Believe.
“For 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,
This is the Gospel, the good news, the greatest news… it’s not only the greatest news ever, it is the greatest news conceivable!
So, let’s break this verse down a bit to get a better understanding of its significance in our lives…
*For God… right away we’ve got to try and wrap our hearts and minds around just who this is, we’ve got to acknowledge that this is the creator of all things we’re talking about here. He created you, He created me, and simply put we would not even exist if it were not for Him. You all may have heard some of the great “Omni” words used to describe God… Omnificent or all creating... Omnipotent which means all powerful.. Omnipresent, basically meaning that He is everywhere all the time, always has been and always will be.. And He’s Omniscient which means He is all knowing, there’s not a whole lot that gets past God… then there’s another “Omni” word, one that’s often left out of the equation – which is silly because in 1 John we see that GOD IS LOVE.. the word is Omnibenevolent, and it means that God is ALL LOVING!
*For God so loved… He SO loved.. He SOOO Loved! This is an incredible use of language here, because there is not a word that can properly illustrate the intensity of God’s love. I’ve heard it described as reckless and scandalous and audacious and other-centered and unconditional… but even these words can’t describe the passion and intensity behind God’s love, so the writer simply says “so loved”.
*He so loved the world… that’s you, that’s me, that’s us and everything around us… at our best, at our worst, in troubling times and prosperous times… with Him or against Him it doesn’t matter, because GOD SO LOVES THE WORLD…
*That He gave His one and only Son, and this is where it gets really good.. it can be summed up in a big fancy theological term called the incarnation which basically means that God Himself put on flesh and blood and came down here to dwell among us and go through it just like us… AND IT”S HIM, JESUS, and I’d have to imagine that He did it with a huge smile on His face!
*So, Jesus was given to us that WHOSOEVER… it doesn’t matter where you are in life or what you’ve done or didn’t do, or how good or bad or right or wrong you are… it’s whosoever… that’s grace, that’s mercy.. whoever!
*Believes is Him SHALL NOT PERISH but HAVE ETERNAL LIFE… once we believe we stop dying… we start living… old things have passed and the new has come… and, not only does this imply that we start living a new life right here and right now until we take our final breath, but that this new life goes on forever and ever and ever in the presence of an Almighty God whose main concern is restoring us to the full completion of His love and perfection and goodness…
