The Eskimo Chief and John 3:16

Early in the last century Hans Egede, a Danish missionary, left his native land to preach the gospel to the Eskimos of Greenland. He labored and toiled for years seeking to instruct them in the truths of Christianity, and yet he saw no apparent results from his arduous and self-denying efforts. Eventually he became so discouraged and depressed by the indifference of the people that he decided to leave the country. The text he selected from which to preach his farewell sermon was, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain." Isaiah 49:4.

Egede was succeeded at the station by Mr. Beck, another Moravian missionary. On his arrival he bagan to tell the Eskomos of God's wondrous love to the guilty sinners as revealed at Calvary's cross. When Kajarnak, the chief, heard the missionary reading the blessed and glorious words of John 3:16, he exclaimed, "Read it again." Beck read the "wonderful words of life" again and again, and Kajarnak burst into tears and wept like a child. God's holiness and righteousness did not move him; the terrors of law and of hell made no impressions on him. But the matchless grace of God in giving His only begotten Son to die that he might be eternally saved completely broke the stony heart of the Eskimo chief.

Thousands on earth praise God for John 3:16, and tens of thousands will do so in the glory. And yet no unsaved person understands the saving truth underneath the words of this "miniature gospel," as Luther delighted to call it. Every word in it is full of the deepest significance. "For God so loved the world." Then God loves you, O unsaved fellow traveler to eternity. However careless and indifferent to your eternal interests, God loves you. He hates your sin with a perfect hatred, but loves you with an unmeasured wealth of love. "Prove it," you say. That can be easily done.

"That He gave His only begotten Son." Loving and giving are inseparable. Here, then, is love that "passeth knowledge."

Why did God give Christ to die?" may be asked. That you "should not perish, but have everlasting life." Sinners are perishing, fast perishing in their sins, yet it is not God's will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

It is His desire that "all men" should be saved (1 Timothy 2:4-6). At an infinite cost He has provided salvation for all. Everlasting life as a free gift can be obtained as you read these lines, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47.

"That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." How grand and glorious! Could anything be simpler and freer? No works of merit are necessary. No tears need to be shed, no prayers be made in order to possess the pardoning mercy of God. Salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9. "Whosoever believeth in Him" who made atonement for sin and paid the ransom for our deliverance "shall not perish but have everlasting life." Everlasting life is not given to those who believe in their believing, nor to those who believe in themselves. We are not saved because of our believing, nor on account of anything we may do or feel. Through believing on Christ who gave Himself a ransom for us, and "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26), we obtain eternal life.

"Whosoever" takes in all kinds and classes of sinners. None are excluded. "I am not sorry enough," says one; "I am not anxious enough," says another. God is "anxious" to save you now. Whatever you have or haven't, whatever you are or aren't, "whosoever" embraces you in its grasp. You are invited and commanded to believe on Christ, without any qualification whatever. YOUR NEED IS YOUR CLAIM.

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 12:18. Don't delay. Time is short. Eternity is drawing near. The Lord Jesus is coming, and you may be left behind for judgment. Let the Saviour into your heart. May you, before you lay these words aside, be enabled to say, "God loved - God gave - I believe - and I have everlasting life."


by A. M., from a gospel paper