Saved through the Son

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17) It is Thursday, the day before Jesus’s crucifixion. What hung in the balance was the glory of God’s grace and the salvation of the world. The success of Jesus’ mission to earth depended on Jesus’ resolve. Jonathan Edwards a preacher from the 18th century says this about Jesus’ resolve in “Christ’s Agony”:

This was the greatest act of obedience that Christ was to perform. He prays for strength and help, that his poor feeble human nature might be supported, that he might not fail in this great trial, that he might not sink and be swallowed up, and his strength so overcome that he should not hold out, and finish the appointed obedience.   He was afraid lest his poor feeble strength should be overcome, and that he should fail in so great a trial, that he should be swallowed up by that death that he was to die, and so should not be saved from death; and therefore he offered up strong crying and tears unto him that was able to strengthen him, and support, and save him from death, that the death he was to suffer might not overcome his love and obedience, but that he might overcome death, and so be saved from it.

It always blows my mind that God, being almighty, all powerful, all knowing, and all encompassing, would do something so radical as sending His own to save wretched and good for nothing pieces of dirt like you and me.The reason it is mind boggling is because if either one of us were a god, knowing us, we would not ever save anything or anyone, except maybe our pets. We would be too busy getting revenge for every crime against us and for every moment we didn’t really enjoy. God doesn’t condemn the world to die. He allows Jesus, His Son, to become a homeless man, although He is a prince. He allows Jesus to die guilty, although He was innocent. He allows the guilty people of this world to be saved, although we don’t deserve it. We need to remember that we are saved through Jesus’ blood. On the flip side of all of that, Jesus remains resolved to the cause, knowing quite well what he was doing for people that just can’t get it together. We need to forget about Easter baskets, chocolates and whatever commercial nonsense that clouds this weekend. We need to affirm in our hearts and our minds that God did not send Jesus to condemn us but to save us.