“… that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
I haven’t noticed it lately, but signs that say JOHN 3:16 used to pop up in the strangest places, like at a football game or in somebody’s front yard. Those signs were meant to be a kind of evangelization, a way to spread the Good News, because, when you think about it, that little verse, tells an amazing story. In just 24 words, it gives us a clear outline of God’s eternal plan, the one that leads to eternal life!
For God so loved the world… “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen1:31) God loves His creation, all of it; and He loves all of us, so much so…
that he gave his only Son…“The angel said to [Mary]… the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35). And in Luke 3:22, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus was one of us. He experienced joy and sorrow, love and betrayal. But He was also the Son of God, and before His death, He promised, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 39:40).
that whoever believes in him should not perish… Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). In Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Everyone who believes and loves God with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength shall not perish…
but have eternal life… “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40)
It’s all there… creation, incarnation, redemption, and resurrection. God’s love and mercy walked the Earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, He came to deliver a gift… offered to each of us… unearned, undeserved, and priceless. That gift is our salvation. So “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Thanks be to God.
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John 3:13-18
13 “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
