God's love explained

Documentation Published on Wednesday, 13 May 2020

God's great gift to mankind

God's greatest gift to mankind

John Chapter Three tells of Nicodemus, a very senior Jewish leader and a Pharisee, who went to see Jesus one night and tells Him that the Jewish leaders recognise Jesus as a great teacher. Before he can continue, Jesus sets the tone for the rest of the discussion - no one will see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Nicodemus is surprised at this and equates it to a person having to go back in the womb of their mother. Jesus goes on and says that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of God. He then contrasts being born of the flesh (natural man) with being born from the Spirit (spiritual man).

Jesus tells him that as a respected religious leader and teacher of Israel, Nicodemus is supposed to know this. Then he tells Nicodemus that in the same way Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of man (Jesus) must be lifted up so that those who believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus then confirms this with the following:

16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:16

It could be that you are reading this verse for the first time in your life. Because the devil blinds us, we cannot see the incredibly simple truth of this verse. Let us break it down in sections and show to you that each section is the ultimate that God can do.

  1. For God so loved the world that
    1. God is the ultimate authority. He is the Supreme Being.
    2. Not “loves”, but “loved” - an action already performed by God, complete and long before there were people on the Earth who could try to appease Him through works. He did not wait for man to respond so that He could love them. He loved first. Unconditionally.
    3. This is His ultimate motive.
    4. He did not love some part of the world, He loved the world - all people, irrespective or race, gender, creed, opinion, orientation, or current condition.
    5. This is the ultimate scope of His Love.
  2. He gave His only begotten Son
    1. He gave this only Son, Jesus. This was a gift, and it was free. If you are given a gift for free, will you not take it?
    2. God has only one Son, Jesus. He does not have another, an alternative, a proxy or a stand-in.
    3. This is the ultimate gift.
  3. that whosoever believes in Him
    1. "Whosoever" is anyone and everyone and it includes you.
    2. Whosoever believes means to accept only Him as Lord and Saviour of their lives.
    3. This is the ultimate grouping of people.
  4. should not perish
    1. Perish means to die. God does not want you to die in your sins.
    2. This is the ultimate deliverance from hell.
  5. but have everlasting life.
    1. To have is what you get, and the action is complete. It does not require anything more. It is certain.
    2. Many religions teach that everlasting life is what you could possibly get, if you have enough points and if, and only if, that religion's god is happy with your works. For them there is no certainty.
    3. The everlasting life God promises through His Son is greater than time itself. It never ends.
    4. Everlasting life is yours if you believe in His Son. He lives for all eternity, and so can you. It is that simple.
    5. This is the ultimate possession.

Why did God do this?

These are the verses that follow the one we just looked at, and they show the reason why God did what He did (Words highlighted in black are also Jesus' words.):

17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. – John 3:17-21
  1. He did not send His Son to condemn the world. True Love does not condemn, no matter how big the sin. True Love loves unconditionally.
  2. He sent His Son so that through Him the world might be saved.
  3. There are two options:
    1. He who believes in Him is not condemned - there is no need to give a reason.
    2. He who does not believe is condemned already - the reason is clearly given.

The first choice is yours and it is free, and the reward is eternal life. The second choice is yours, and it is also free, but the reward is destruction.

  1. Condemnation is the result of man's choice. The light coming into the world is the condemnation for those who do not want to believe. Their deeds are evil by nature and the Light (Jesus) exposes them.
  2. Is it not cruel that people should be condemned because they did not make or did not want to make the choice to accept God's gift? No, because on the other side you have those who would have been condemned but are not because they made the choice to accept God's gift.

God the Father did not just send Jesus to the Earth to save us from the penalty of sin. Jesus Himself had to die for the sins of people. By dying in a cruel way on a cross, Jesus took our sins on Himself so that we could be set free of those sins.

The simplest example to illustrate this that we can give, is this: you owe money to the bank and cannot pay your debt. You are in trouble and about to lose everything you know is important. A stranger hears about this and offers to give the money to pay the debt. At first, you do not want to accept the offer because you cannot believe that someone will be prepared to pay for your debt with his own money. Seeing how well the stranger means this, you accept that he will pay the debt. You give him the bank details and he pays the debt for you. Now that the debt is paid, you do not owe anything anymore and you do not lose your possessions. The bank is satisfied that the debt has been paid and your name is cleared. More than this, you realise just how this stranger loves you that he would use his own money to set you free. As a result, you become friends for life.

The money we owe is the sin in our lives. God is holy and as such He cannot tolerate sin in his presence. Your sin means that you are going to die and never be in the presence of God. God the Father, because he loved the world, sent His Son Jesus to this Earth to stand in the place of sinful man and pay the price. He had to die on the cross so that you do not have to die in your sins. In this way, Jesus paid your debt and now your name is cleared of the offence, if you accept the offer.

His Love for you is so great that He was prepared to pay your debt, you who are reading here. How can you not accept this extreme act of kindness and love Him for the rest of your life? The most amazing thing of all is that Jesus not only died on the cross for your sins, but He became alive again, ensuring that death has no hold on those who believe in Him as their Saviour. This is the basis of faith in God - that we believe in Jesus whom God the Father sent to this Earth.

God the Father's love for us is so amazing that the text you read just now, John 3:16, merely says He gave his only begotten Son. The fact that Jesus had to die on the cross is stated earlier, in verse 14. He loved you more than He valued the life of His only Son. We should not allow the promise of John 3:16 to overshadow the price - the death of the Son of God on the cross. Without the cross there can be no eternal life.

How do I believe in Him?

There are four steps:

  1. Realise
  2. Repent
  3. Request
  4. Receive

The video below explains John 3:16 in a striking way. Follow their YouTube channel.


Send to a friend

Return to home page