JOHN 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Quite possibly the most famous Bible verse of all time. Because of that, there may be a danger for believers to see it with simplicity; to have ears so used to hearing it that we miss the magnificence of it. There is a reason it is the most frequently referenced verse! Not just because it sums up the truth of the Christian faith so succinctly (the "elevator pitch"), but because the power within it has the potential to pack a punch if we see it with fresh eyes...
Let's focus on the first part of the statement: God's love. God's love for the whole world, and I love the emphasis put on it - that God SO loved the world! Can we just keep this in mind, please? Always? Is there anything outside of this? Christ, the cross, redemption, salvation...was that not all because of God's deep love for us? Could it possibly be otherwise?
I have trouble comprehending it. Sometimes it's easier for me to focus on God's judgement and requirements for living in obedience. Sometimes God is just so mysterious that I tumble into an abyss and try to grasp at tiny thin branches of logic and reason to make sense and explain it all...
It's easier to see the love of God through the aspect and being and teachings of Christ. How often though we seem split Christ off from God. I know why - because Christ is more tangible. He's the Vine that I'm able to grab hold of during my abysmal tumble. But can we let Christ's words penetrate us when he says so clearly that he and the Father are One?
John 14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Jesus is saying here that if we cannot comprehend the Father, let the example of Christ bear witness to Him. Let us trace backwards from the Son to the Father, as if Christ were a fractal - the part containing the whole...
God tells us of His love throughout all of scripture. I particularly like these verses in Isaiah:
Isaiah 43: 4 "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you...I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
He blots out our transgressions - He became flesh - for his own sake! The cross was not just a merciful favor He did for us; the cross was so that He could enjoy union with His creation, which He adores! Zephaniah 3:17 says he exalts over us with loud singing!
But let us not miss the point here, that God loves the WORLD - not just Christians, for all were in the same state before Christ came, and it says that He loved us BEFORE sending Christ; He sent Christ BECAUSE He loves us, in our pre-salvation state. If we are truly examples of Christ, we must show this kind of love to the world, as He did/does.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
When the world wonders as Philip did in the verse above, "Who is God?" may we have an answer similar to Jesus' - that our love, our way of being, points directly to the Father. It may seem difficult, but through the help of the Holy Spirit, and by sharing - living - our elevator pitch, we can love the world, that they may Know Him.
Read more about the 40 Day Prayer Commitment