The entire gospel comes to a focus in this verse. God’s love is not just for a specific group of individuals—God offers His love to the world.
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ALL
THE GREATEST |
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God
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the greatest Lover |
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So loved |
the greatest degree |
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The world |
the greatest number |
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That he gave |
the greatest act |
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His only begotten Son |
the greatest gift |
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That whoever |
the greatest invitation |
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Believes |
the greatest simplicity |
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In Him |
the greatest person |
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Shall not perish |
the greatest escape |
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But |
the greatest difference |
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Have |
the greatest certainty |
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Eternal life |
the greatest destiny |
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—J.
Edwin Hortell |
God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in. Here God’s actions defined the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships—when you love someone; you are willing to sacrifice dearly for that person. Sacrificial love expresses itself without assurance that the love will be returned in kind. The timing of that love was highlighted by Paul’s words, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 niv).
Sacrificial love is also practical in seeking ways to meet the needs of those who are loved. In God’s case, that love was infinitely practical since it set out to rescue those who had no hope of rescuing themselves. God paid dearly to save us; He gave His only begotten Son the highest price he could pay. The term translated as “only begotten” (monogene) expresses Jesus’ unique value and position as God’s only Son. The salvation God offers freely was costly to him.
This offer is made to whoever believes. To “believe” is more than an intellectual agreement that Jesus is God. It means putting our trust and confidence in him so that he alone can save us. It is to put Christ in charge of our present plans and eternal destiny. Believing is both trusting his words as reliable and relying on him for the power to change.
Jesus accepted our punishment and paid the price for our sins so that we would not perish. Perish does not mean physical death, for we all will eventually die. Here it refers to eternity apart from God. Those who believe will receive the alternative, the new life that Jesus bought for us—everlasting life with God.
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THE CHOICE |
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John 3:16, along with the rest of the New
Testament, assumes that apart from God’s intervention, people perish (see Mark 4:38; Luke 13:3; Luke 13:5; John 10:28; Romans
2:12; 1 Corinthians 1:18;
2 Peter 3:9). The word adds a sense
of hopelessness to the fact of dying—“to perish” is to come to a dead end. In
this verse, escape from the tragic fate of perishing is promised to those who
believe in God’s Son. Instead of perishing, they will have “eternal life” or
“life in the ageless age.” Perishing is not an end to be desired, for it
removes from the picture any vestige of what we could call life. But this
verse makes it clear that those who refuse to choose Christ and the life he
offers have chosen to perish. Eternal life awaits our decision. |
One of the distinctives of John’s Gospel is its awareness of the reader. John often includes reflective and explanatory statements that help us understand events more clearly. For instance, in (John 2:17), John explained the insight given to the disciples about Jesus’ actions and words in the temple. Further on, in (John 2:23–24), John summarized Jesus’ general ongoing relationship with people. As an eyewitness, John wanted us to know not only the facts of God’s human visit to earth but also the eventual lessons and conclusions that came to light from those facts.
With this characteristic of John’s Gospel in mind, some commentators have concluded that Jesus’ direct speaking stopped with (John 3:15) and that John added the following inspired words (John. 3:16–21) by way of further explanation. Either way, no other verse in all the Bible so encapsulates the basic message of the gospel: God so dearly loved all the people in the world that he gave his only Son so that we could have eternal life.
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LIVING FOREVER DOESN’T SOUND SO GREAT … |
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Some
people are repulsed by the idea of eternal life because their lives are
miserable with pain, hunger, poverty, or disappointment. But eternal life is
not an extension of a person’s mortal life; eternal life is God’s life
embodied in Christ given to all believers now as a guarantee that they will
live forever. Not only will we be changed, but almost everything else will
also be changed (Revelation 21:1–4).
In eternal life, there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil, or sin. When we
don’t know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have. In
reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. Receive this
new life by faith and begin to evaluate all that happens from an eternal
perspective. [1] |
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.” NKJV
NKJV
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
niv Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®.
NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
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