The Love of God

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

As I was reading through John’s Gospel this week I came to these incredibly familiar words from John 3:16.  There is no question that this single verse is the most well-known verse in all of the Bible.  This verse is so well known, and so familiar to us I am afraid that far too often we look past the profound truth that this single verse contains.  I am sure most Christians can recite this verse with great ease, but I think it is so important for us to slow down and be reminded of what Jesus is telling us in this statement.  It will do good to our souls to be reminded of the great love God has for the lost sheep of this world.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…”  God gave the most precious thing that a Father could ever possess…his son.  And God did not give a son, He gave His only Son.  This one act of love from God should be a constant reminder of just how much God loved the lost people of the earth.  The most precious thing the Father could give was not spared on the worlds account.  But I want to take this thought to its logical conclusion, God did not spare His most precious gift, His Son, specifically for you.  For God so loved you, that He gave His only Son so that you might not perish.  The infinite God of the universe, the God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the God that has dominion over billions of stars and galaxy’s…only has one Son.  And this one Son, Jesus Christ, was not more precious to Him than your and my soul.  So God gave Him up as an offering to reconcile a lost people to Himself.  Through the blood of Christ and the resurrection of His body, God accomplished the greatest act of love the universe will ever know.  He spared no expense to redeem your and my lost soul!

The next thing that is so incredible to understand concerning God’s love as demonstrated through Christ is that there was no power in Heaven or Earth that could have ever taken the Son from the Father.  The Father had to give the Son.  Freely and by His own good will.  God gave, because God loves us in a way that is so deep and so profound that we will assuredly never understand the fullness of it while we are still here on Earth.  I am sure that we will not fully understand it nor fully appreciate it until we are all standing face to face with God in all of His glory in Heaven and all of the mysteries of His incredible love are finally revealed to us and come rushing toward us in eternity.  The love of God is a force that the powers of darkness can never extinguish.  The love of God and the obedience of the Son made possible a way where there seemed to be no way.  And scripture tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not perish.  Praise God for His love!

I know this truth is not new to us as those redeemed by the Lord.  But has this truth become so familiar that we fail to see the incredible amazement, wonder and the mystery of the Gospel on a daily basis?  It is my prayer that we never become so familiar with God’s great love that we take it for granted, or worse, that we lose our sense of wonder and gratitude for what God has both given and accomplished through Jesus Christ.  Next time you fail as a Christian, next time you fall into sin or begin to doubt God’s love for you during a difficult time in life, remember that “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John