Jesus — Lamb of God - Thursday
TODAY’S VERSE
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (ESV)
Something tells me you’ve heard this verse before. Perhaps so many times that you didn’t quite fully read it just now, but skimmed and nodded along like, “Yes, yes. This one. Classic.”
John 3:16 is the most quoted verse in Scripture because it so succinctly paints the picture of the Gospel. There’s one little bit, though, that I think can get lost if we aren’t paying close attention. Author and theologian John Stott puts it this way, “God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loves us.” How incredible is that?
God loves us. He wants to be with us. But sin separates us from God, for a holy God cannot associate with sin. Ever since sin entered the world in Genesis 3, humanity has had a sinful nature. Sin separates us from God. But that’s not the Good News. There’s more to the story—His story.
Hear this: God is not a cosmic clockmaker. He didn’t just set the world in motion and then step away and check out. No, our God is greater! Time after time, we have abandoned Him. Time after time, we have failed Him, giving ourselves over to sin. And yet, despite our wretched nature, God had a rescue plan. Because God loves us so incredibly deeply and completely, He sent His one and only Son to die in our place. We were the ones who sinned, not Jesus. We were the ones who deserved death, not Jesus. Yet God loves us so much that He provided a path through which we could be reconciled to Him, through which our sins are forgiven so that we might have eternal life with the Father!
There’s an old hymn called “Rock of Ages” and the third stanza goes like this:
Nothing in my hand I bring.
Simply to your cross I cling;
Naked, come to you for dress;
Helpless, look to you for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
We have nothing to offer a holy God, yet we can cling to that hope found in Christ. Like a newborn child, we are helpless. Without the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, we die. It is only by the blood of the Lamb that we are washed clean and reconciled back to our holy God.
APPLICATION
Read John 3. The ESV audio is just under 5 minutes. Then, pull out your journal and spend a few minutes reflecting on what you read.
If you missed our discussion on the Lamb of God and Passover earlier this week, check them out here.
PRAYER
Lord, I come to You with nothing to offer of my own. You see the darkest parts of this world (and of me), and yet You loved us so much, You sent Your Son to die in our place. You are holy, holy, holy Lord. Amen.
