Unfinished Business – John 3:17

I have some unfinished business with the previous blog that I wrote on April 26 (see Hearing Aids and Persistence.) Several years ago when I was preaching regularly I made a commitment to never quote John 3:16 without including the following verse 17. So I am taking care of business, here is John 3:16 & 17…

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that that the world through Him might be saved.”

I believe that it is important to include verse 17 of John 3 with verse 16 because it communicates the fact that it was not God’s intention to condemn us when He sent His only son, Jesus, to earth to die for our sin. I believe that it was His intention that every person be saved through Jesus’ blood that was shed on the cross. The unfortunate news is that not everyone is going to obey God and trust in the message that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” When we pray to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all of our sins are forgiven and we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. God has left the invitation open for you so that you will not miss the opportunity to be saved from spending eternity without Him.

An interesting observation that we can make is that the Bible teaches us that we all have eternal life, The question is where do you want to spend your eternity? In heaven with Jesus or a place called hell that is reserved for those who have not taken the opportunity to ask Jesus to forgive their sin? I made my decision trust in Jesus to save me from all of my sins many years ago when I was 17 years of age. I was in a Youth For Christ meeting with some other teenagers. As the meeting was ending the leader shared two verses from the book of Revelation 3:15-16 that I will never forget. The verses were very simple and straightforward. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.”

My question for you today is do you have any unfinished business with God? Have you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior? If not I urge you to do so because “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Ron Gaudio, Chaplain