Issue 4 - October 2004
God So Loved
Michael A. Verdicchio

There is a verse in John, Chapter 3 that is very familiar to many people.  I once saw a Bible with this verse printed in the back in dozens of languages.

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

God, Who is love, loved first.  John 3:16 goes on to say that He loved the world.  All of God’s creation is wonderful: the flowers and the trees, the bunnies and the bees.  But, God did not give His only begotten Son to save nature or animals.  The word “world” is a figure of speech meaning all the people in the world!  God so loved the world – everybody, without exception!  That is a lot of love.

God’s expression of His love was in giving His only begotten Son, the highest price ever paid.  Yet, that was the price required for mankind’s complete salvation and redemption.  Because of the sin of Adam, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would completely and legally redeem us.  And God so loved that He was willing to give His only begotten Son for us!

The result of God giving His Son was that, “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Who is left out of that invitation? No one, it is open to “whosoever”.  Would you ever conceive of putting a sign in front of your house that read, “Whosoever wants to come in and enjoy everything that I have, come on in?”  But that is exactly what God did!  He so loved the world that He gave His Son so that whosoever believes in him would receive everlasting life.

Notice very carefully what God requires from us to receive everlasting life: “whosoever believeth in him”.  Romans 10:9 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  In Romans 9, just like here in John 3:16, the criteria for everlasting life, being saved, is believing in Jesus Christ.

Was the work of Jesus Christ a complete work?  He said that he came to do the Father’s work and to finish it.  Shortly before he died, he cried out, “It is finished!”  If it is indeed finished, then what work is there left to do to obtain salvation? 

Sadly, many Christians are told that the work of Jesus Christ was not enough for us to be saved and to have everlasting life.  People are told they must do “good works” if they want to “make it”. If the sacrifice of the only perfect man who ever lived was not enough to get the job done, what could you or I possibly do to get the job done? 

John 3:16 doesn’t say that God sent His Son so that if we did good works we could have everlasting life.

What is required is believing in Jesus Christ. He accomplished for us what none of us, individually or collectively, could have accomplished.  Because of God’s great love in giving His only begotten Son for us, whoever decides to believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. 

It is interesting that the word “perish” in this verse does not mean “to die”.  There have been many who have believed in Jesus Christ over the centuries and they have died.  This verse says that those who do believe in Jesus Christ will not perish.  Perish means to be totally abolished, gone forever.  Even though a person who does believe in Jesus Christ dies, that person will live again!  God lovingly refers to the death of a believer many times as, “sleep”, because their death is temporary.

With that in mind, there are two and only two choices: perish or everlasting life!  There is no other choice!  They that believe in Jesus Christ have everlasting life, and they that don’t will perish!  In II Peter 3:9 it says that God doesn’t want anyone to perish.  Why?  Because He so loved the world that gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever wanted to could believe and have everlasting life!

Most of the time when someone pays a high price for an item it is because that item is worth the price paid by the buyer.  In other words, he is willing to pay the high price because he thinks having the item is really worth it.  Well, what are we worth to God?  He paid the highest price ever.  He didn’t wait until we were good enough, or until we did enough good works to earn it. God loved us first!  We are saved because of His great love and grace. 

God is often erroneously portrayed as being mean and inflicting punishment.  His great love is so overlooked.  The reason God paid the highest price ever – the life of His Son; the reason that God made everlasting life available by simply believing in His Son; the reason God made the invitation open to everyone; the reason for all this is, love!

Does He really love us that much?  Yes.  And He has proven it.