Light Gift

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.” (KJV]

John 3:¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” Jesus came to save not to condemn. Unfortunately, the image of the Church particularly in the Western world, in the US and other western nations, is that the Church is judgmental. The polls are horrible. If you ask an average millennial what comes to mind when they hear the word church. Most of them say, ‘They are judgmental people who judge and condemn people.’ But that is so opposite.

Jesus says, “I have not come to judge.” Jesus came to save. So, where is judgement? The judgement is this; the world is already in darkness. Jesus came and if you look to Him, you will find life. But if you reject Him, you continue in your normal state of darkness. John 3:^19-21 “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (NRSV]. This is so important, and you have to get it.

Imagine a school that is engulfed in darkness; the halls, classrooms, and hostels are in darkness. Then the Principal brings his generator, plugs it to the assembly hall, powers it up and there is light. So everywhere except the assembly hall is filled with darkness. The principal then says, everyone who wants light should come into the assembly hall. When you come into the assembly hall, what do you find? Light. When you stay back in the dormitory or the classrooms, what do you have? Darkness. The assembly hall that is filled with light is like Christ; when you put your faith in Him, you have light. When you do not, you are in darkness already.

However, light exposes. When people come to light, they see that they are dirty, and they want to run back to darkness. But God says, ‘Stay in the light.’ The mistake a lot of people make is, they do not understand that the Person that provided light also provided soap and cleansing. The soap makes you whiter than snow. The hyssop, the disinfectant that He uses to take away the disease is the Blood of His Son, Jesus. He does not only provide light, He provides cleansing. Guess what? You may be cleansed but your clothes are stinking. He does not only provide light and cleansing, He provides clothing. He wants to robe you in white. There is no amount of good works you can do, when you come into light, it is like filthy rags. Your attempt to please God with good deeds should end today. Why? The best of our works, when it comes into light, is as filthy rags.

Prayer [Hymn]: To God be the glory, great things He has done. So loved He the world that He gave us His Son. Who yielded His life an atonement for sin. And opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice… Amen!