Week 4, Sunday December 18
“Don’t stop there.”
Raise your hand if John 3:16 was the first bible passage you memorized. Yep, me too. Why is John 3:16 often the first passage suggested for new scripture learners? Is it because the gospel is summed up in this one sentence?! God loved all creation to an unimaginable degree that He gave His Son; now we just have to believe to reap the reward!
But wait. Don’t stop with John 3:16! What comes next is equally rich with the salvific message. This passage reflects the free will God gave us from the very beginning. We have the choice to believe and walk in the light, or turn away and remain in darkness. One is life. The alternative is death. When it’s put that way, why does anyone choose the latter?
Another powerful aspect of this message is the insistence that people love darkness. If we are created in the image of God, then why do we love darkness? God certainly is not darkness. Are we not naturally drawn to the light? Newborns - humans and animals are naturally drawn to those (creators) that give and sustain life. I’m speaking of mothers. And plants need light to grow and, even as they grow, reach for the light.
The puzzle is if God created us to be drawn to the light because light is life giving, then why do we reject the light? The world. It corrupts us. Then we are ashamed and hide….in the darkness. Just like Adam and Eve hid from God when they were found to have been corrupted. As we live, grow, and are influenced by the world, seeking the light becomes a choice. And often times a choice that we struggle to make on our own. Because we have a Savior that chose us, we can ask Him to keep us focused on the light.
Week 4 of Advent is marked by the theme of peace. As we sit with our Advent wreaths in quiet reflection of this season, let’s gaze into the light of those candles and know that God so loved us that He sent His Son into the world so that the world would be saved through Him. Allow that light to fill you with the peace that passes all understanding because it is the Light that saves us! And with confidence let us await the second coming of that great Light.