For God so loved the world...

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."--John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."--John 3:16.  Where to begin.  These are the very words of Jesus spoken to Nicodemus in John 3:10-21.  This is a verse that every person across Christendom probably knows.  We can quote it without even blinking an eye.  The words in the verse are straightforward but I would like to take some time to explore two key aspects of this verse.  There are more than two but time will only allow for us to explore these two: God so loved the world and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world.    The Greek word for love used here is agape, more specifically for "loved" it's agapan.  I have shown before that agape love is more than just a love between friends, it is a sacrificial kind of love.  Are you a parent?  Is there anything you would not do for the sake of your children?  Do you have a close friend that you would do anything at all for, even take a bullet for them if necessary? These are two small examples of agape kind of love. This is what God did for us.  We were hurting because of our sin.  Problem was we had/have been doing it for so long, we couldn't feel the pain anymore.  But God, being the loving God that He is sent His Son to bring us back to our senses.  Some were so desensitized to the pain that they did not recognize the error of their ways and continued in their sinful ways to their destruction.  But others believed and turned.  God gave His only begotten Son that WHOEVER believes in Him shall NOT perish but have eternal life.

Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  One of the things Jesus told Nicodemus in this text was that whoever believes in Him is not judged.  Jesus refers to the judgment as being that men loved the darkness rather than the Light (Jesus) and continued their evil deeds.  But those who believe are not judged. We who are followers of Christ are not judged.  We will pass through judgment into eternal life. So we must believe in Him.

To believe in Him is more than to just believe what Jesus says.  It is DO what He says found in the pages of Scripture. To love Jesus in the way He loved us is to follow His commands in regards to life and salvation. We also must remember this Jesus whom YOU (AND I) crucified has been made both Lord and Christ. (Cf. Acts 2:36-38).  May we never forget this for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!