#DailyDevotion You Have A Disease & God Has The Cure

John 3¹⁴“As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in Him has everlasting life. ¹⁶God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷You see, God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.

Often the antidote is in the cause of the disease. Antibiotics and vaccinations are made from the bacteria and virii that cause the disease. In the Old Testament lesson Jesus refers to, the Israelites were being bitten by snakes the LORD had sent to punish them because of their sin and they were dying. As an antidote, the LORD had Moses make a bronze snake on a pole and when anyone looked at the bronze snake they were healed. I find it very interesting the LORD did not take away the snakes or keep them from biting, don’t you?

Our disease is sin and death. Sin perpetuates more sin and sin perpetuates death. Dying from the flu or corona virus is just a symptom of our sin and mortal nature (cause by sin). How will we escape from our death?  Jesus shows us the antidote. The Son of Man must be lifted up. Jesus must be put on a pole. There on the pole we will see the disease of our sin and death. Jesus takes both into himself. Everyone who looks to Jesus on the cross and believes in him is healed, is saved from their sin and death. We are given everlasting life. Like the snakes in the desert the cure doesn’t keep sin and death from taking bites out of us. We still sin. Our bodies still die. We still keep looking to Jesus Christ and him crucified so we may have everlasting life in ourselves. They final state of the cure is our bodily resurrection on the Last Day. We live now, day to day, trusting in this promise.

And this cure is for all; the promise is for all. That favorite bible verse of everyone, which is perverted by many and turned into law tells us (the most important part of the verse) God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son. This is the most important phrase in this verse. This part of the verse creates the faith required in the second half of the verse. God so loved the world. The world means everyone and everything. No one is excluded. The LORD God, the Creator of everything seen and unseen wants YOU to be certain of his love. So Jesus declares that love for the world, no one and nothing excluded. To say that God doesn’t love you is to say you don’t exist or Jesus is a liar. Neither is true. You exist; you are part of the world. God loved you and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sin being lifted up upon the cross. If you doubt his love find a tree, find two intersecting lines and know on the cross God showed his love for you in Christ Jesus.

Now my favorite verse is 17, “God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.” What is more good news than that? Jesus didn’t come to condemn but to save. Jesus doesn’t approve of or excuse sin. He takes it into himself, pays the price for it and saves the world from it and its consequences, i.e. eternal death. He then gives us his life, everlasting life for free, as a gift. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Merciful and Kind Father, you loved the world and didn’t want to condemn it for its sin so you sent your only-begotten Son Jesus to take our sin upon himself on the cross. Grant us faith to believe in your great love for us and in what Jesus has done for us so we may possess eternal life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.