John 3:16 is, perhaps, the most familiar verse in the Bible. Many people, here in the U.S., at least, if they cannot quote the verse, are at least familiar with the reference, if only because they have seen it displayed so often in the end zone of football stadiums.
Yet, I am afraid that maybe we’ve allowed familiarity to lead us to take for granted the wonderful truths contained in this verse, one of the greatest being that of God’s love.
“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” - 1 John 4:8 (ESV)
God is love. Therefore, it is His nature to love. And the greatest expression of God’s love is seen in the cross.
Speaking of his prayers for them, Paul told the Ephesian believers:
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” - Ephesians 3:18 (NLT)
Here in John 3:16, we have described these four aspects of God’s love.
How wide is God’s love? As wide as the world.
How long is God’s love? He gave His one and only Son.
How high is God’s love? Whoever believes in Him has eternal life.
How deep is God’s love? It extends to everyone who is perishing.
Let’s look at what this verse says about the greatest love ever shown. Notice what we learn in this verse about . . .
1. The One Who loves us - “God”
God loves you and me! What a thought! The wonder of this statement becomes even greater, when I realize . . .
A. The Glory of the God who loves you and me.
God’s “glory” is how we describe the sum of all of his attributes. His grace, truth, goodness, mercy, justice, knowledge, power, eternality - all that He is. Therefore, the glory of God is intrinsic, that is, it is as essential to God as light is to the sun, as blue is to the sky, as wet is to water.
You don’t make the sun light; it is light. You don’t make the sky blue; it is blue. You don’t make water wet; it is wet. In all of these cases, the attribute is intrinsic to the object.
By contrast, man’s glory is granted to him. If a king takes off his robes and crowns and we give him only rags to wear and leave him on the streets for a few weeks, when put next to a beggar you’ll never know which is which. Because there’s no intrinsic glory. Th only glory a king has is when you give him a crown and a robe and sit him on his throne. He has no intrinsic glory.
That’s the point. The only glory that men have is granted to them. The glory that is God’s is His in his essence. You can’t de-glory God because glory is his nature. You can’t touch his glory. It can’t be taken away. It cannot be added to. It’s His being.
And this God whose glory is unlike anything else in the entire universe, has seen fit, because of His love for you and me, to reveal Himself to us in the person of His Son - Jesus Christ!
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” - John 1:14 (CSB)
B. The Grace of the God who loves you and me.
In showing His love for you and me, this glorious God has revealed Himself to us, in the gracious attempt to relate to us! And again, just as God reveals Himself through Jesus, He relates to us through Jesus.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” - 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
You see, Jesus Christ was God come to earth in human form, to do for you and me what we couldn’t do for ourselves - deliver us from the burden of sin so that we might know the blessing of salvation!
Some years ago, I remember reading the inspiring story of Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott, who was teaching a class for police officers at the Salt Lake City, Utah Public Library. After dismissing his class and then stepping into the hallway, he noticed an armed man herding 18 hostages into a room. Officer Prescott was in his street clothes, not his uniform. With quick thinking, he joined them and became the 19th hostage.
Once inside the room, the gunman announced that he was going to kill every hostage one by one until his demands were met. He then announced the order in which he was going to kill them. That’s when Officer Prescott identified himself as a police officer. A scuffle followed, and the perpetrator was fatally shot by the officer and the hostages were set free.
That is exactly what God has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ! He put on street clothes and came to us right were we were, in our captivity. He stepped up and through His death on the cross, defeated the power of sin by which Satan held us hostage. And He did all this, so that we might have a personal relationship with Him! Though His sacrifice on the cross, He’s made it possible for us to have eternal life, which He graciously offers to all who will receive Jesus as their Savior!
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” - Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)
Salvation is not all about what we need to do; it is all about what Christ has already done.
“You may be decent. You may pay taxes and kiss your kids and sleep with a clean conscience. But apart from Christ you aren’t holy. So how can you go to heaven? Only believe. Accept the work already done, the work of Jesus on the cross. Accept the goodness of Jesus Christ. Abandon your own works and accept his. Abandon your own decency and accept his. Stand before God in his name, not yours. It’s that easy? There was nothing easy about it at all. The cross was heavy, the blood was real, and the price was extravagant. It would have bankrupted you or me, so he paid it for us. Call it simple. Call it a gift. But don’t call it easy. Call it what it is. Call it grace.” - Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder
2. The ones who God loves - “the world”
There are two types of people in this world, and God loves them both!
It’s interesting to watch folks watching a football game on TV. Even if they aren’t familiar with the teams, they’ll choose a side to cheer for. Something about football demands that you choose sides.
Well, when it comes to Christ, God will not allow neutrality either. He demands we choose whether we are with Christ or opposed to Him.
“Whoever is not with me is against me . . .” - Matthew 12:30a (NIV)
God, wants us all the receive Christ. But He loves those who reject Christ as well and as much as those who receive Christ.
A. He loves all who reject Him.
Though one rejects Jesus, God loves them nevertheless. God expresses His love, but their unbelief keeps them from experiencing His love!
A Christian and an atheist friend were talking about God. The atheist said, “I can’t believe in a God of love. If God was as loving as you say, He’d stop poverty, disease, and squalor. I just cannot believe in a God who permits these things.” Just then, a man walked by whose hair was long and had stubble all over his face. Knowing his friend was a barber, the Christian said, “You can’t be a good barber or you wouldn’t let that man go around looking like that.” His atheist friend answered, “Why blame me? I can’t help it he’s never come to my shop.” The Christian replied, “Then don’t blame God for people who continue in their evil ways, when then never come to Him.”
“God soon turns from His wrath, but he never turns from his love.” - Charles Spurgeon
B. He loves all who receive Him.
All who receive Jesus experience, the love that God expresses! You’ll never experience the love God is seeking to express to you apart from a personal relationship with Him through receiving Jesus as your Savior!
It’s like the college professor who wrote a book on the subject of love. The problem was that he had never been in love in his life. But when he delivered his manuscript to his publisher, he met a young lady who was serving as the company receptionist. It was said he was happier in five minutes with love in his heart than he had been in thirty years with love in his head.
“God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.” - Augustine
Conclusion: Love of God Video - Mercy Me
