God so Loved the World

It’s funny to me the things God uses to remind me of spiritual truths. This week, it was a coffee cup. A sweet friend recently bought me a set of cups that each have a phrase or verse from Scripture on them. Last Saturday, I reached into the cupboard to get a cup, and my eye fell on the one that had a phrase from John 3:16 on it.

“God so loved the world”

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it would be good to stop and take a look at the love of God from this simple, yet profound verse which describes an attribute of God for which we ought to be deeply grateful.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

This is one of the most commonly memorized verses in the Bible. If you grew up in church, you may be able to effortlessly rattle this verse off from memory, but the familiar is often overlooked.

This verse gives the answers to the questions, “Whom does God love?” “How much does God love?” and “What does God’s love look like?”

Whom does God love?

The Bible is a book full of examples of God showing love to His people. But the saved in Christ are not the only objects of His love. God loves the world. That’s everyone, everywhere. Scripture teaches that God is eternal, existing outside of time, thus when it is stated that He loves the world, His very nature implies that He loves all who have ever existed or will ever exist. He loves every individual.

How much does God love?

It’s easy to say “I love you,” but difficult to quantify that love. Here in this verse, Jesus is giving us a glimpse of the fathomless depth of God’s love for the human race. “That He gave His only begotten Son.”

God loves you and I and every other individual with a love so deep, so strong, that He was willing to make a sacrifice you and I would never be able to make. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, God in the flesh, to die for our sins. And the Bible says He did this “While we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Who would ever sacrifice his own son in order to save wicked men from the punishment they deserve? Only God.

The coming of Christ to earth is really a double-sacrifice. Not only did God the Father sacrifice His Son, God the Son willingly came to earth, confined Himself to a human body, and lived a sinless life in the midst of sinful people. Then He willingly bore the shame, indignity, and excruciating pain of the crucifixion to save even His torturers from the penalty of their sin. The unity of the Triune God is seen even in this.

What does God’s love look like?

We have already alluded to the answer to this question by mentioning the sacrifice of both God the Father and God the Son in Christ’s atoning death. From this we see that God’s love motivates Him to act on the behalf of His beloved ones. God’s love looks like selfless sacrifice. It looks like denying His own desire for comfort and safety in order to purchase comfort and safety for another.  

God’s love also looks like fellowship. Notice the purpose of the sacrifice:

“That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God never wanted anyone to perish in hell. He wants all to come to trust Him as Savior.  (1 Timothy 2:4) He desires that we should be with Him in heaven for all eternity. As He said in the book of Jeremiah, His desire is that “ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” (Jeremiah 30:22) It was this desire, rooted in a love deeper than we can ever imagine, that motivated His sacrifice.

God’s love looks like a willingness to do whatever it takes to redeem a desperately wicked soul, and to reconcile a relationship broken by mankind’s sin.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of God’s love, but what does it mean for you and me? First of all, it means that no matter how sinful we are, God in His love is ready to forgive and restore. Just ask Him to, believing that Jesus has already paid the price for your sin.

Then, God’s love means that we have an example to follow. You see, we were made in God’s image, and He designed us to love as He loves. We are even commanded to love others with the love of Christ for us:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35)

Like Christ, we are to love the whole world, not just those who are naturally dear to us. And like Christ, our love for others is to move us to personal sacrifice on their behalf. God’s love means taking action.

What is the love of God calling you to do today?

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)