For God So Loved the World
So this is a rambling:
In the third chapter of John's Gospel we have perhaps one of the most well know passages in the Bible. "For God So Loved the World." As John tells us, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to see Jesus at night, as opposed to during the day. He probably came under the cloak of darkness because he was afraid. He did not want to be seen, by those of his sect, with the itinerant preacher.
And Jesus tells him that His Father loves the world so much that He is going to give His Son, His only Son as a sacrifice. Like a Lamb to be stretched out on an altar, Jesus will be stretched out on a cross. This is love. This is a love we... in our human thoughts... have difficulty comprehending. The Father gives His Son to be killed and in doing so every sin (past, present, future) is washed away. Jesus takes every sin onto himself, for us. He does this of His free will. All we have to do is accept this as truth.
I don't know about you, but I can't fathom that much love. We injure our relationship with God on a daily basis with sin, only the wounds we inflict are on ourselves. The Father forgives, yet we walk around bearing the scars inflicted by our indiscretions, because we have to keep score. We need to accept His forgiveness, it's one of the many things He loves to do for us, if we but ask. He loves you that much.
So Nicodemus comes at night because he is afraid. As we would be in a similar circumstance. He is drawn to the all encompassing love radiating from Jesus. He believes in miracles, he is touched by the words of the teacher. There are however, conflicts in his heart, the rules and dogmas of his life are coming into question. Jesus is the undoing of the accepted doctrine that ordains us as unloved sinners. The Father loves us, despite us and we need to come to terms with that reality.
copyright 2016 - Donald P James Jr
In the third chapter of John's Gospel we have perhaps one of the most well know passages in the Bible. "For God So Loved the World." As John tells us, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to see Jesus at night, as opposed to during the day. He probably came under the cloak of darkness because he was afraid. He did not want to be seen, by those of his sect, with the itinerant preacher.
And Jesus tells him that His Father loves the world so much that He is going to give His Son, His only Son as a sacrifice. Like a Lamb to be stretched out on an altar, Jesus will be stretched out on a cross. This is love. This is a love we... in our human thoughts... have difficulty comprehending. The Father gives His Son to be killed and in doing so every sin (past, present, future) is washed away. Jesus takes every sin onto himself, for us. He does this of His free will. All we have to do is accept this as truth.
I don't know about you, but I can't fathom that much love. We injure our relationship with God on a daily basis with sin, only the wounds we inflict are on ourselves. The Father forgives, yet we walk around bearing the scars inflicted by our indiscretions, because we have to keep score. We need to accept His forgiveness, it's one of the many things He loves to do for us, if we but ask. He loves you that much.
So Nicodemus comes at night because he is afraid. As we would be in a similar circumstance. He is drawn to the all encompassing love radiating from Jesus. He believes in miracles, he is touched by the words of the teacher. There are however, conflicts in his heart, the rules and dogmas of his life are coming into question. Jesus is the undoing of the accepted doctrine that ordains us as unloved sinners. The Father loves us, despite us and we need to come to terms with that reality.
copyright 2016 - Donald P James Jr
I'm so glad He did this for us. I disappoint myself everyday with the things I do (or don't do). I imagine God looking at me, just shaking His head like we do when our own children do things wrong. To know that God loves us so much that He gave His Son anyway is incomprehensible. But He did-- and I am thankful!
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