John 3:16 - The Most Popular Verse In The Bible.
John 3:16 - The Most Popular Verse In The Bible.
John 3:16 (KJV) 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 (AMP) For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the
world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that
whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not
perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting)
life.
CONTEXT: Jesus Teaches Nicodemus: John 3:1-21.
APPLICATION COMMENTARY With Emphasis On Verse 16.
INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS
John summed up Jesus' talk with Nicodemus in the most famous
verse in the Bible: the "Gospel in a nutshell," John 3:16. [The
365-Day Devotional Commentary]
The entire message of Scripture comes into focus with this one
verse. Here Jesus explained to Nicodemus the depth of God's love for
the people he created - God so loved that he gave. What he gave is
beyond our imagination: He gave his Son to die. Why would he do such a
thing? So that "everyone who believes in him will not perish but have
eternal life."
How painful it must have been for the all-powerful God to
witness the brutal torture and murder of his child when, with a breath,
he could have stopped it! Yet he knew that the death and subsequent
resurrection of Jesus would clear a path to heaven for all who would believe
in him.
Some try to question God's love by asking how a loving God
could allow evil and suffering. No matter what God's purpose is in
allowing these things, it is important to remember that God, in his love,
promises that for those who believe in Jesus, all evil and suffering will
one day be banished forever. This is how much God loves you. [The
One Year Bible for New Believers re John 3:16]
THIS TEXT IS THE LIFE VERSE FOR MANY - HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES:
I didn't grow up in a Christian home and had actually
proclaimed myself an atheist at the ripe old age of twelve. I'd heard that
God was dead, and I believed it. After several turbulent years of
teen rebellion, searching, and hopelessness, I found God in a very
big way. My life did a 180-degree turn, and I immediately began to
read the Scriptures. Of course, I didn't know the first thing about
the Bible and just sort of fumbled along. Then I found John 3:16,
and I was so moved by it that I decided to memorize it. The next day
I told a Christian friend (a guy who grew up in church) about how
I'd actually memorized my very first Bible verse and how God gave it
especially to me. But when I began reciting it, this guy kind of laughed
and, like a show-off, recited it right along with me. It sort of took
the wind out of my sails, but I didn't say anything.
After that I memorized lots and lots of verses, searching for
one that was "more special," but I could never get away from John
3:16. I felt as if God had inscribed it on my heart. Now, many years
later, and after having written many books for teens, women, and kids,
I am often asked about my favorite Scripture verse, and my honest
response is John 3:16. I love it so much because it says it all. God
loved everyone in this world so much that he gave everything (his only
Son) so that everyone could believe in him and be saved. Does it get
any better than that? In my thinking, this verse is so inclusive, so
embracing of all humanity, so full of grace, that I want to claim it as my
own, and I want to live my life like that.
Melody Carlson is an award-winning author of more than 150
books for readers of all ages, including Diary of a Teenage Girl, On
This Day, True Colors, and Looking for Cassandra Jane. [The One Year
Bible Live Verse Devotional]
I grew up going to church. Our family moved when I was in the
sixth grade. When it came time to join a new church, we walked to the
front of the sanctuary as the service concluded. The pastor wrapped
his arms around us and asked, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son
of God? that he died and rose for the sins of the world?" He
recited John 3:16, a verse I'd known most of my young life.
We answered yes, but I remember thinking, What an odd
question. Of course, I believe that. Doesn't everyone?
Twenty years later at a women's luncheon, a speaker talked
about her relationship with Jesus. Her intensity was electric. It
seemed that the Jesus she spoke of was personal to her--not just the
Savior of the world but also her companion. Standing before the crowd,
she implored us to recite the well-known verse, but instead of
saying "the world," she told us to shout our names.
Not one for shouting, I shifted in my seat, but complied: "God
loved Stephanie so much that he gave his one and only Son."
A smile crept across my face. I always knew that Jesus had
died for the world, for all of humanity, but I'd never felt his
overwhelming love until I realized that he gave up his own life
intentionally, personally, and specifically for me.
Stephanie Welcher Thompson, wife and stay-at-home mom, is also
a writer and speaker. [The One Year Bible Live Verse Devotional]
When I was in the seventh grade, I was quite curious about my
pastor's confidence that he would one day be asking Jesus questions
about life, clarifying theological principles, and marveling at the
glories he saw. How could he be so sure? I reasoned that even if he was
a preacher, he was still only a man.
I asked my Sunday school teacher about our pastor's apparently
overconfident expectations of glory. She answered by referring me to one of
the memory verses we had previously mastered: John 3:16. As I looked
at it anew and applied it to my life, it was suddenly as if a light
had come on. The verse referred to a belief I already had! There it
was, in clear text in John's Gospel. Even I--a nobody--could have the
same confidence as my pastor.
The next day, overjoyed with this new assurance, I told my
best friend. He was so much smarter than I was. (I was in remedial
reading. He got A's.) When I told him of my newfound assurance of heaven,
he dismissed the idea and made light of me and my faith. So I shut
up and didn't mention it again for four years. By the time I
reached high school, I was gaining a bit more confidence, so I tried
again, inviting him to my Sunday school class. This time he
responded--to me and ultimately to Jesus. Later, after telling his aunt about
his newfound faith (she was the odd one in the family who had
"religion"), she responded, "I've been praying for you since before you were
born."
Ronald Barfield taught elementary school for more than forty
years. [The One Year Bible Live Verse Devotional]
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
What God did makes sense. It makes sense that Jesus would be
our sacrifice because a sacrifice was needed to justify man's
presence before God. It makes sense that God would use the Old Law to
tutor Israel on their need for grace. It makes sense that Jesus would
be our High Priest. What God did makes sense. It can be taught,
charted, and put in books on systematic theology.
However, why God did it is absolutely absurd. When one leaves
the method and examines the motive, the carefully stacked blocks of
logic begin to tumble. That type of love isn't logical; it can't be
nearly outlined in a sermon or explained in a term paper....
Even after generations of people had spit in his face, he
still loved them. After a nation of chosen ones had stripped him
naked and ripped his incarnated flesh, he still died for them. And
even today, after billions have chosen to prostitute themselves
before pimps of power, fame, and wealth, he still waits for them.
It is inexplicable. It doesn't have a drop of logic nor a
thread of rationality.....
Bloodstained royalty. A God with tears. A creator with a
heart. God became earth's mockery to save his children.
How absurd to think that such nobility would go to such
poverty to share such a treasure with such thankless souls.
But he did.
In fact, the only thing more absurd than the gift is our
stubborn unwillingness to receive it. Max Lucado [Time with God SB]
Oh, to think what Christ is, what He did, and whom He did it
for, and then not to believe Him, not to trust Him! There is no
wickedness like the wickedness of unbelief! Charles Spurgeon
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