John 3:16, you see it everywhere, at sporting events, on billboards, T-shirts, yard signs, and online. It is perhaps the most searched Bible Phrase in history. A recent study indicated people search for John 3:16 approximately 70,000 times each day. That is over two million Google searches each month. Why is this single verse so popular? Why do so many people have questions about what it says and what it means? There could be any number of reasons for so many to be curious, but the fact is, this single verse sums up the basis of Christian Faith in just twenty-five words.
"For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
In order to find out what
makes this verse so special, we need to break it down. Let us look at the five
elements of this passage. Beginning with,
“For God so loved the world.” This is not a statement of love for the
physical world, the planet Earth, but of the people, the men and women, who
inhabit the world. God loves the people of the world. This does not specify
which people God loves; it tells us God loves all the people of the world. That
is vital for all of us to remember: we are loved. Something about us makes us
worthy of God’s love. That in itself is as valuable a piece of information as
you will ever receive. God, the creator of the world, the Universe, loves you.
(We
can be certain the passage refers to the people of the world by the context of
the phrase. If God were saying he loved the physical world, not the people, the
remainder of the statement would be irrelevant.)
“that he gave his only begotten Son” – God’s son, Jesus, was sent into the world to
accomplish a task. The term ‘begotten’ is also important. The term refers to
someone who is brought forth in a very special way. Not born, although Jesus
was born human, Jesus existed long before He became a man. The fact God would
send Jesus, His only son to suffer and die for us shows us just how important
this task was. No one else could accomplish the task; no angel or any person on
earth could do what Jesus was called on to do. God sacrificed His son, His only
son, for us.
“that whoever believes in him” – This is our call to action. These five words tell us
what is required of us, what is expected of us. God has opened the door for
each of us by sending His son into the world, and here He is telling us what is
expected of us in return. We must believe. We must make the decision of our own
free will and choose to believe in the gift, the opportunity for salvation,
that God presents in Jesus. What we choose will have a profound effect on our future, both here on earth and beyond.
“should not perish but have eternal life.” – Here God tells us there are two possibilities,
and only two. We can ignore Jesus, ignore the opportunity given us, and perish
-or- we can believe in Jesus and have eternal life. It seems like such a simple
decision, but many struggle with it daily. God is offering us a life after
death, a chance to live with him in heaven, if we will just believe in Jesus,
if we just have faith.
It should be noted that no one forced God to give us this opportunity; the gift was extended to us out of
His love. We each have the opportunity to accept His gift or reject it. But
why would God want to offer us, a sinful people, the opportunity for forgiveness
and the chance at eternal life? John goes on to explain God’s motivation in the
next verse, John 3:17
“For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him." John 3:17
did not send his son into the world to condemn the world,” Many people miss the importance of this sentence. Jesus was not sent to condemn the world. In other words, Jesus was not sent here to judge us. We are all guilty of sin and deserving of judgment, but Jesus was sent here to save us.
This was in stark
contrast to what many first-century Jews believed. They believed the messiah
would be sent to judge and condemn, most certainly the Gentiles. Here we see
Jesus had an entirely different mission, and it was not limited to the Jews but was for the entire world.
“but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – This sentence once again shows the purpose of Jesus coming to earth. It was also intended to show a different perspective of God. Many think of God as the God of judgment and punishment, fire and brimstone. Many still see God in this way. In these passages, however, we see God not being intent on punishment but instead has a deep desire for humanity to be saved. Through Jesus, He provides us with a means by which to accomplish this goal.
John’s gospel has a central theme of God’s love. These two versus, especially John 3:16, sums up that message in a very short and very simple statement. While simple, it is also one of the most profound and important messages in any of the Gospels.
