The study today is from Dr. Jeremiah, entitled "Worshiping a loving God". The link to the lesson is Worshiping a Loving God. Our lesson comes from 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."
Jn 3:16
As we all know, God is the author of love. John 3:16 reveals the gospel in one verse. As we read this wonderful verse, we will pick out seven words and phrases that summarize God's love for us.
The first word is "so", which refers to the quality of God's love. He loves us so much, that His Son died for us. Let's stop and think about the magnitude of that fact. Jesus actually took all of our sins and died a horrible death on the cross. And He did it so that we may have eternal life.
The next word is "object". Well, this one is easy. The object of His love is spelled out in the next two words: the world. This means all of the world..not just one gender; or nation; or creed; or color; but the whole world...ALL OF US! And it's a personal love. The kind that makes each of us feel like He's loving us particularly, and in the special way that we need Him to.
The third word that summarizes God's love for us is actually a phrase. "He gave us His Son" refers to the sacrificial love of God. Which of us would voluntarily give our child, as God did? Even if it would save others, I believe that I couldn't do so. Another verse that helps us to fathom the reason that God gave His Son is Romans 8:32, which reads:
The third word that summarizes God's love for us is actually a phrase. "He gave us His Son" refers to the sacrificial love of God. Which of us would voluntarily give our child, as God did? Even if it would save others, I believe that I couldn't do so. Another verse that helps us to fathom the reason that God gave His Son is Romans 8:32, which reads:
"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"
Rom 8:32
Reading that verse, you cannot deny God's love for us.
The next word that we come to in John 3:16 is "whosoever". This depicts the serious offer of God's love. God makes His Word, in the form of the Bible, available to everyone. This word shows that it includes the whole world, as God's love is available to the world (remember the second word: object), but those who do not believe are not included. Isn't it sad to think of the people who miss out on God's wonderful love only because they choose not to believe in it.
"Believes" is the fifth word and it goes right along with "whosoever". It is the selective choice of God's love. This is where free will comes in; we receive God's love only if we believe in Him and His Holy Son. We also must believe that Jesus died for us, taking all of our sins; and that He rose again on the third day; and, finally, that He ascended into heaven. He will return to take us to our heavenly home. Isn't a comforting thought.
Then, we come to the next phrase, which is: "shall not perish". This refers to God's special love. As we know, perish is the opposite of everlasting life, which is the promise. We shall all have everlasting life if only we believe.
The last phrase is tied into the previous. "Everlasting life" referring to eternal life. Eternal life starts the moment you believe. In other words, you do not have to wait until your outer shell is dead to have eternal life, but when you are "saved", you are saved from death and from hell. We who believe shall never die! Because everlasting life starts when you are saved, it refers to the quality of your life. Simply put, believe and the quality of your life will rise above those who don't believe. A perk to believing that is comforting. This is not to say that Christians have it made in this life on earth. But we have God's grace to help us through anything that befalls us.
To sum it up, John 3:16 shows us that God loves us, warts and all.
Thank you all for joining me this morning. Have a blessed day, and I will see you next time.
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