God's Gift: One who came from heaven...
It might surprise you to hear this, but not every person is a gift person. It has taken me time to learn how to open a present in an appreciative way. If one is not a present person, one may offend the giver by not expressing enough excitement and appreciation. I'm not talking about being false but rather showing gratitude. In the same way, it is important to pay attention to the gifts of God, to focus, to give thanks and to use them wisely.One of the few verses I can remember learning in the Sunday School and probably the only one that took a hold of my heart was John 3:16. It begins as an expression of the character of God ("For God so loved...") Later when studying theology, I discovered that "Love" is a good place to start if we want to explore the character of God. In his first letter, John describes God's very nature as "love" (4: 16). In fact the very inner life of God, the Trinity, is a continuous and perfect expression of love.
The teaching of this verse does not stop there. It goes on to provide the focus, for this instance of God's love "For God so loved the world". Its hard to preach the truth of this verse among a people (the Church) who naturally think of themselves as the focus of God's love. The truth is, as the prophet Jonah discovered, God's love is much broader than we'd hoped. It extends to all who bear God's image and likeness. In addition, God's love is self sacrificing ("that he sent his only Son") and salvific ("so that whoever believes in him shall not perish"). Ultimately, God's love is reconciling ("but have eternal life"), restoring the home-life we share with God eternally.
This verse has been a gift to me and to many others.
Who knew what the effect of this simple memory verse would have on my life? Who knew what a gift it would be to me? I wish God's Spirit will continue to use it to shape me so that nothing, in the end, will be able to separate me from God's love. And for those of us who read over the gift of John 3:16 too quickly, there is a speed bump in verse 17. It turns out that God's motives were never to condemn but always to save. It turns out that this gift is for "re-gifting". I need to pass it on to someone else.
| No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John3:13-17) |
(George Marchinkowski is the minister at Somerset West United Church. He is married to Sascha and together they have two daughters, Leah & Zoë. He is the a past convener of Mission and Discipleship and is now the researcher and inspirer of the Missional Congregations Project.)
