A Spiritual Re-Awakening? Day 5: Lenten Reflections through John’s Gospel

Day 5 – (March 11, 2019)

Read

John 3:16-21
16 “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. 17 “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. 18 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. 19 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. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 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.”

Reflect

The words of John 3:16 go to the heart of God’s good news for the world. They tell us that God so loved the world that he gave… The love of God is the fundamental truth upon which Christianity is built. If God is not love, there would be no good news. We see here that God’s love is active: God so loved that he gave. He didn’t send his Son to condemn the world, but to rescue it. It needed rescuing because we have chosen to ignore God, something that God in his justice could not overlook. But God’s love has found a way to restore us and give us the opportunity of eternal life. And notice, this proactive love of God was for the benefit of the world.

It was an extraordinary and costly action – not just for the Son, but also for God the Father. The climax and consummation of God’s love is the cross of Christ. Often we think of God the Father as the stern and forbidding judge of a sinful world, while God the Son is our rescuer. John is telling us that God, in his amazing love for us, initiated our rescue and was just as much involved in the cost of our redemption as God the Son. God gave himself absolutely. In 1 John 4:10 we read: In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

These statements are ‘heavenly things’. We only know them by revelation and we only appropriate them by faith. And as we saw in yesterday’s reading, to have the faith we need God’s help. We need to ask him to awaken us to the reality of his love.

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, so that we, truly lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1662 BCP, Ash Wednesday)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 3:16-36