“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Pure, purity, purified – these words are used to promote a variety of products we use daily such as drinking water, vitamins, cosmetics, even “pure oxygen therapy” and many others. The claim, of course, is that the purest essence of the particular product is better for you. If the product is too diluted or it has too many additives, it will lose its strength; it will not be as effective. What is the purest essence, the core, the fundamental message that encapsulates the Good News? The purest essence of the Gospel is simply this – that Jesus Christ, being the one and only Son of the one true God, come to this earth so that by his transcendent birth, perfect life, sacrificial death on the cross and glorious resurrection, we can be reconciled to God here on earth and in the life to come. What an awesome promise! Believe it, confess it, accept it, and live into it!

FATHER IN HEAVEN, THANK YOU FOR LOVING US, FOR LOVING ME SO MUCH THAT YOU SENT YOUR SON, JESUS CHRIST, TO LIVE, DIE AND LIVE AGAIN ETERNALLY FOR ME. I AM OVERWHELMED BY SO MUCH LOVE AND SOMETIMES IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE COULD LOVE ME THIS MUCH. HELP ME TO TRUST IN JESUS’ SACRIFICE SO THAT I TOO WILL JOIN HIM IN PARADISE. AMEN.

-Shared by Rev. Nora Gonzalez