God So Loved ...

God’s Love is Global (16a)

“God so loved the world...”

God’s love extends to all mankind. This was a revelation for Nicodemus who saw the Jews as the special people of God.

Christ’s death is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for the sin of every person, everywhere, at all times.

1 John 2:2 ESV

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) - “And wonder not that the whole world was ransomed; for it was no mere man, but the only-begotten Son of God, who died on its behalf.”

God’s Love is Sacrificial (16b)

God has given His very best for you! His unique, one and only, eternal Son, Jesus Christ!

Think of all that Christ laid aside to come to earth on your behalf.

“Taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in the place of all, and offered it to the Father. This He did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, when He had fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, it was thereafter voided of its power for men.” - Athanasius

Do not think that you are unlovable! God has declared your worth as priceless through His sacrificial love.

God’s Love is Purposeful (17-18)

God sent His Son to save the world, not to condemn the world. Mankind is already condemned, our need is salvation!

Your salvation has been in the mind of God since before time began!

Before the world was formed, before the seas first crashed upon the shore, or the flowers first bloomed in the Garden, before the first bird sang its song or the first star sent forth its light, God predetermined to provide salvation for you! You are redeemed,

1 Peter 1:19–21 ESV

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Paul affirms that Christ was sent at the appointed time.

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God did not make a mistake or stumble upon the idea for your salvation. It was not an afterthought! He planned it!

When I decided to declare my love to Starla, I planned out a unique way to surprise her. God in His infinite wisdom has planned your salvation.

God’s Love Demands a Personal Response (16c, 19-21)

Acts 17:30 ESV

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

All those who believe shall not perish, but have eternal life (repeated from verse 15).

There is a division based on man’s response to Christ. Some continue in darkness, some come to the light.

They love their own sin and their own self-righteousness more than Christ.

Those who believe have come to the light. What does that mean?

It means that we have come to understand the truth of our need for Christ and we walk in His salvation and sanctification.

Ephesians 5:8–11 ESV

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

1 John 1:7 ESV

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

“There is no greater sorrow than a Christian living half in darkness, half in light.” - Philip Comfort