| “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” |
| —John 3:17 |
“If God is truly a God of Love, why in the world would He send His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on a cruel Roman cross? That seems like the ultimate child abuse, to me!”
It’s not really as silly a question as it may seem. We have become rightly hypersensitive to the issue of potential child abuse. Young parents today, a part of the Millennial or Gen Z Generations, can’t imagine the way things were when I was a young boy growing up in the 1950s. They would never permit their children to participate in the free-wheeling activities that marked nearly every day of my life. Parents of that day came into this world during the Great Depression and suffered through the deprivation of World War II. They lived under the threat of the atomic bomb. Their whole perspective on child rearing was vastly different than today. They permitted their children to roam freely and to participate in activities that would terrify today’s parents.
On the other hand, genuine, cruel, heart-rending child abuse is certainly a horrible thing. If we humans were to start sacrificing our children to save the lives of other people, we would most certainly be labeled as monsters and that labeling would be correct. But, we also do not understand things from God’s perspective. He created humans for a distinct purpose, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism states:
WSC Q. 1: What is the chief end of humans?
A: Humans’ chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
In order to have the kind of fellowship with God that He intended us to have, we need to be obedient and sin-free. Yet, hardly had God created Adam and Eve than they disobeyed the one rule He had given them. Knowing that sinful humans could never provide their own means of salvation, God made the choice to provide a sinless atoning sacrifice through His Son, Jesus.
In considering this amazing act of love toward us humans, we must always remember that God is One God who exists in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, while this concept is beyond our ability to fully understand, we must recognize that, in a very real sense, when God sent Jesus to die in our place, He was sending Himself.
The Apostle John records Jesus’ own words in John 3:17. You may be more familiar with the preceding verse. Here, Jesus is talking with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. He has just explained that, to escape the penalty for their sins, humans must be born again in the Spirit. Jesus punctuates this discussion with these words:
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Christianity is not a religion of condemnation. Rather, it is a faith walk of love, God-breathed love. As we begin a new day, let’s choose to remember that we are living expressions of God’s love for humankind. We are His ambassadors with the greatest news any human has ever heard. Let’s not shrink back from sharing this wonderful news, whenever the Holy Spirit prompts us to share it.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
