His tie loosened around his neck and sport coat thrown casually over his shoulder, the young father walked his four-year-old daughter down an inner-city sidewalk. The little girl wore pigtails tied in ribbons, and a jumpsuit. With her little hand held snugly in his bigger hand, he was taking his child to McDonald’s for a bite to eat. They walked past dilapidated buildings and empty lots strewn with broken bottles.
Suddenly, a car careened around the corner. The car swerved wildly from side to side. Making a loud bang, it sideswiped a parked vehicle. Instead of slowing to a stop, the car sped up. The father saw the unthinkable happen. The car turned towards him and his daughter. He had only a split second to react. He grabbed his little girl and turned his back to the onrushing car. It was the last thing he ever did. The car’s tires hit the curb, flew across the sidewalk, and struck the father. He died instantly, but his little girl, shielded by his body, escaped serious injury.
Tragically, the little girl will grow up without a father, but by his action to save her she can never doubt his love. A father’s love is priceless and irreplaceable. Do you know that God, the Father, loves you with an incredible love? Before the universe was ever made He knew men and women would leave the paths of righteousness and rush headlong into sin and darkness. He made the decision to send His Son that they might have a way to be saved. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)).
When the Father gave His Son, He could give no more. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (Matt. 17:55While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5)). The Son was beloved because He was ever perfectly obedient to the Father’s will. His perfect obedience led Him to the cross where He offered His life as a sacrifice for sin.
Every soul who believes on Christ will be shielded from the certain judgment that must overtake all those who remain in their sins. On the cross, in His own body, the Lord Jesus bore the punishment for the sins of all those who would come to Him in faith. There is no other way to be shielded from the consequence of our sins but by believing on the heaven-sent Savior. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)).
Because the Father was willing to send the Son to Calvary’s cross, no one need ever doubt His love. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:3232He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)).
His love is a living love. He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead to live in the power of an endless life. From heaven He is seeking people who are dead in sins to make them His living children forever. Those who die in faith will have their bodies raised to a new life, never again subject to pain, death or harm. It is the Father’s pleasure to give to all who believe on His Son the gift of eternal life. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)).
His love is a love which will never cease, a love which death can never dim, a love that can bring the hope of heaven to those who otherwise would never think of it. His love is a love which no soul should ever do without. Will you not come to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, that you might know a father’s love?