And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
This passage comes in the middle of a conversation Jesus is having with Nicodemus... you may want check out the verses before this. It is a pretty dense and heavy passage when you look at the whole thing and not just "pull out" John 3:16-17 as is so often done...
Can't wait to hear from you!
2 comments:
Am not sure I totally get the "being born again" thing. I understand that Jesus died for me and this is a gift of God for my salvation, and that I am saved by Grace, but what about the children that die? Even those that die without having the opportunity to know Jesus? Maybe it is hard for me to understand as I was raised in church, and I don't have the concept of not ever having God in my heart. I know this is a good thing, but to never know God and then to know him has to be an awesome experience. Actually, I am not too fond of the darkness ..especially getting up at 4 a.m. and letting Oscar out and seeing the bugs scattering all along the sidewalk. Seems like all the yucky bugs come out at night...Kind of like us humans and hiding our dark side. Then I look up and see the moon and stars, and can see God's light emanating in the different hues of the spectrum through the shadows lighting my way. God is my light, but he expects me to never let it go dark.
I especially love the part of eternal life...I carry that in my heart just knowing that Bob is there waiting on me.
Lynne,
From my perspective, not having God in my life (or not knowing God was there) until about 13 years ago, I felt like I had been born again when I started my own journey. I felt my life had started anew - like my whole take on life had changed. These last 13 years for me have been a real adventure. I love experiencing God and really looking for God in each day's events. Sometimes I find a real treasure, and some days are sort of hum-drum. On those hum-drum days, I chalk it up to my vision or my hearing not being so good. I know God is there, but I often feel like I've missed an opportunity. As for the children and those who don't know God, someone once explained to me that Jesus shows up even at the very last moment with the "invitation of a lifetime", and those acceptances even at the last moment count just as much as everyone else's. But nothing compares to the everyday relationship that most of us have. At this point in my life, I can't even imagine not knowing God now. I used to feel like I missed so much not knowing God long ago, but for me, I just love how I was "found". And now, I find myself eagerly waiting for "chapter 2" in my life, and whatever that may bring. As for the "great reunion" when we all are together again, what a celebration that will be!
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