There are some aspects of the Christian faith that are so widely known that even those who are outside of the church are familiar with them. Most notably, certain days like Christmas and Easter. Even those who are unchurched have heard of and celebrate these days; although I’ve often wondered what exactly someone who isn’t a Christian celebrates on these particular days. However, there are also some parts of Scripture that they are familiar with as well. Everyone has heard of the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. What’s really funny is that a lot of folks don’t realize that the Golden Rule actually has its origins in Scripture, but there it is, right there in Matthew 7:12 (So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets). Then, there’s this verse, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is one of, if not the, most frequently quoted verses in all of Scripture. I think it most certainly is the most quoted of the New Testament verses. It has been given the title of being “the gospel in a nutshell.” Even many non-Christians can quote this verse for us if we asked them to. Its popularity is mind-blowing really. It doesn’t matter what type of Christian you are (liberal or conservative) or what type of denomination you belong to, the power of this verse stands regardless of worldview or beliefs. The question that I want to ask and hopefully answer today (and there are a number of ways we could go with this) is why this verse is so powerful? What is it about this relatively short verse that seems to sum up the basics of the gospel? And we’re going to accomplish this by really breaking it down and looking at what the words come together to say, but we’re also going to talk about what this verse doesn’t say as well.
Unfortunately, much of the reason for the popularity of this verse is because of the common misinterpretation(s) of it. You see, this verse says that God so loved the world that he provided a means by which some (those who believe in Christ) might be saved. The means that God provided was His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. However, the way that many in our culture today read and interpret this verse is by basically changing it to where it reads, “For God so loved the world and everyone in it that He gave His only Son so that everyone could be saved.” Well, I don’t expect you to know Biblical Greek, but just take my word that there is no way to get such a reading from the original autographs. You see, an interpretation of this verse along those lines is where we get the notion that many people live by that states that as long as they say that God is real and that Jesus died then that is all that matters. They can conduct themselves in whatever manner they wish to without any responsibilities or obligations and they are fully entitled to the blessings of God because it says right there that “God so loved the world.” However, they’ve taken the notion of belief completely out of the equation, but we’ll deal with that in a minute.
So, let me hit pause on this line of thinking about what this verse doesn’t mean for just a moment and spend some time actually examining this text and looking at what it does mean. I’ll come back to how we interpret it versus how we should interpret it in just a moment, but a few things need to be looked at before I do that. First, when we say that God so loved the world, what is in view when we say the word world? Well, it’s exactly what you may think is in view. When John writes this commentary on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, and he uses the word world, he doesn’t have in mind some select group, but the entirety of people living and all that was created by God. John remains consistent with this usage of the word world throughout his gospel account. Now, he’s not saying that eternal life is for the world, that’s part of the second petition. All he’s saying in this first petition is that God loved the world and the creatures that He created so much so, that instead of destroying them He gave them the gift of His Son. You see, the gift of Jesus is a gift for the entire world, even those who do not profess saving faith in him. It’s kind of like how God promised Abraham in Genesis 12 that He would make Abraham (then Abram) a great nation so that he would be a blessing to the world. Now, for those found outside of the person and lineage of Abraham, there was not eternal life, but there still were blessings to be enjoyed. Don’t mistakenly think that John’s use of the word world here in terms of the giving of the Son carries over to the second half of this verse that speaks of eternal life and salvation. Just look at Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17 for more evidence. John makes a very clear distinction there that those found in Christ and “the world” are not one in the same.
You see, this is where the major issue comes in in terms of interpreting this verse properly. John very plainly writes that eternal life and not perishing is the reality for “whoever believes in him.” He doesn’t say that as a result of sending His Son into the world that God is granting eternal life to the world and everyone in it. No, this second petition narrows things down quite a bit from the original grouping of the world. Now, it’s very important that we understand that this pronoun “him” is referring to Jesus. In essence, this is where we look to a verse like John 14:6 for that clarification. However, that’s also where the issues start to really come in for many people and where a lot of anger and hostility start. If you want to make a non-Christian or even a pseudo-Christian upset then do this. If you want to anger one of those folks that say that infuriating statement that all religions are worshiping the same god just in a different way, then just recite the words of John 14:6 to them. “I am the way and truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In other words, Jesus is very bluntly laying it out there that he is the only way to the Father, he’s the only way to eternal life in heaven, and he’s the only way of salvation. We looked at the closing text of James last Sunday and we talked about Jesus being the only hope, the only way. Now, it’s all good to read that and to say that we believe that, but we have to act like that as well. We have to conduct ourselves in a manner that indicates that we believe whole-heartedly that Jesus Christ is the one true Messiah. Now, I’m not calling for violence or the Crusades part 2. I’m just simply saying that we have to believe that it is in Christ and Christ alone that we come to God. There are no other means by which we are drawn near to the Father other than the Son himself.
