Rachel Workman: 13
No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down
from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the
wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who
believes in him will have eternal life. I love this. First no one has ever
gone to heaven and returned. This is great new for us. Once we get there we
won't return to this earth. In other words this is our one shot to get it right
and if we do we'll have eternity in heaven. Verse 15 says anyone who believes
in him will have eternal life. Believe, easy enough.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is nothing to add here. Thank you Jesus for saving me and my family.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. What does it say? Those who don't believe have already been judged. They will also be judged for every sin they commit. Scary isn't it? 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. I dislike this verse, it makes me sad to think that people loved darkness more than they loved Jesus. But it still stands true today. I have been that person myself at times, loving my sin more than I loved doing what was right. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is nothing to add here. Thank you Jesus for saving me and my family.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. What does it say? Those who don't believe have already been judged. They will also be judged for every sin they commit. Scary isn't it? 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. I dislike this verse, it makes me sad to think that people loved darkness more than they loved Jesus. But it still stands true today. I have been that person myself at times, loving my sin more than I loved doing what was right. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
Mike Grimm: 13 No one has ever gone
to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And
as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of
Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him
will have eternal life. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God sent a
plague of snakes to punish the people for their rebellious attitudes. Those
doomed to die from snakebite could be healed by obeying God’s command to look
up at the elevated bronze snake and by believing that God would heal them if
they did (see Numbers 21:8-9). Similarly, our salvation happens when we look up
to Jesus, believing He will save us. God has provided this way for us to be healed
of sin’s deadly bite.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but
have eternal life. This is probably the
best known verse in the Bible. The entire gospel comes to focus in this verse.
God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in.
Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships –
when you love someone dearly, you are willing to give freely to the point of
self-sacrifice. God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He
could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then
offered us the new life that He had bought for us. When we share the gospel
with others, our love must be like Jesus’ – willingly giving up our own comfort
and security so that others might join us in receiving God’s love. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to
save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who
believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged
for not believing in God’s one and only Son. People often try to protect themselves from their fears by
putting their faith in something they do or have: good deeds, skill or
intelligence, money or possessions. But only God can save us from the one thing
that we really need to fear – eternal condemnation. We believe in God by
recognizing the insufficiency of our own efforts to find salvation and by
asking Him to do His work in us. When Jesus talks about unbelievers, He means
those who reject or ignore Him completely, not those who have momentary doubts.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s
light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light,
for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light
and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But
those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are
doing what God wants.” Many
people don’t want their lives exposed to God’s light because they are afraid of
what will be revealed. They fear change. Don’t be surprised when these same
people are threatened by your desire to obey God and do what is right, because
they are afraid that the light in you may expose some of the darkness in their
lives. Rather than giving into discouragement, keep praying that they will come
to see how much better it is to live in light than in darkness.
No comments:
Post a Comment