John 3:14-19 "14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil."
Many people know John 3:16, it is likely one of the most famous verses from the entire Bible. Believers, agnostics, atheists, other religious believers, and even anti-religion people all know of this verse. You see it at football games, on campuses, at political rallies, on street signs, on bumper stickers, and in many other places. But how often have we zoomed out slightly to take in the full context of what's being said?
This devotional is supposed to stay small, so I'll endeavor not to preach this as a sermon, but rather want to observe three key points about this scripture:
1) The first contextual clue is found in verses 14 & 15. It says that the Son of Man (Jesus) must be lifted up so that people will have eternal life. This is a key idea that reminds us that it is not about us, but rather about Him. We save no one, He saves them, all we are allowed to do, by His grace, is to make the introduction. Are we?
2) God did not send His Son to judge the world, the world was already judged, and it was/is found guilty. God sent His Son for the sole and express purpose of saving the world from that condemnation. God is not the author of our damnation, we are, He is the author of our salvation. Only He can supply a way out since it is against Him that we have sinned.
3) The judgement is that men love darkness rather than light. In fact, they love their darkness so much, that they have rejected the light and replaced it with the worship of darkness because it allows them to live however they want, regardless of the will of He who created them. Why reject the plainly obvious reality of God? Simple, people do not want to live by His Word, and rather want to live for their own sake and pleasure. This is why the scripture is clear when it speaks of their justified condemnation.
There is much more to be said about this, so if you want more, you will have to tune in to our services which start the first Sunday of August. This is just a bit of the kinds of topics we will be covering and teaching about.
May you be blessed in your walk as you grow closer to Messiah, and conform daily to be a little more like Him.
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