"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
Probably the best-known verse in all of God’s Word, for all time, is our verse for today. This verse encapsulates the plan of God for fallen mankind’s redemption. It is the old, old love story that has its roots in Genesis 3, and its consummation at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, (Revelation 19:9). The promises of God in this verse have comforted countless believers through millennia. What can we learn about our God in this verse?
“For God so loved the world,”
Redemption for sinful man begins and ends with God. It is His way of salvation, His plan, His grace, His requirements, and His work that saves us. But then we should ask ourselves why the holy God would want to save a sinful man anyway? The verse tells us “For God so loved the world.” There it is, there’s our answer – God loves His lost creatures, He loves the world! This means He loves the Jews as well as the Gentiles of the world. Do you see that we are loved, not just by anyone, but by God Almighty Himself! There is no greater love, for there is no one greater than God. Picture this, God, the Author, and Creator of the universe loves you. The first reason that I see for trusting God is that He loves me.
“That he gave his only begotten Son,”
Why did this loving God give His Son? The answer is easy to understand, though its reason is not trite nor easy. Adam, God’s first man, instead of obeying God, sinned against God, “falling” into sin, and dragging his children with him. In God’s plan, the only thing that can remove sin is the blood of an innocent sacrifice. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission,” (Hebrews 9:22). So for a man to have forgiveness of his sin, blood must be spilled. The only One who was perfectly sinless was Jesus Christ, God’s Son. So He was the only perfect sacrifice for our sin. Now it makes sense, “that He gave His only begotten Son.” Jesus was given by His Father to be the sacrifice, the payment for our sin. This is the reason Jesus was “given.”
“That whosoever believeth in him”
All people are sinners because all people are the children of Adam. But the good news is that “whosoever” may believe in Him. This word “whosoever” was translated from the Greek word that means “each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything,” (Thayer).1 “Whosoever” means you too—by God’s grace, you may put your faith in the person and work on the cross of Jesus Christ for your sin. You believe what He has done for you, in your place.
“Should not perish,”
To “perish” is to die in sin and be punished eternally in Hell for sin. This is the state of anyone who has not believed in the Lord for salvation. Again the good news is that those who believe, He saves, and they can never perish. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” (John 3:18).
“But have everlasting life.”
When the sinner believes, he is no longer condemned by God so he/she will not perish! Instead, God grants that believing sinner, eternal life. We understand life here on earth is like a product with a shelf-life. Much like a food product expires after the date of its shelf-life, so men die physically when God says their time on earth is done. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27). But for the believer there is no longer any fear of death because our eternity is settled, we have eternal life! “Eternal life” is just life given by God that lasts forever.
Have you put your trust in Jesus’ work for you? If so, the Bible states, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” (John 3:36).
Please learn to take God at His word; He will do what He says. You believe, let Him do the saving and keeping.
This verse teaches me that My God Saves!
1. J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.