14 [Jesus said] “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. 19 This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed. 21 But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.”
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John 3:16 is one of the most well known passages from the Bible. Over the last 50 years, however, it has become more a slogan than the heart of the Bible. Sadly “God” becomes generic, to be anything spiritual. Which means we could add this “god” to the pantheon of Shintoism with its millions of gods.
But this God in John 3:16 is different, unique. Perhaps in our exploration of that we will discover who this God is. Even more we will discover what His love is, how it is demonstrated. The more we immerse ourselves in the text, the more we comprehend how vast His love is. And specifically love for poor miserable sinners, like me, like you.
Believing this text will change our lives. And we need this constant reminder: God’s love is that overwhelming.
“believe, teach, and confess” 