What Comes to Mind When You Think of God?

The most often-quoted part of John's gospel is this:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

This short passage reveals several important aspects of the love of God.

First, the character of God's love is shown by the word "so". It indicates an infinite degree of love. The past tense of the verb ("loved") shows that the love of God reaches back into eternity and has effect in the present.

Second, the author of this love. God so loved. God is eternally full of love just as John wrote earlier in his gospel that "in him was life". God possesses love and it is intrinsic to who God is.

Third, the object of this love. God so loved "the world". The term here most naturally refers to the people of the world. John, the gospel writer, often comments on the fact that the good news is for all people, from all backgrounds and all nationalities.

Fourth, the gift of love. God expressed his love by giving that which was most precious to him - his own Son. We have already seen that Jesus existed before the universe was created and that he was both God and was with God. God the Father gave his Son as an expression of his love for the world. Please think about that for a moment. God's love is not just an emotion; it is expressed in sacrificial action.

Fifth, the purpose of God's love is revealed: that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Those who receive and trust in Jesus as the Son of God receive eternal life as a gift. The word "eternal" means more than "endless". It refers to the life that God possesses in eternity. Those who believe in Christ receive the very life of God here and now, and for ever! It is a quality of spiritual life not merely an unending life.

Finally, God's love aims at our salvation. Jesus was not sent from heaven to earth in order to condemn the world. His purpose rather was to save and rescue those who believe in him. This is excellent news!

Are you starting to believe in Jesus as the Son of God? Would you like to receive him now as your saviour and lord?

The gospel of John was written nearly 2000 years ago in the ancient Greek language. There were no quotation marks in that language so we have to use the context of a passage to understand whether or not the words written are quoting someone directly. It is possible that the above passage is a direct quotation from Jesus or it may contain the comments of the gospel writer. It is actually difficult to be 100% certain and a strong case could be made either way. I have chosen to include the words here, not least because of their magnificent character and importance. They certainly contain teaching fully consistent with the words of Jesus even if they are not a direct quotation.

You read the whole passage we have looked at here.




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