Mini-bites: John 3:16

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Do you LOVE scripture?

I grew up in a Baptist Church where the minister generally preached on topical matters. He would often use Bible quotes to prove a point, but it did not inspire me to read the Bible. Then, in 1969, when I was a student at the University of California, Irvine, I discovered a preacher named Chuck Smith, whose “church” was a tent. Perhaps you’ve heard of him or seen the movie about him. All he preached was what the Bible taught – one verse at a time! I remember being impressed by what “Pastor Chuck” could pull out of a single verse. I attribute him for lighting a fire in me to study what this book, they call “God’s Word,” contains.

Digging into John 3:16

Today, I want to draw on the “Chuck Smith” in me to explore the meaning of a very familiar verse. Whether you’re a Christian or not, you’ve probably heard John 3:16 quoted. And as with most things familiar, we rarely stop to consider what is being said. Yet there is a reason this verse has captured the hope and imagination of so many: it contains the essence of the most significant relationship in human history – God’s love for humanity.

In case you need a reference, here’s what the verse says. I’m using the King James version because it’s probably the most familiar:

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.

Let’s examine carefully what the author, the Apostle John, is trying to convey in these few, simple words:

• For God so loved: For some, the idea of God loving anything is foreign because we tend to blame Him for everything. If He’s so loving, why is there suffering? Why do my prayers seem to go unanswered? Why does He insist that we follow so many rules? The list goes on. Yet, in our quiet place, we generally acknowledge that God is too big to understand. Actions that appear unloving to us may be misunderstood because we don’t have the perspective God does. So, is it possible that He really loves us? The author not only confirms that God loves us, but he also adds the modifier “so loved” to emphasize the depth of His love. If John saw it, maybe we’re missing something we don’t understand about God.
• For God so loved the world: God’s love is not reserved just for those who accept Him, obey Him, or worship Him. God loves the world – all of us, without exception! We are His creation, His people, His children! If anyone tells you different, they have not read nor understood His Word (the Bible). The entire Bible, all 66 books, collectively preach this message. Yet, the world (and Satan) want you to believe that somehow you don’t qualify for His love, but you do! Jesus himself said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.” (Mark 2:17 NCV) And, bottom line, we are all sinners, yet God loves us all!!
• For God so loved the world, that he gave: Contrary to what the world might tell us, God’s primary purpose is not to condemn or judge us – those acts happen after the book has been closed on all our lives. Instead, while there is still time to make a difference, God gave us something that would become the difference! The ultimate gift! A gift that is the ultimate act of LOVE coming directly from God, and He wants to GIVE it to us (“the world”)! And, like any good gift, it is something we could never buy for ourselves or do for ourselves, but we want it and need it more than we know.
• Gave his only begotten (one and only – NCV) Son: This concept is where many people struggle. How can God have a son?! The key to deciphering this verse is to understand why the King James version used the word “begotten.” I added the quote from the NCV because it’s an easier version to understand (“one and only”). But it can also support some heretical interpretations that say this verse proves Jesus was “only a man,” not a God. There are two things we need to get straight here:
  • First, the actual word used for “one and only” was the Greek word monogenes. In John 3:16, the correct translation yields “pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class, unique in kind.” Jesus, as the Son of God, fits this definition to a tee – He is God’s one and only Son!
  • Second, when we apply the concept that Jesus is part of what we define as the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), it becomes clear that God took a part of Himself (the Son) and made Him human so He could both identify with us and die for us!

Thus, when God gave His “only begotten Son,” that made His gift a “one of a kind.” God has never given such a gift before, nor will He do so ever again!  And He did it because He loves us. And, He knew it was necessary because we could not do for us what Jesus did for us. Only the perfect sacrifice of God’s only Son could reunite us back with our heavenly Father, God. But how does this gift work? Read on.

• So that whoever believes in him may not perish (be lost. NCV): The answer is, God did not want any of us to perish (or be lost) to the power of the sin that has kept us from Him. Over the four thousand years leading up to Jesus, humanity had proven beyond any doubt that it could not save itself. The power of sin was too great, and combined with the power of Satan to delude us, we would never be able to rejoin God as we were in the Garden of Eden. We needed an intercessor who could redeem us from sin, defeat Satan, and present us to God blameless. All we have to do to receive this act of grace is to believe that Jesus could do and did do all that for us. The power of this verse lies here. IF we can identify with the struggle and strain sin puts on us, and IF we can recognize we need help to overcome what it does to us, THEN maybe we can accept that Jesus was sent by God to help us out of that struggle. When we believe in and accept Jesus for the gift He is, we are set free from the bondage of sin! Hallelujah!

Remember the saying, “If you love something, set it free.” That is exactly what God did – He set us free to make our own choices. We can choose to believe in Him and accept Him, or not. If we do, we are saved and become a permanent part of His family. If not, we will be lost to the sin that enslaves us. In the King James version, it says those who believe will not “perish,” which means to come to complete ruin or destruction, to lose one’s way, to disappear. Some interpret this as death, and in a sense, it is. I think a better term is the one used by the New Century Bible: “lost.” Because when we choose to reject God, we are truly lost.

• But have everlasting life: The end-goal of God’s love is for us to live with Him forever, to be in fellowship with Him as family, to enjoy all that our creator can offer. This is the other side of death, where we will have traded in our fleshly bodies for spiritual ones and join God to live eternally with Him. It is an amazing story and an awesome promise!

Have you decided to accept God’s gift?

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