Wednesday, December 7—John 3:16-21
“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.” John 3:16 was one of my mother’s favorite verses as well as one of mine. This verse has been called “Everybody’s Text.” While I enjoy studying scripture, this verse is all one needs to understand and follow to have eternal life. It spells out that the initiative of salvation lies with God. It was God who sent his Son, and he sent his Son because he loved humankind. It tells us that the mainspring of the being of God is love.
John 3:16, a statement of the width and depth of God’s love, is followed by verses that condemn. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3: 17-21. Many times we tend to want to blame other things or people for the results of choices that we make. When we are offered a choice for beauty and truth and we reject it, then we have condemned ourselves. When we are offered a choice of eternal salvation and we reject it, we are condemned. By one’s reaction to Jesus Christ, that person stands revealed. God loves each one of us and our hope lies in this hope.
Frank Davis
