John 3:16 may or may not be the most famous verse in all of Scripture, but it is certainly one of the most used and least understood. The verse is so well known that some consider the mere reference to be a sufficient proclamation of the gospel.
The Arminians extract the phrase “Did God so love the world? context and use it as an argument for universal atonement, that is, Christ’s death made redemption possible for all. The most extreme universalists carry the same argument even further. They claim that the verse proves that God loves everyone in exactly the same way, and that everyone will be saved, as if John 3:16 denied all biblical warnings of the doom of the wicked.
- To think like this is to miss the point entirely.
- The immediate context provides the necessary balance: “Who does not believe.
- Is already judged.
- Because he does not believe in the name of the Only Begotten of God? (v.
- 18).
- It is certainly a truth that must be proclaimed to our generation with at least as much passion and urgency as the message of God’s love and mercy.
Also, John 3:16 does not speak of the extent of the atonement, the verse is a statement of the extent of God’s love. Here is a profound wonder: Did God love the world? (that wicked kingdom of fallen mankind) in such a way that he sacrificed his only begotten Son to pay the price of redemption for all who believe in him.
The apostle John was touched by the magnitude of God’s love and its implications. He stressed this so much that he is often called “the apostle of love. ” This observation from 1 John 3,1 makes an appropriate comment on the central point of John 3:16: “See what great love the Father has given us, so much so that we are called children of God. ” The simplicity of the language is proportional to the depth of the truth: “look what great love”. John doesn’t use a dozen adjectives because all the superlatives in human language wouldn’t even come close to telling the whole truth. It simply draws our attention to its indescribable wonder.
The apostle Paul was captivated by the same truth: “But does God prove his love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners? (Romans 5. 8). What happens when the apostle Peter mentions things that angels long to seek? (1Peter 1:12), one of the main questions you must surely think about is why God would pour out His love on fallen humanity. Why would he choose to love finite, fallen, sinful human beings at the cost of his own Son’s life? Why didn’t God just reject us as miserable sinners, make us the objects of his wrath, and display his glory by judging us? It is a mystery that even angels can find puzzling. Only fallen human beings are beneficiaries of divine mercy: “Because obviously he does not help the angels, but does he help the descendants of Abraham? (Hebrews 2:16). “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, delivered them into the depths of darkness and reserved them for judgment” (2 Peter 2. 4).
Having redeemed us and guaranteed our entry into heaven, couldn’t he have given us a lower position?However, he made us consistent with Cristo. De fact, he gave us the best of himself. He bestowed upon his people the most invaluable and eternal blessing in the entire universe: his own Beloved Son. Therefore, we can be absolutely sure that he will not deny us any good (Romans 8:32).
Have you ever thought about the mystery of such great love?Why is God’s greatest love not bestowed upon those angels who have never fallen and who have over time been faithful in loving and worshipping the God who created them?In short, why would God love us and also pay such a high price to show his love?
Frankly, the answer to this question is still wrapped in a mystery, it is a huge and incomprehensible wonder. Apart from the fact that his love for sinners will lead him to his glory, we do not know why God chooses to love fallen sinners and I must confess, with every true son of God, that I do not know why God chose to love me. It is certainly not because he considers me worthy of his love, that is, the reasons for God’s love must be found only in him, not those he loves.
It is a truth that imposes upon us an attitude of great humility. God’s love is given for free and gracefully, it is not won by all that we can do. Drag is excluded (Romans 3. 27). There is no place for human pride in the doctrine of God’s love, but only for sober humility, deep gratitude, and serene respect for a faithful and obedient heart.