Through the Deep Waters -- March 14th

John 3:16-20

What we have here is a statement or a declaration backed up by three indisputable facts. The statement is that God's love moved him to send Christ on behalf of his perishing people. What a beautiful picture. The God who we've offended, takes matters into his own hands with intentions to save us instead of destroying us. Mercy by an act of Grace was the mode of God's heart when we only deserved Justice by an act of his Wrath. This is surely the good news of the Gospel. God has acted in Christ on behalf of his people.

THE THREE FACTS THAT UNDERGIRD THIS GOSPEL DECLARATION ARE:

(1) There is no condemnation for those who believe. Christ has been condemned on our behalf. He has satisfied the righteous demands AND has received the just penalty of the law for us. Christ has brought an end to the law, so that there in now righteousness (right-standing with God) for all who believe. Because of Christ there is no condemnation for those that are in Him, trusting His work and not our own work.

(2) The only way to enter into this blessed state where your sins are not counted against you is by Faith in Christ. You must be brought to believe that God is satisfied with what Jesus has done for you. You must receive God's testimony about his Son, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life our only way back to God in peace. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

(3) God's judgment doesn’t solely based on whether I’ve been good or bad. This is not the Santa Claus theory. But God's judgment is based on what have I done with Christ, who is the light that enables me to see God and myself clearly. Those who run from the light testify that they love darkness. Which means that they love themselves, and their agendas, and the way they want things to be; instead of God, his agenda and the way He wants things to be. But those who come to the light are humbled and blessed. They are humbled because they see that life is not all about them and their agendas or comforts or reputations or desires but about God's. They confess that they've put themselves or something/someone else at the center of the universe and not God. And they are blessed because they see that life is not all about them and their agendas or comforts or reputations or desires but about God's. And they praise God who has brought them to know the truth in Christ the light that God has sent into the world to show us the way out of the world!!!

Prayer: God open the eyes of our hearts and help us to see Christ as you see Him…