry of a newborn boy in the middle of a moonlit night – God loves and has brought about a miracle! Not just the miracle of birth, of course – this birth was special! This baby was "the Christ Child." God, 'in the flesh;' God was moving to save man from his own sin, and self-destructive ways. In the Christ-Child the eternal Creator came as an innocent child, putting to the test the phrase, "For God so loved the world."

The Creator-God, in the flesh, has come to earth! The Creator has come to re-create, to give new life – to save!

This is God's promise: "He was wounded and crushed for our sin. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed." Isaiah 53: Jesus came and lived, preached, suffered, and died so that we might live. From that first creation story, this was God's plan!

This is Jesus' testimony: "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever." John 6 Jesus made the fantastic claim – "I who speak to you am he." He was more than just a preacher or prophet, as many have said – He was, and is, the Savior of all!

This is the witness of scripture: "Once for all time, he took blood into that most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it, he secured our salvation forever." Hebrews 9, the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, was God's plan; this is how he would cleanse us from our sin! No magic trick, of course – this was an act of a loving God, giving himself to save the humanity that he had created and strayed from Him.

"For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." This is the story 'behind' the Christmas story and the reason for it all. God's loves us, and that is the reason for the wonderful celebration!

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