John 3:14–17

Those who love God above all and others as much as themselves  fulfill the Law and the commands of Jesus. 

God loves us with a love so great that He allowed Jesus to choose to give up His spotless life in exchange for ours.

When believers hold up Jesus, in the love of the Father that He came to proclaim,…others will be drawn to salvation.

And what promises has He made for us today?

We can ask God for His presence because He has promised, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

We can ask for peace because Jesus also promised, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (John 14:27a).

And "if any of you lacks wisdom," the Word of God says, "let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him " (James 1:5).

The presence, peace and wisdom of God are blessings we can ask for and know we will receive because each of these promises is yes and amen in Christ Jesus! (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Where might you ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7) for more of God's presence, peace and wisdom? First5 

This week, pause, look for moments that remind you of the sacred in the ordinary. Mental snapshots to make you stop. To breathe. To say thank you. Sabbath Moments 

John 3:14–17

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The New King James Version

As Moses lifted up the serpent alludes to the events of Numbers 21:9 and presents the Son of Man as superior to Moses. The Son of man is lifted up refers  to both the crucifixion and the exaltation of Jesus in His death and resurrection.

This verse presents a concise summary of the gospel message, tying the events of Jesus’ death to God’s love for the world He created. The statement is remarkable in its depiction of divine care for the entire world—not just His chosen people, Israel. 

John prefers to refer to Jesus as the “Son” and God as the “Father”.  Jesus’ reflection and representation of the Father is complete. As one sent by God, Jesus fully represented Him on earth. Faithlife Study Bible

Every time the words lifted up occur in the Gospel of John there is a reference to Jesus’ death. When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, those who looked at it lived. So it is with the Son of Man. This is the first time eternal life is mentioned in John’s Gospel. 

When a person trusts Christ, he or she is born again and receives eternal and spiritual life, God’s kind of life. 

God’s love is not restricted to any one nation or to any spiritual elite. World here may also include all of creation. At His first coming, Jesus came so that the world through Him might be saved. When Jesus comes again, He will come in judgment upon those who refused His offer of salvation. The NKJV Study Bible

The love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, and is become the commanding principle of his actions. So long as he continues under a load of unforgiven guilt, there can be little else than slavish fear of God; but when his doubts are done away, when he sees the righteous ground whereon this forgiveness is built, he rests on it as his own, and is united to God by unfeigned love. Our works are good when the will of God is the rule of them, and the glory of God the end of them; when they are done in his strength, and for his sake; to him, and not to men. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Numbers 21:9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

John 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.