Reflection on John 3:1-21

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only son
To make a wretch His treasure

How intensely personal is our God? It baffles my mind. That this God would pursue those in rebellion against Him. That this God would care so much for the hardships that we all face. He is there. He cares.

I remember feeling especially low in college with the snake whispering in my ear "Nobody cares. Everybody has abandoned you..." And I am not the only one who has heard this lie from the enemy of our souls. Satan wants everyone to believe this lie. 'Nobody cares'.

But our sweet Lord's whisper is more powerful then the snake's venom.  I received an email around that time from a friend: "You have friends that love you. And God loves you."

God? Who is this God? And how could He possibly care for a college girl like me?

The pursuit began. The wind of the Spirit was blowing. The very God that made the universe began pursuing my heart, wooing me to Himself.  And His message? "You are loved. You are loved. Don't forget it. I care about you."

"For God so LOVED the world..."

 This love? It is intensely personal. I was not living a life pleasing to the Lord at the time; I had no knowledge of the scriptures...how could He care about me? Why would He pursue me?

He is not looking for religious people who have cleaned up their act (see Nicodemus). He is reaching down into the ugly pit of sin and depravity and lifting people up, covered in mud, weighed down in sin. And He holds them. He cares for them. It is His love that transforms them.

Perhaps you need to hear this message today. You. Are. LOVED. He cares about you. He knows what you are going through. He is there.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son..."

It is a beautiful and humbling thought that before the creation of the world, God knew that we would rebel. The Father knew that He would have to give His only Son for us, and the Son knew He would have to suffer to win us back. The LORD knew all this even before creating us (1 Peter 1:20). And He still did it. Why? Life was perfect before this world was created. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed unbroken, sweet communion with each other. The LORD had no need of humanity. It was because of their love that they created us. It is this same love that pursues us.

"...that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

We were made for eternal life with the triune God. We settle for so little when God calls us to so much more. This life? It is better than anything that you could possibly imagine. How must we enter into this eternal life that we were created for? We must BELIEVE in HIM. We must believe in the Son. The Son of Man must be "lifted up" (see John 3:14-15). This is a reference to the cross. He would suffer a horrible death on the cross for you.
He would die so that you could live.
He would suffer so that you could know communion with God.
He would experience the rejection of the Father so that you would only know the Father's acceptance.
He took your punishment so that you could experience His reward.

Do you see? It is not about your religious background. It is not about how good you are.  It is not about everything you do for God. It is about what God has done for you.

Let us remember that He "did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him" John 3:17. Let us not turn the world into a bunch of pharisees....they must not become religious and clean up their behavior before the Lord accepts them. He wants us to know that 'while we were enemies,' Christ died for the ungodly. 'While we were still sinners, Christ died for us' Romans 5:8,10. When He opens up our eyes to this, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are born from above. We are new creations. He does the transformation work, not us. He gives us a new heart that desires to obey. And so He gets the GLORY.

So the message that this beloved disciple wants you to know? You are loved. You are treasured. He cares about you. I pray the wind of the Holy Spirit would blow in your direction and open your eyes to these glorious truths.

"We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope" -Tim Keller