Reflections on Christmas; Daily Devotional #6 - “For God so Loved the World”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son”. (John 3:16-18) I guess one of my favorite words in the Bible, other than Jesus and grace, is ‘whoever.’ As an Exhorter and a Christian, that one word removes all limits from my ministry field. I do not have to be concerned with race, nationality, denomination, financial stability, social standing, or lifestyle choices. Since the grace of God embraces everyone, I am free to extend the love of Christ to any ‘whoever’ that crosses my path. I can embrace women of the streets like Rahab, have compassion for prideful, conceited men like King Saul, have mercy on murderers like King David, and give grace to the demonically possessed like the Gadarenes Demoniac (Mark 5:1-14). Since God so loves the people of the world, then so must we. Because Jesus gave His very life for all men and women to be reconciled, then we have no right to disqualify anyone. We have no way of knowing what plans God may have for a prison inmate, a prostitute, or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Just think, if the Israelite spies had disqualified Rahab (Joshua 2:1-4), then we might not have had a King David!
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:28-29) There will be no bragging rights in heaven; only thanksgiving and praise to the One Who redeemed us from our sin, and positioned us in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Apart from Jesus, not one of us could have been holy enough or good enough to enjoy the presence of God. Our righteousness was as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) compared to holiness of our Christ. Yet in spite of our sin and unbelief, He suffered and died so that we could live with Him for eternity. That’s our cry to the world: “Since He loved us even before we believed, then He loves you!”
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Since we are in the world and not of the world, there is nothing to fear. Because our struggle is in the spiritual realm and not the physical realm, we can be victorious at every turn. There is no place in the earth that we cannot enter, or any group of people that we cannot evangelize. Our field is wide open and ready to be harvested. We bring tidings of great joy and have the only Key (Isaiah 22:22) that can set the captive free. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Remember that red and yellow, black and white, abused, accused and misused, are all precious in His sight! If that were not the case, then none of us could boast of our salvation! Hallelujah for the cross!
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Luke 2:14; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 1 John 4:9
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All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.