“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
This is probably the most well-known verse in the Bible and one of if not THE most important. But how many have really taken the time to examine the astounding depths of what this verse means?
For context, this verse is part of a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews. Nicodemus realized that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, but wasn’t grasping the reality of who Jesus actually was. Then Jesus starts talking about “you must be born again to see the kingdom of God”, which really threw Nicodemus for a loop!
So let’s dive in and break it down a bit.
“ For God, so loved the world…”
In the original Greek, the emphasis was not on the word “God” or the “world”, but on the word “love”. And that love was “agapao”, or “agape” in English. Agapao is a love of the highest degree. It’s actually an attribute of God.; it’s divine love, not human love. It is love lifted to a high, noble, supernatural plane.
And when Jesus is talking about the world, he’s talking about the world of mankind that we live in, this present world, and everyone in it. And His love is not limited to the elect only, or to the good, or to any particular race. It encompasses the totality of the human race, from Adam right down to this present generation.
God loves the entire human race. No one is excluded.
And the amazing thing is that he loved this world (us) in its present broken, sinful condition.
As the apostle Paul states:
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:6-8
“…that he gave his only Son…”
His love was revealed in the fact that he gave. And he didn’t just give partially, he gave a total gift. The greatest gift he could give. It was a gift that started when Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, and ended with his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Even His present ministry today and His coming again in the future is God‘s gift to us. Jesus truly is the Gift that keeps on giving to those that believe in Him.
“…that whoever believes in him…”
Whoever means whoever. This is the most inclusive statement in all of history. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you’ve done, Jesus' invitation is open to all of humanity.
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2 ESV
“…should not perish but have eternal life.”
The fact is, without Christ, we are lost in our sin and deserving and doomed to hell and an eternity separated from God. That’s a terrifying thought.
However, as John states, Jesus came to change that for us.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
John 3:17-18 ESV
And this is the good news, the gospel, that Jesus came to pay the penalty that we never could, and pardon us from our sin and rebellion against God.
And He did this because of His great love for us.
As J. Vernon McGee puts it: “The test of love is to what length it will go. Love is not love which will not die or make sacrifices often more bitter and cruel than death”.
“We have not scaled the heights; we have not plumbed the depths of the love of God; we have not widened this out as it should be. Paul was accurate when he said, “To know the love of Christ that passes knowledge”. I am not able to measure the vastness or the intensity or the overwhelming goodness of God”
Well said.
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