John 3:14-21
Your Story
Talk about the time when you accepted Jesus as your Savior. How did you feel? Did you feel the weight of your sin? Did you feel as if God was judging you, or did you feel God’s grace?
My Story and the Bible Story
There have been times in my life when I have done the wrong thing. And most of the time, I have gotten in trouble (see my story last week about talking during the fire drill). But sometimes, even though I really deserved to get in trouble, I didn’t. There were times when my mom or my teacher gave me grace instead of judgment, and instead of being punished, I was simply forgiven. Read John 3:14-21. From the NIV: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been through God.
“God so loved the world…” you can probably say the rest. We learn that verse and remember how much God loves us. Why did Jesus come? Jesus came because God loved the world so much that God couldn’t sit by and watch us move farther and farther away from God. God loved the world so much that God sent Jesus to us, so that whoever believed in him would have eternal life.
Here’s the thing: we do things that are wrong. We sin. We make the wrong choices. We are sometimes mean to others. We sometimes say nasty things. We hurt each other. And sometimes we hurt ourselves. Jesus is perfect. It would have made sense for Jesus to come and judge the world. After all, there’s nothing we could do to ever be perfect. There’s no way we can ever be perfect simply by trying hard enough. But John says that Jesus didn’t come to judge the world. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus came to save us, not to condemn us. Jesus sees what we have done and God forgives us.
We deserve to get in trouble with God. After all, we sometimes do the wrong thing. But instead of punishing us, God sent Jesus to save us. So when someone asks you why Jesus came, you can say because God’s loves us so much that God wanted to be our friend forever. God loved us enough to forgive all the things we do wrong. Jesus came, not to judge us, but to save us. Jesus came so that we could always be with God. And that is great news!
Discussion
• Has there been a time when you did something wrong, but instead of getting in trouble, you were simply forgiven? How did that make you feel?
• Have you ever forgiven someone who hurt you when they thought you would be angry with them? How did you feel forgiving someone who didn’t really deserve it?
• Think about ways that God has forgiven you. Write them down. Thank God for forgiving you, and then throw your piece of paper away.
Prayer
Thank God for always forgiving us. Thank God for sending Jesus, not to condemn the world, but to save it. Ask for help in looking at the world through God’s eyes.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
