OUR LORD IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

John chapter 3 verse 16 is one of the most famous scriptures in the world because it summarizes in a single phrase what Jesus' mission on earth was and His motivation was and what the ultimate goal was.

The scripture today is verse 19 declares the verdict on the what the world's response was to Jesus. The passage goes like this:

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 they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people 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 their deeds will be exposed.

When Jesus came into the world, He should have been received with joy and celebration because He was the long awaited Messiah who had been promised by the ancient prophets.

Instead, Jesus faced attempts to kill him from the time He was a child in Bethlehen when King Herod tried to murder Him  until He was finally arrested and crucified outside Jerusalem.

The Lord Jesus was the light of the world but because the hearts of men were evil and loved darkness, they responded  to Jesus' outreach of light with rejection and chose to call for His death.

What was not known to anyone was that the death  Jesus was going to suffer was the antidote to the evil that was in men's hearts and by the death on one sinless man, light could enter the world and whosoever believed would have everlasting life.

Let us bless the Lord who suffered rejection by mankind and yet still died for us and made a path of salvation for us.

Amen.