For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17
Heavenly Father,
In these early days after Christmas,
may we not immerse ourselves in the whirl of the world
so fully that we lose our wonder
at the profoundly good news of the incarnation:
From the beginning,
even when his fingers were tiny
and his sounds were infant coos,
Jesus was born for one purpose:
that we, that the whole cosmos, might be “born again” (John 3:3).
“How shall that be,” the Jewish leader, Nicodemus,
asks?
Jesus explains in some of the better known words of the Word:
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him
should not perish
but should have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This is the true gift of Christmas,
but it gets even better.
For all who have suffered the voices of contempt and condemnation,
who have hung their heads in shame,
you give more hope,
“For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
Oh, gracious and merciful Father,
what good news this is!
May we live and love out of it today and every day.
In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.
Read John 3:1-21.
