For God So Loved the World
John 3: 16 – 17
|
For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. |
|
|
|
|
|
For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved. The Lord Jesus spoke those words to
Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, who had approached Him saying:
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do
these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” Rather than
initially addressing Nicodemus’ statement, the Lord first told him something
that He regarded as more important for Nicodemus to know: “ Except a man be born of water and of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3: 3) The Lord used this strategy to
change the focus of Nicodemus from the physical miracles he had observed in
the natural world, to a key spiritual concept from God’s perspective. In the
following verses, the Lord explained the meaning of His statement. Then He shifted
the focus of His comments to provide the context under which the “Son of man”
(He himself, without
self-identification), would become the key to man’s eternal salvation,
allowing him to enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3: 4-15) In that context, I’m writing this
post to add emphasis to the word “world” in the subject title. Presumably, every Christian is familiar
with the scriptural verse of John 3: 16, as written above. However in reading
that verse, most have unconsciously assumed that God’s love was focused only
on man, and not the whole world that He created. (Genesis 1: 1-25). Christians should agree that the creation
of man was the highlight of Creation because God formed man in His own image
and likeness. (Genesis 1: 26, 27) The scripture notes the following when the
Sixth Day of Creation was completed: “ And God saw every thing that He
had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1: 31). The key is that His collective creation
“pleased Him”, including the whole world. [As an aside, I really appreciate
how the modesty of the Holy Spirit reported what in our view was the “perfect
Creation” to be what God saw as “very good”.] During the current focus on the “Climate
Crisis” affecting the entire world, even some “experts” continue to inappropriately
use the term “acts of God” when referring to the increasing numbers of tornadoes
and other storms; floods; volcano eruptions; areas of drought and famine; massive
forest fires; and other disasters. Perhaps it is because they have not
recognized that our Creator God, our Lord Jesus Christ is not the source of
these problems. Perhaps they have not considered that when Adam sinned in the
Garden of Eden, he lost his dominion over the earth to the Deceiver Satan, who
became “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4: 4); and the ”prince
of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2: 2).
As the Enemy of God and man, it is he who has spawned these and other
evil / destructive / deadly acts. Even so, our Creator God is Supreme. Since man remains the key physical actor
in events affecting state of the world condition, God has yet given man the
freedom of choice… to follow either his conscience based on his knowledge of
good and evil…or the promptings / temptations of the Enemy. (1 John 2: 16) But
God’s patience / long-suffering has limits as He watches man’s contributions
to the world’s current crises, including the violence of wars and the
“climate crisis”. Remember the history related to
“Noah’s Flood”. (Genesis Chapters Six and Seven) It was under the influences
of the Enemy that the world had become so corrupt that the LORD repented He
had made man and the other creatures on the earth. (Genesis 6: 5-7) As a result, He flooded the Earth. The Scripture reports in Genesis 7: 21-23: |
|
And all flesh died that moved upon the
earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: |
|
|
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that
was in the dry land, died. |
|
|
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon
the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only
remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. The entire world paid
the price of punishment for the sins of mankind. But God gave the world a
second chance. The Scripture reports that
when starting over, God made His Covenant with both man (Noah) and the
rest of the animal world…that He would never again destroy the earth by
flooding. (Genesis 9: 8-17) God had
not forgotten the world beyond man. That commitment was carried through even
as He communicated with His Favored Nation Israel through the Prophet Isaiah many
hundreds of years later. Isaiah prophesied that the time was coming when the
world would be restored to its original glory…for the animal kingdom too.
(Isaiah 11: 1-9) Also remember, many
hundreds of years later our Lord Jesus referred to another aspect of the “living
world” of His Creation. It was on His final
journey before His Crucifixion, as He was entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The
multitude of His followers / disciples raised their voices in declaring Him
to be their King. But some of the crowd (Pharisees) were offended and told
Him that He should rebuke / chastise them. The Lord responded: “I tell you that, if these should hold
their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19: 35-40;
Colossians 1: 16-17) The Bible later provides another example which is relevant to us as
Christians today. The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome about the impact
of the Holy Spirit on them since the time they believed the Gospel. In
addition to noting that they / we had become “children of God’ through their faith,
Paul explained that the suffering they encountered because of their beliefs in
Christ was only temporary. The Lord’s glory would follow, as He would restore
peace and glory to the sons / children of God. Further, “the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together” while awaiting that
time when the curse would be lifted. (Romans 8: 16-23) Whether it be the devastation caused by the “Climate Crisis”, “natural
disasters / falsely called “acts of God” (we know the true cause); wars;
deforestation; strip mining; or another of man’s abuses of the earth /
creation…God is well aware of the impact on all His Creation. As stated in
the well-known Bible verses noted above, it was because of God’s love for the
world that He gave His Son to save man, but also “that the world through Him
might be saved.” As noted above, through our faith in the Lord Jesus and belief in His
Gospel of Grace, Christian believers have become new creatures. We have been
reconciled to God through our Lord Christ Jesus. Because He has forgiven our
sins through His death, burial and resurrection, and given us eternal
salvation, it is now our responsibility and obligation to serve Him as “ambassadors
for Christ” in this fallen earth. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13); (2
Corinthians 5: 17-20) Whether we attempt to influence one of the major issues related to the
“Climate Crisis” or other factors related to the devastation seen in our
world, we should do as the Lord would have us do…labor on behalf of saving
the world of His Creation. Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com/
|
No comments:
Post a Comment