Who do you say he is?

John 3:16-17 (New International Version)
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. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

We talked about this in church yesterday, that everyone knows by heart the first part. You know it's hit the big time when signs at sporting events advertise it, right? But how many memorize the second part, not to condemn but to save. It's hard to imagine that someone so just and righteous wouldn't condemn someone like me. Really. Even for me, it's hard to believe sometimes. But there it is, in black and white for the entire world to see. Yesterday was Palm Sunday and I had some inappropriate humor (that happens when you try to laugh whenever possible, you rename serious stories about the life of Jesus. For some reason, Jesus: The Musical sounded better than The Kingdom to me.) It's easy to remember the celebration, harder to understand how that could happen days before the crucifixion. Honestly, if God can love me that much, why is it difficult to understand that he can surely forgive my sins now? God as judge is such a scary picture. It's scary because I know what I deserve. w
Who do you say he is? This verse says it all: power to condemn but grace and mercy to save...those who choose him.