Hi, this is Kathleen Diaz, greeting you today. “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, a verse very well known. We learned this verse when we passed through Sabbath School. How great is the love of the Father? The Father that is described in this verse gave everything He had.
We see our children, and we see them happy, we are happy. If we see them crying, we cry with them. Because we feel their emotions as if they were ours. God knew that the only way of redeeming humankind was to give His own son. What type of love the Father has for this world? How could it be possible that God loved us so much that He gave His only son for us? Unless we put this into perspective. Unless we’re able to find a point of reference of what this type of love is. We cannot understand the magnitude of this love. This verse will help us understand the extent the Father went with His love.
It was the year 1992, and it was the year of the Olympics. The Olympics were going to be taking place in Barcelona. Derek Redmond had qualified for the 400m race. He had trained, and he had put in all the necessary effort. Dad was going to be at his side. He was going to be there with him. Throughout his career, Dad had encouraged him and continued to give him all his support. It was the best day of his career. The Olympics is a great event. It’s what our athletes train for.
As the race was going to start, the gun signaled the start, and he had a great start, but suddenly his hamstring snapped. He tried to continue the race, but it was just impossible to continue. He tried to continue, but the pain was just unbearable. He was at the track defeated, crying, as there was nothing else to do. He started hearing voices that were saying, “Security, security, there’s a man in the track; let’s remove him.” He couldn’t understand what those words meant. But suddenly, he felt someone tapping him on his shoulder. Someone carrying him up —and it was the father. Nothing was going to stop the father from helping his son. He managed pass security, and he managed to get everyone away from him. Because he had only one objective: to rescue his son. Derek started crying because he could feel the defeat. He could feel the pain. He had suffering in his heart. But his father was there to support him, to be at his side no matter the cost.
When we are going through this difficult phase of pain, the Father will be there at your side. Just as Derek, he was there sitting on the track, with the unknown of what would happen. He felt the strength of his father. The father that was able to leave everything aside and go and carry him. When you have lost all the strength in your legs, when you feel there is no more strength in your body, the Father will carry you across the finish line.
In Romans 8:15 it says, “and we cry Abba, Father.” The word Abba here is asking us to connect with the Lord, so we can connect with Him deeply so He can reveal His love to us. The love of the Father is endless, and you are just so precious to Him. You are so precious that He went through great lengths to redeem us. He gave His life for you and for me. I hope that this verse of John 3:16 stays in our heart and in our minds, and on our daily living, so we can know that someone cares for us, that someone is crying out with us, and someone is ready to come to our rescue.