“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).
Christ gave “a voluntary sacrifice . . . He chose to give back the scepter into the Father’s hands, and to step down from the throne of the universe . . . that He might dwell among us, and make us familiar with His divine character and life”
(The Desire of Ages, 22, 23).
God’s greatest gift, like all gifts, was a choice. And some choices, some gifts, call for a sacrifice. For the Father and Son, that choice to give, to sacrifice was borne out of love, setting the pattern for those sacrificial gifts AFM missionaries and you choose to make for the perishing and unreached of the world.
Jesus placed more value on rescuing the perishing than remaining by His Father’s side in heaven and enjoying the fellowship of angels. He made a choice. He would not leave us to perish without us knowing how much He loved us and doing all to save us. He sacrificed His life for ours to give us abundant life now and eternal life to come. Yet when He comes back to Earth, He will gain brothers and sisters and mothers, the same as He promises to each of us when we enter into His field of labor.
Likewise, AFM missionaries make choices to leave families and friends, jobs and homes, and all that is familiar to live amongst the unreached, striving as Christ did to communicate the love and salvation of God found in the scriptures. And you, AFM supporters, give generously of time and money, praying for our missionaries and the unreached and making sacrifices so others enter the kingdom. Together you will inherit eternity where all things are made new — uniting the family of Father and Son, angels and unfallen beings, the Holy Spirit and our brothers and sisters from near and far and across the ages.
May God bless you and yours as you reflect on His great gift and prepare to share it with others in 2025.
