God’s Love is Not Generic

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Scripture: John 3:16-21 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Devotion:

            Today we ponder these words from the Apostle John. These are some of the most well-known words in all of scripture. We must not let familiarity obscure the foundational truth that these words contain. To help us to grasp the full importance of this passage let us consider an everyday example that will bring out what is so startling about these words.

            First, we must consider the situation in which Jesus spoke these words. A Pharisee had come to Him under cover of night. This man sought the secret to Jesus’ authority and power. In these few words, Jesus lays out for this man God’s vast plan of salvation for all the world. This exposition of divine truth leaves Nicodemus at a loss for words. Indeed, these words are still powerful even twenty-one centuries later.

            Jesus, in this passage, speaks of the love that God has for the men and women He has created. Love is such an overused word in today’s world. It has become common and has lost much of its meaning. We say things like, “I love pizza, or I Love the Chicago Bears.” These loves do not reflect at all what Jesus means when He speaks of love. The typical “love” of ours is generic. It is a cheap substitute for the real thing we find in Jesus.

            Our loves cost us nothing or very little. The love of God cost God His only Son. We will never fully understand the depths of that sacrifice while we remain in these mortal bodies. The Ruler and Creator of the universe became a weak and frail human in order to show us what love looks like. Let us prepare our hearts for the celebration of the coming of the Christ child this advent.

Prayer:

            Lord God Almighty, help us to appreciate the depth of your love for us. As we prepare to celebrate the advent of Jesus open the eyes of our hearts that we may understand the deep, deep love you have for us. May we seek to understand what the height, depth, and breadth of your love O Lord is. Help us to love others in that way daily. Amen.

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