Showing Off Invisible Grace
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.
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18Whoever 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.
20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21But 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.”
John 3:16–21 (ESV)
God really wants to save the world.
I mean, really really.
At the easiest moment, when there was only Adam, Eve, and some animals, He could have wiped the whole place out and tried again.
When the whole planet was covered with water He could have just stuck His thumb on that ark and said, “They gone.”
And every day, when we cry out or murmur under our breath (whatever degree of prayer we bring to Him), He could make the floor of Heaven out of thick bronze and not hear a thing we have to say.
But He wants to save us.
He sent His Son here to save us. He sends the Holy Spirit into each of us to talk to one another to save us every day.
Every day.
That’s also where the judgment comes in. Christians are tasked with the joyful calling of showing off God’s goodness to the world. We are the ones that are not condemned. What does that even look like? Is that possible to live a life without feeling condemned? Even better — living life without being condemned?
That’s where the darkness and light come in. To be saved and forgiven is not a very visible tangible thing unless you live it out. We’ve all done evil. That’s a given. But leaving that evil behind and coming into the life of God is the Holy Spirit’s mission in the world. As we respond to God, He empowers us and our actions will be visible to the rest of the world.
Forgiveness, grace, mercy, redemption; these are all things that only show through our actions and our words. As we come to the light of the truth that Jesus wants to save us and the people around us, our faith increases. As our faith increases, our actions, conversations, work, hobbies, and everything else change too. God wants to show off His work in us. We are His favorite examples.
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