How God Feels About Humanity 05-12-16 pt II

P.R.S.—Pray. Read. Share. This is how you become Christian and this is how you stay Christian. Anyone telling you anything else is selling you something false. And this, it seems to me, is how Jesus lived His life every day. That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:18-21 that when the Gospel is preached and lived and people far from God come a little closer and find they can believe in something—they are not condemned. This is just another English word for judged in Greek. When they come close and believe, they are no longer judged. By God, at least. They are no longer condemned. Same thing in Romans 8:1 and John 5:22-24 and 29. Which we will get to, but before we do, let’s look at verses 19-21 to see the second place judgment occurs in the Bible.

John 5:19-21 says, “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.”

So the first location of judgment is in or through the church. The second place the Bible says judgment occurred was at the cross. John 3:16 and 18 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave ... [And He gave where? At the cross.] So, whoever believes in him is not condemned, is not judged [krisis in Greek], because he has believed.” Pointing to the cross, Jesus adds these words in John 12:31-32: “Now is the time for judgment on this world [krino in Greek; a form of the same word in John 5] now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” So what’s the point? The point is God loves the people far from God, going out of His way to bring them closer. And, point number two, He loves the people close to God too, going out of His way to keep them close. How? By reminding them that they are His. If you are a follower of Christ, you do not have to live your life in crisis, constantly wondering if you have done enough to be saved. Because Christianity is not about what you do, but who you know!