A Different Look At John 3 16
Scripture: 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 everlasting life.
Introduction: We see it flashed on posters at sporting events, plastered to bumper stickers.
We hear it used to justify all kinds of different theological opinions. Today, let’s have a fresh look at John 3:16.
God Loved the World. What do we mean by this simple phrase? God is the origin of love toward His creation. We did not initiate God’s love by our actions or thoughts.
God, In John 3:16, God is nominative, He is the source of love (1 John 4:8).
Loved, While the verb is aorist, an undefined time of action (appropriate for a timeless God of love), the verb is very strong.
God loved, valued, esteemed, manifested generous concern for, and delighted in. This love is not a disenchanted, flighty love, swayed by mood or circumstance as we may see in romantic comedy.
His love was pure and directed toward an absolute object, the world, the collective body of His created people.
The World, Here we have the recipients of God’s love: not only the material, lower world, but the human race. God is the Author, the Originator, and the Source of love toward His creation.
Application: Do you truly embrace and preach God’s loving character? His love is the foundation of the gospel!
God Gave the Only-Born Son. When we read “God so loved the world” (italics added), we interpret “so” to mean “so much.”
In Greek, this word is translated “thus,” or, “in this way.”
This phrase shouldn’t be understood as “God loved the world so much that …” Rather, we should understand it to say, “God loved the world in this way…”
This places our focus appropriately on the sacrifice of Christ as the manifestation of God’s love, rather than focusing on the intensity of God’s love alone.
God. “He,” God, alone acted in history, not because of man’s initiative, but because of His love for us.
God Gave. The word translated “gave” represents an entrusting, a presenting, an offering of a sacrifice.
God Gave the Only-Born Son. The possessive pronoun “his” is absent in the Greek language. Christ is treated as an entity (as is characteristic of John’s writing). Not only this, the describing characteristic of the Son is only-born. This sacrificial language is heavily reminiscent of Genesis 22, of Abraham’s offering of Isaac, his only-born son.
Application: We often look to the problems in the world and say, “God can’t be loving.”
We must always remember that the problems exist because of our rebellion against Him.
His love is ultimately portrayed to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the solution to the problems of sin and death in the world!
Whoever Believes in Him Should Not Perish but Have Everlasting Life. The word “that” connects the idea, answers the question of why God would love the world in a way that required a sacrifice. The answer is incredible:
Whoever Believes. The phrase, “every one who believes” indicates an all-inclusive invitation, but the participle in the Greek indicates a qualifier of the subject: he or she must believe. The Greek word for believe in and of itself is more than a casual belief in the existence, it’s more active: it means to give credit to, to entrust, or commit to the charge or power of.
In Him. His love manifested through His sacrificial giving of His Son is for each one who believes, not just believes in anything, not just in God or in supernatural things, but “in Him” which refers to the only-born Son. The one who believes must believe in Him.
Should Not Perish. This verb indicates not a physical death, but a complete and utter destruction.
But Have Everlasting Life. Just as it sounds, this life has no end. The tense of the verb also seems to suggest an indeterminable time, quite applicable to a life that begins with being “born again” and lasts to all eternity!
Application: Let me speak frankly. Many of us grew up thinking that a mere reciting of John 3:16 and saying, “I believe in Jesus” saves us. We cannot simply mentally believe in Christ, but we must entrust ourselves, giving charge and power completely to Christ. Many use “God so loved …” to justify any religion, sin, or lifestyle they choose. We learn here that the only ones who receive eternal life are those who believe in Jesus Christ: all others will perish. Have you entrusted yourself and given control over to Jesus Christ?