John 3:16 gets quoted a lot, and rightly so. It's an amazing verse, although it probably is misapplied sometimes.
But yesterday I was reading John 3, and it was the 17th verse that grabbed my attention. It reads:
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Just think about that for a minute. Christ Jesus had every reason to condemn the world. We are twisted and sinful and dirty, and He is holy and pure and perfect. There is absolutely nothing in us that would make Him love us enough to save us. Just the opposite, in fact. By our very nature we are His enemies, turned against Him, hating Him, not wanting anything to do with Him.
Yet. (What an amazing word "yet" is!) Yet, God the Father sent Christ to earth, and Christ gladly obeyed, not to condemn as we deserve, but to save us. Save us from sin and self and hell, and bring us into the family of God as beloved children.
I want to remember this all the time. Because, if I really, truly live on the knowledge that Christ has saved me and loved me instead of rightly condemning me, I will be different. Different in how I talk, different in how I think, different in how I love. How could I not? How could you not?
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