Seeking Jesus First June 16, 2025
Jesus told Nicodemus, “whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
What does it mean to “perish” if someone does not believe in Jesus?
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “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. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:14–21, NKJV)
Does “perish” mean hell? Does “perish” mean eternal separation from God? Does “perish” mean destroyed from existence? What do you think it means?
Well, whatever you think it means, you can enjoy eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus. Those who do not believe and receive Christ Jesus, and follow Him in faith as their High Priest and Chief Apostle, will perish. There is a huge negative side to not believing in The One God sent to save the world. God’s grace is amazing! And all who believe and receive God’s grace are free from condemnation. The great thing about someone else taking our sin and punishment is freedom from condemnation. To use a metaphor, the down side about not accepting that someone else has paid for your dinner is paying for it yourself. If you reject the one who takes your condemnation, you keep the condemnation that you had before Jesus tried to take it for you.
Understand, Jesus died for all sin. Sin has no legal right over anyone. We all now have the same right as Adam to choose our future and IF we sin, we have an advocate with The Father, Jesus Christ The Righteous. However, when we choose to not listen to God, we miss out on the promises of God. When we choose to listen to the snake, we give the snake the right to mess up our future. In order to leave the snake behind, we must follow Christ Jesus by faith, hope and love. Why perish when you don’t have to?