By Greg Laurie
"For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life." —John 3:16
One of the greatest verses in all of the Bible is John 3:16. It gives us the gospel in a nutshell.
Let's break it down:
"For God so loved . . ."
Many
picture God as some kind of "cosmic killjoy" out to ruin our lives.
But the reality is that God loves you! He misses you. He wants a relationship
with you. Look at the Lord in the garden after Adam's fall, calling,
"Adam, where are you?" (Genesis 3:9).
". . . the world . . ."
The
world? That includes dictators and criminals. It includes adulterers, cheats,
liars, even murderers.
The
thief on the cross was probably a murderer or terrorist, but Jesus extended His
loving forgiveness to him.
". . . He gave . . ."
We can talk about love all day long, but God demonstrated His love
for us in a tangible way. Romans 5:8 says," But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,"
and Romans 6:23 tells us that
"the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus
came to this world not to come down on people, but to reach out to people.
While religion tells us what we must do to reach up to heaven, God reaches down
from heaven in sending Jesus and pulling us out of quicksand.
". . . His only begotten Son . . ."
This
does not mean "one of many," as in "So-and-so begat
So-and-so." A better translation is "His one and only Son" or
"the only Son of His kind or class, unique in kind."
". . . that whosoever believes . . ."
To "believe" does not merely mean you intellectually
accept something to be true. The Bible says, "Even the demons believe—and
tremble!" (James 2:19 NKJV). To believe is to "adhere to,
commit to, have faith in, rely upon, trust in." The choice is ours as to
what we will do with this wonderful gift of God. We can gladly accept it, or
reject it. If someone offers you a gift, you either take it or you don't. You
can't say, "I'm neutral on this. I can't decide."
". . . should not perish . . ."
Revelation 20:15
says, "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire" (KJV).
If you are included in the "whosoever" of John 3:16, you won't be included in the
"whosoever" of Revelation 20:15.
". . . but have everlasting life."
Not "hope to have," but "have." It becomes the
immediate possession of the child of God. 1 John 5:13 says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on
the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and
that you may believe on the name of the Son of God" (NKJV).
Jesus will receive and reveal Himself to any person who will come to
Him honestly, heart to heart. Jesus said, "He that comes to me I will in
no way cast out" (see John 6:37).
