That the World Might Be Saved

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
-- John 3:17

John loved the Lord and Jesus loved him. Because of this great love, John frequently fills his passages with more passionate imagery. You can almost feel the admiration, gratitude, awe, and love within John as he writes these words that may be considered as explanatory to the more well-known verse before it, John 3:16. God sacrificed His Son for us because He loves us. Jesus did not come to judge or convict us, nor to destroy the world. He came to offer us a means of salvation. He came to pay the ultimate price for our sins against His Father. He died and defeated death so that we might escape eternal torment and pain. And what do we have to do to take advantage of all this? John already told us: believe in Jesus Christ.

I don't wish to make too light of this. Truly believing in Christ requires us to make great sacrifices ourselves, to give up our sinful ways, to put aside the wants and desires of the flesh, to follow the teachings in the Bible. Early Christians even gave of their own lives because of their belief, because they chose to follow Christ. But is any of that too great a price to live forever with God, to avoid eternal suffering?

It is easy to see why John was filled with so much admiration, why he was so grateful, and why he was so much in awe of this most precious gift.

Father, thank You for making the ultimate sacrifice just so that we, Your sinful children, might be saved through Your Son Jesus Christ. May we never lose our sense of awe and undying appreciation when we think of this wonderful gift. Amen.