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 (John 3:16).
Much of our life we have heard the saying, “life is precious,” and thus we have been taught to value and revere the sanctity of life. It has become for most of us, a cultural norm, an accepted truth, that is unquestioned, but why is life so precious?
John 3:16 brings insight into this probing question of all humanity, and it is here where we find that living and Life may not be defined the same by God. Our Christian faith from beginning to end is about the Eternal Life, Jesus Christ. He is the epitome of Life, bundled and wrapped in a human body by our Creator and Father God! John 3:16 reads, “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.” God, the greatest giver of all time, gave Himself to us in “Christ Jesus, the greatest gift of all!” Never have truer words been spoken! Not one of us comes from a cosmic accident! If we were to have come from happenstance, life would not carry such great value and such high regard.
Life is precious because its author is precious. Life is of highest value because God who gave Himself on that first Christmas is the Most High. Life is eternal because Jesus, our Savior, the Son of God, is everlasting Life! The apostle Peter, who was one of Christ’s closest disciples, says, He is “rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious […] elect and precious” (1 Peter 2:4,6). Countless poor, bankrupt, sad, and lonely people walk by and reject the greatest gift of all looking for the meaning of life. God so loved us that He gave us His Son; His Son so loved us that He gave us His own life. Our gift of new life is now similar to His because it is His own Life. By virtue of His eternal essence, Jesus the author of Life, is why Life is precious.