God is sovereign – man is responsible - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:17

God is sovereign – man is responsible
God is sovereign – that is the theme in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” In His sovereign love, God gave His own Son to die as Saviour.

Man is responsible – this is the theme of John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Man is called upon to accept the Saviour in personal faith.

God sent His Son into the world not to judge it but to save people in His love. But one can only be saved through Him, i.e. through Jesus Christ. Whoever rejects Him by not believing in Him is “condemned already”. Therefore, no one has to wait until the day of judgment to find out whether he will be condemned for his evil deeds. No, whoever rejects Christ, the only Saviour, is already condemned – regardless of what they have done.

But these Bible verses also make it clear that there can be no judgment for the believer. Otherwise, the work of the Son of God would have been of no effect. Eternal life and eternal punishment only depend on a person’s relationship with Christ: whether he believes in Him or rejects Him.

Today’s reading: Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 · Mark 5:21-34