There was a good king who sincerely loved the people of his land, but an enemy snuck in and deceived the people to think that the king did not love them. The enemy convinced the people that the king was witholding good things from them and that they should defect and rebel against the king, and so all of the people of the land chose to become enemies of the king. The penalty for being a traitor to the king was banishment from the land, and the price to be reinstated as a citizen again was 1000 years' wages, more than anyone could ever pay. But the king genuinely loved the people, so the king sent his son, the prince, to pay the price for all of the people in the land and to leave a notice of payment in the king's official court for each and every person, and he sent heralds to announce to all people that their reinstatement had been paid for. The king required that each rebel return to him with a white flag of surrender, humbly apologize for rebelling, thank him for paying the price of reinstatement, and make an oath of allegiance to the king.
(This was my first attempt at writing a short story to capture some of John 3, but it doesn't emphasize enough the magnitude of sacrifice.)
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.
John 3:16-17, 36 NIV
Father, thank you for loving me so much. May my life tell your story. I love you.
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