August 31, 2008
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
The love of God is greater than any love that we might have for any human being. It is so great that it goes beyond anything that we can fathom (Eph 3:18-19). God the Father demonstrates that love towards us by giving God the Son as our sacrifice, and God the son demonstrates that love by dying on our behalf. Because of the Son’s sacrifice, those who trust in the Son are not under condemnation, but are heirs of eternal life. God’s overwhelming love for his people should bring joy to the hearts of Christians.
Yet, the question remains: “What about those who do not believe?” They stand condemned already because of their sin. They do not seek after God nor do they come to Christ, because they want to cover up and deny the evil things that they have done. There is a great danger that we must see here: Those who continue in darkness and turn away from the light are condemned, and therefore face eternal separation from God.
John tells us about two paths, the path of darkness and the path of light, so that we would understand the salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ. All people start out in the darkness, but some people see the great love that God has shown towards us through the death of God the Son, and they run from the darkness into the light. Which path will you take?
