John 3:16
John 3:16 is the gospel in
a nutshell. When Jesus held His private interview with Nicodemus He
spoke to him about the sinfulness of man, the need to be born again,
the need for faith, and sums the gospel up this way: “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).” That is the good news.
John 3:16 begins with,
“For God so loved the world...” God loves the world even though
He hates sin and His judgment is revealed from heaven against
wickedness (Romans 1:18). God loves you, but hates your sin. He is
just and must punish you with your sins. It is amazing that God
loves you and me – in spite of the fact that, outside of Christ, we
are in active rebellion against Him and hate God. God is light, but
the sinner loves darkness. “And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved (John 3:19-20).” Regardless of how sinful, rebellious,
and hateful you are toward God, He loves you and is “...not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2
Peter 3:9).”
God loves the sinner and
proves it, in that He “...gave his only begotten Son...” No one
can say, “No one loves me,” because God loves you and sent His
Son. He has demonstrated His love for you and me “...in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” Jesus
took the punishment that we deserved, dying in our place. Jesus died
for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). When someone rejects Jesus they
reject the love of God and can only expect His wrath.
The love demonstrated by
God and the grace that is available to you is by faith in Jesus.
“...that whosoever believeth in him...” This is the good news.
What shall I do to be saved? The answer is believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved. How am I to believe? Jesus gave this
example of the type of faith that saves: “And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life (John 3:14-15).” The reference is to an event in
the wanderings of Israel to the Promised Land. They sinned and God
judged them by sending poisonous serpents into the camp and many of
the people were bitten. God instructed Moses to make a brazen
serpent and put it up on a pole. Everyone that was bitten by
serpents would be healed simply by looking upon the serpent on the
pole. They simply believed in the promise and were saved. Jesus was
crucified on the cross. “For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him (2 Corinthians 5:21).” Simply look to Jesus in faith that He
will save you from your sins and you will be saved.
There are certain results
of putting your faith in Jesus Christ. One of the benefits of
trusting Jesus is that you “...will not perish...” This
perishing is what makes the good news so good. All the world is
under the condemnation of God, because of sin. You are perishing
under God's judgment of your sins. On the cross Jesus took the
punishment you deserved by dying in your place. All the wrath of
God that you deserved Jesus carried to the cross.
Another result of putting
our faith in Jesus is that we have “...everlasting life.” Jesus
told Nicodemus that he “must be born again.” When you put your
trust in Christ you have a new life. You are born again of the
Spirit of God. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God (John 1:12-13).” You become a child of God and a possessor of
everlasting life. “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness
(Romans 8:10).”
How will you respond to
the love of God revealed in John 3:16? God demonstrated His love to
you when He gave His Son to die in your place. Jesus has taken your
punishment. The only proper response is to repent of your sin and
put your trust in Jesus Christ.
