“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.  But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”  John 3:17-21

I Recently I was struck once again by the amazing gift of light, love and life that Christ Jesus offers.  It amazes me that He considers us, yes even a scoundrel like me, worthy of receiving His gift.  I have been pondering the passage set forth above, and questions relating to the fairness of eternal condemnation and the nature of sin, and appropriate responses to questions such as these.  

The thoughts rolled in my mind as I went about daily life.  Earlier this week I scrolled through social media and amidst the many images of people adorned with stickers proclaiming their decision to vote, I saw a post quoting a portion of Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming to life.  The post included a prayer for repentance and revival of our nation, and it led me back to Ezekiel to read the text again with fresh eyes and I realized the vision presents a perfect image of our condition before and after receiving Christ Jesus.  The bones in the valley represent each of us – we are dead, dead as dry bones, until we accept God’s holy gift of grace and receive Christ Jesus and allow Him to breath His Holy Spirit into us.

Ezekiel writes, 

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.  He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.  He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”  Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

…

I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.  Then he said to me…. “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”  Ezekiel 37:1-6, 10, 11 & 14.

 God says, “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live….”  God breathes the breath of life into people (see Genesis 2:7).  Jesus is life (see John 14:6), He came to give life (John 10:10) and He breathes the Holy Spirit into those who follow Him (see John 20:22).  Apart from Christ Jesus, we are but dry bones, dead and condemned, but He came to give life and He offers life, wholeness, satisfaction, joy, peace and rest to everyone, now and forever.  

We understand through Scripture that Jesus is the dividing line between life and death, between justification and condemnation, between light and darkness.  Those who believe receive the gift of life, are justified and become children of light while those who do not believe do not and are not.  Given His status as the standard, the plumb line, the gauge, how can Jesus possibly say God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn?

He answers the question in the next sentence saying, “those who do not believe are condemned already.”  But what does that mean?

Jesus says He is light (see John 8:12) and life (see John 14:6).  God is love (1 John 4:8) and Jesus is God (John 1:1).  So Jesus is light, love and life.  God is the author of life (see Genesis 1&2).  He breathes the breath of life into us (see Genesis 2:7) and Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  Through Christ Jesus we gain spiritual life, new life, eternal life, life abundant.

Probably the most famous passage in Scripture is John 3:16, in which Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  Immediately after saying those words, Jesus discusses judgment, condemnation and salvation in the passage first quoted above, and we see that He equates condemnation with death, and salvation with spiritual life.

Jesus explains that He offers spiritual life to everyone who accepts and receives the holy, gracious gift.  The gift is available to everyone.  There is no prerequisite to receive the gift – the offer is not limited by ancestry, race, sex, economic status, education, awful things a person may have done or any other pre-existing condition.  It is available to everyone, it is delivered to everyone who believes, and those who receive the gift are transformed – they gain spiritual life, are justified, become children of light and children of God – and they begin on the path towards holiness.  Those who do not accept the gift Christ Jesus offers, those who do not believe, well, they stay where they are.  They stay in darkness; they do not gain His gift of life; they are not transformed by Him.  So, they continue existing as they are – in the state of being described in Scripture as spiritually dead or condemned.  

Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).  Jesus offers the gift of life.  He came to save, not to condemn; however, people already condemned continue in that state of being by rejecting the gift offered.  The author of life sent Jesus into the world so that everyone who believes might gain life – spiritual life, full life, whole life, satisfaction and joy.  Apart from Jesus we are spiritually dead.  Through Him we gain life.

Paul describes this awesome gracious gift of life as follows:

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.  All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.  But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.  Ephesians 2:1-10

Death or life?  Darkness or light?  Condemnation or justification?  The concepts are weighty.  It is a choice we will each make, whether we want to or not, and the decision impacts our existence here on earth and it has eternal consequences.

Apart from Christ Jesus, we are but dry bones, dead and condemned.  But He offers life, wholeness, satisfaction, joy, peace and rest, now and forever.  May you receive His holy, gracious gift of light, love and life, and after you do, may you tell everyone about the gift He offers so nobody misses out on the amazing opportunity to know Him.