Now, as I said earlier, this is where the contention comes in. Many people will be quick to tell us that God is love and that it doesn’t sound very loving for God to be so exclusive in how he saves people. Well, two things; first, I can read 1 John 4 as well and it isn’t that God is only love, but that love comes from God. Love is an attribute of God, but so are anger and wrath and righteousness, so that’s important to keep in mind. We can’t promote one aspect of God so much that it mutes other aspects of Him. That’s just us creating our own god. I have to be completely honest with you and tell you that my skin crawls a little bit when people say things like, “Well, my god is a god of love” or “My god would never choose not to save someone.” Well, when you say “my god” then you’re just admitting that you’ve created your own god. You’ve taken the God of Scripture, the God of the Bible and you have reduced Him to something that sounds more pleasing to you, which is creating something entirely new. If I told Amy that I thought she was beautiful except for her smile, nose, eyes, hair, etc., then I wouldn’t actually be telling her that she’s beautiful would I? Secondly, the question that really ought to be asked, and I’m taking this from Dr. R.C. Sproul’s commentary on John’s gospel, isn’t “Why is there only one way? but “Why is there even one way?” In other words, if we were to look back at the history of mankind and our relationship and obedience to God, why would God even provide one way for our restoration? God created us in a world of perfection, and we fell in disobedience through Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit. God then pulled out the one righteous person in the world in Noah, and after seeing him and his family through the flood we sinned and disobeyed again. The same pattern continued through Abraham, the nation of Israel, David and Solomon, and on and on. Then, despite being well past the point of being deserving of it, God sent His greatest gift into the world. He sent His only Son into the world and we ridiculed and rejected and killed and crucified him. Even after He rose from the grave there were/are still those who rejected him. The question that we ought to be asking is not why would God only make one way, but why God would allow all of our sinfulness and shame to be placed upon the shoulders of His Son. Why would God provide us with any way of being saved? However, like I said earlier, we chose to think along the lines of “if God provides only one way of salvation then He really doesn’t love the world that much.” Friends, any questioning along such lines quite honestly doesn’t have any clue about the depth and power of God’s love. If any person out there would ask such a question, then they don’t understand God’s love, they don’t understand sin, they don’t understand debt, justice, or a whole host of other aspects of who God truly is and what He requires of us.
Let me make this very crude analogy in terms of the way in which God’s providing any way by which we might be saved is so amazing. Let’s say that you go in to get a loan and you’ve never really done any banking, but there’s no reason for you to be denied, so you’re approved. However, you not only can’t pay that loan, but you file for bankruptcy. Then, let’s say that you wait the couple of years after bankruptcy and you go and apply for another loan and you get approved again. Well, history repeats itself and you not only default on that loan, but you file for bankruptcy again. Let’s say that this happens for quite some time; let’s say that this cycle just keeps repeating itself for quite a while. Now, eventually, the bank (every bank or lending organization) is going to basically blackball you and cast you aside. They won’t even give you a loan with 100% interest, they won’t give you a loan at all. They have every right to completely and totally cut you off and not provide even a glimmer of hope for you ever getting approved for another loan. You’ve messed up so bad that even your great grandkids are given bad credit reports at birth just because they are related to you. Well, that’s basically the position that we were in before Christ’s death, before the giving of the Son to the world. The part where God’s love differs from anything that we can imagine is that God provided a way by which not only could we be partially resorted, but fully restored and our relationship with Him completely repaired. Now true, this complete restoration of our relationship with God is a process. Actually it’s a number of processes that are all working simultaneously called sanctification, salvation, and justification; and they take our entire lives to complete. While conversion may happen in an instant, the process of our becoming holy just as God is holy isn’t. We slip, we stumble, we fall, we stray. That’s just life.
However, and I want end by making this point clear, because we believe in Christ, we do not perish but have eternal life. Now, we spent quite a bit of time looking at the book of James and we saw and pointed out the fact that belief or faith is something much more than acknowledgment. That’s where a lot of the hang-up comes in our world today. We can’t just say that we acknowledge God and His Son and call it belief. Belief and faith are things that are to be lived out. When we believe that Christ is the Messiah, then we conform ourselves to His commands and His will. We don’t show belief by creating our own images of him or choosing which of his commands to obey and which ones to ignore. True belief requires total acceptance and obedience of that standard. Look, I’ll be honest with you, there are things in this life that I would like to do much differently but I don’t because I have to let Scripture be my guide. My conscience, my desires, my heart, my feeling, my emotions, nor my opinions can be my guide in this life. God and God alone is the means by which we must live our lives. And we find God through prayer, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and through careful reading of His Word. Yes, God so loved and loves this world that He gave us Jesus Christ, His one and only begotten Son. And it is only through true belief and total acceptance, reliance, and adoration of that Son that we may hope to enter into eternal life in heaven. Thanks be to God that He has provided that one and only way; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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