Jesus Loves You

A Drifted Log Message

"Jesus loves you"

I took this photo a few months ago, when my husband and I were walking along a beach in Northern Oregon. It was a beautiful sunny day; but there was a very strong wind. We found shelter beside a makeshift driftwood structure, apparently assembled on a windy day. It was cozy to sit on this log out of the wind and warmed by the sun. I snapped the picture just before we left.

“Jesus loves you”. How could that have any meaning at all for people today? It's been so long since Jesus walked the mountains and valleys of the Holy Land of modern day Israel. How could He love you or I today? What was so extraordinary about him that we would still be talking about Him today over 2,000 years later?  Who was He? Was He born to an important family of the day? Not really. His parents were Joseph and Mary, simple people from the small village of Nazareth. Was He an important religious our political leader? Not really. Why did historians even mention Him?



“Jesus loves you”. It has been written so much, even on driftwood at the beach. Yet, without any further explanation as to why that statement is important, perhaps it has lost it’s meaning with many people. What is the real significance to that statement? Who was Jesus Christ, really? And why should it matter to us 2,000 years later? What could this bearded man in a long robe with sandals have say to us in a such a different and modern age of amazing communication resonating over the whole world?

Jesus had a dear friend named John. He was one of Jesus' inner circle of apostles. John actually lived longer than Jesus and his other apostles. In his later years he reflected back on who Jesus was and the significance of His life. He wrote this in a book referred to as the Gospel of John. The first 3 verses are very curious and enigmatic. The first time I read them I was 19. I had no clue what they meant.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that was made. 

He was in the beginning with God.”

John 1:1-4 NIV

What  was John  saying? Who was the Word? I was confused at first. This verse is speaking of the beginning of time, of The Word being with God and actually was God. And most shocking of all, God actually created everything through the Word.  So who was the Word? Could it be Jesus... The bearded man who came from Galilee 2,000 years ago?  Reading further in this section we find this:

"(So) the Word became flesh (human) and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father, 

full of grace and truth... 

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God 

and is in closest relationship with the Father, 

has made him known. 

(He was near to the Fathers heart. He has revealed God to us.) 

John 1:14, 18 NIV (NLT)

This was shocking to me at the time. I didn't know anything about the deity of Jesus Christ. I thought he was a great man, an amazing teacher and was kind and loving. I knew about him as "Saviour", though I wasn't sure of what that meant either. But was he God? Was he the one spoken of in these passages above? It was Jesus, in fact the whole rest of the Gospel of John, and the New Testament is about Jesus and who He was! So why did God send His precious son into this wild, crazy world of ours?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." 

John 3:16 NIV

OK, so God loved the world so much that He was willing to give His one and only Son to us as a sacrifice. When he says the world, he doesn't mean the planet, but the people, that is us, people, even us people living today!!! So God gave His Son, because He loved us, human beings from the beginning of time until right now, this very minute. Beautiful love, awesome love, But what about Jesus. The message on the driftwood says, "Jesus Loves You". Did Jesus love us, even you and I, here and now?

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love... 

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." 

John 15:9, 12, 13 NIV

So there it is. "Jesus Loves You". He loved humanity, every person from the beginning of time til the very end. He proved His love by laying down His life for every person who would believe in Him and receive the offer of eternal life. Life in this age is not easy. We feel pain, both physical and emotional... many times the pain is caused by mean things people do to us. It seems like evil is all around us and is happening all over the world. It is very stressful. And then of course, nobody is perfect, in fact we hurt each other, up close and personal, even the people who are the closest.
We feel physical pain, we get sick and the people we love die. So much sorrow and grief. Then someday we ourselves will die too. The Bible tells us that we live in the bondage of the fear of death. Somehow we know that we are not supposed to die. The whole idea is abhorrent and disturbing. I remember the first time I realized what death was. I was a small child, probably about 6 years old. I was coming home from the school yard and there on the ground was a dead cat. Poor little thing. It's fur was falling off and I could see it's shriveling muscles, tendons and bones. It's eyeballs were dry and sinking into the eye sockets. I didn't even want to see what was happening inside. Then I realized this could happen to people I loved, my mom and dad and even me. We are all valuable, precious to those who love us and precious to God.

The problem of evil is so huge that there is not one regular human being that could solve it. Imagine how much trouble the world would be in if we all could live for ever! That's why God sent His son, to bring a permanent solution for the people He created. You see, Jesus took our place. The death we deserved, He died in our place that whoever would believe in Him would not perish eternally. When Jesus died, the penalty for each of our (believers) sin was satisfied, so we are set free from the penalty of sin and death. Then, this is the important part, He raised from the dead and is now seated in the Heavenly Realm with the Father forever. When we believe in Him and His sacrifice for our sins we will not perish forever. Even though, our bodies will decay when we die, there will come a day when Christ will return and bring in the Kingdom of God, the New Heavens and New Earth. We too will then resurrect from the dead and have new bodies that will never degenerate nor decay. For we will live forever with God in a place of no sin. This is what that new eternal life will be like:

"Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,  for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, 

" I am making everything new!" 

Revelation 21: 1-5

Oh I long for that day. In the mean time I will rest in the love of God and trust Him in my life.
What does it mean to believe in Him? Simply put, to rely on Him, trust Him and cling to Him.

John said later in his gospel:

"Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, 

which are not recorded  in this book. 

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 

the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." 

John 20: 30, 31 NIV

Hope to see you there in eternity!