John 3: 16-21

Here it is. John 3:16! For believers and seekers, it is the best known passage in all the New Testament. For the world, it is just a confusing image that appears from time to time at a football game. We think it is common knowledge but it is actually a well kept secret.

A greater concern is the reality that most Christ followers may know John 3:16 but miss the power of 3:17! “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” The Apostle Paul would say there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Do you know how many believers feel like Jesus came to judge, find guilty, and sentence all who fall short of the glory of God? Do you know how many of us fall short? We all do! In spite of that, we have this great gift of life and the incredible responsibility of obedience. Here is the Good News…we are not alone! God sent Jesus to walk with us!

Right now our destination is a spiritual journey that will take us to the empty tomb and the celebration of Easter. But along the way we will face the struggles of feeling inadequate in prayer and frail in our attempts to serve the world. Before long we will come face to face with Good Friday where the Good News seems to be strained. But remember, God loves to turn things upside down. It is the darkness of Good Friday that brings the bright eternal light of Easter to the world.

“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.” Amen