God So Loved the World that He Gave His Only Begotten Son - John 3:16

John the apostle shared how Jesus told Nicodemus, “Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Are you a master of Israel, and know not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life”, and in chapter three and verse sixteen of his book, John shared how Jesus said, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” where we read:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The verse reads, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, ...” John began with the words, “For God” which means “because, since and on account that the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “so loved the world” or “in this manner, likewise, thus and after this manner was well-pleased with, fond of and was dearly passionate over the inhabitants of the earth who make up the human family”, “that he gave” which means “so that, insomuch that, so then, therefore and wherefore God granted, bestowed, furnished and supplied” “his only begotten Son” or “God's sole and single of His kind male offspring”. John shared how Jesus spoke of the intense love God had for the world and it's inhabitants, and because of His love, He furnished and supplied His “only begotten” Son to them.

The verse continues, “... that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John added the words, “that whosoever” which means “so whatever person whether male or female who” “believes in him” or “has confidence in, trusts in, relies upon and clings to Jesus” “should not perish” which means “will not be destroyed, put out of the way entirely, abolished, rendered useless and put to an end to ruin”, “but have everlasting life” or “nevertheless, notwithstanding and moreover will obtain, lay hold of and possess without beginning and end, never ceasing and perpetual vitality which is life real and genuine, active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed and in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.” John shared how Jesus promised that “whosoever”, male or female, that “trusts in, relies upon and clings” to Him would not “be abolished, rendered useless and put to an end”, but would obtain “age abiding, real and genuine eternal life” with Him.

When we consider John's words in this verse, we discover one of the most important verses in the whole Bible. John 3:16 is known to be “the Bible in a nutshell” or the “gospel of God” in one verse. “God so loved the world”, which includes every person, that He bestowed His “sole and only begotten Son”, Jesus, so that anyone who puts their “faith and trust” in Him would not be “destroyed and rendered useless”, but would instead receive “everlasting, eternal life” with Him. God's desire is to have a personal relationship with every person, and anyone who yields to His Son Jesus will be “saved” from judgment and be granted “everlasting life” with Him. Those who are wise will carefully think about all God has done for them to obtain “eternal life” with Him, and when they contemplate these things, let them believe and trust in the only One who is able to forgive their sins and grant them “everlasting life” with God in Heaven.

Next time John shares how Jesus says, “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".