How many have read, heard and even memorized, probably as a little child, the scripture John 3:16:”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life”?
Probably almost everyone reading this has.
Here is my question to you: How many of you gave notice to the third word in this scripture? The scripture doesn’t just say God loved you, and yes, he is talking to you because you are in the world, are you not? The scripture tells us that God so loved us. Meditate on that for a minute.
When you look up the word “so” in the dictionary where it is used in this way, it tells us the word means “very extremely, without any doubt, indeed, surely, to a great degree.”
Sometimes we overlook the smallest of words and give them no significance, when the smallest word can have the greatest meaning to the conversation, as in this case.
Now every time we hear this scripture quoted or we read it for ourselves, we will give more thought to the word “so.” I just love that feeling knowing that God so loved me. Don’t you?
Now let’s move on to the rest of the scripture and see how much God really loves us. He gave his only begotten son. He gave his son to die on a cross a horrible death for us. He knew that we could not overcome sin on our own. He knew that we could not uphold the laws he had given. No one can on their own, so don’t be deceived that you can, or feel as if you are doomed. Because that is not what He is wanting for you.
People will ask what kind of God gives his own son to die in a strangers’ place? Well, first of all, we are not strangers to God — we are His creation. Second, Jesus died willingly on the cross because of his love for us and his love for the Father to do his will. Jesus is God himself who became man so that he could pay the price for all of us for all sin once and for all.
He says all we have to do is to believe in Him and we will have everlasting life. Our pastor said this last week. Everyone will have everlasting life. Where depends on your decision as to whether or not you accept his love that he so loved you with or not.
Now let’s look at sins. He died once and for all. This means that when you believe in him, when you accept him as your Savior, then you are forgiven your sins, past, present and future, once and for all. To say you are not, and that you have to confess your sins each time you mess up is to say that you have to work for your salvation. His grace, his salvation for you, his forgiveness of your sins was paid in his blood at the cross over 2000 years ago. Paid in full.
Look at Hebrews 7:26-27: “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, who does not need daily, as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once and for all when He offered up Himself.”
Jesus paid for our sins once and for all. To keep asking forgiveness for something he already paid for is to make his death of no account.
Does this give us license to sin? Or course not. When we believe in him and accept his death on the cross as payment for our sins, then we will live righteously. Because once we accept him as our Savior then we become the righteousness of Christ Jesus. We lose the desire to sin. Yes, we will make mistakes but we are in Him, and He is in us so when we make mistakes we are quick to recognize and stop our wrong thinking or doing. You see, when the Word tells us that we become new creations in Christ Jesus, our way of living changes, because we have a new mindset. We have the mind of Christ Jesus. How? Because we renew our minds with his word.
So, that brings us to John 3:17: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Too many times the person teaching the word stops at John 3:16 and never goes on to tell the people how much God so loved them, that he did not send him to preach condemnation to the world but to preach the love of God, the so love that they might be saved.
I have said it before: Be careful where you park your cars on Sunday, be careful to whom you are listening to. If they are not preaching the “so” love of God, the finished work of the cross, the death that Jesus died once and for all, then you might need to move on.
But most importantly, we all need to ourself get into his Word. Don’t just take my word or anyone else’s word for that fact. Open the Word and see for yourself the truth. When you open the Word of God, pray first and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his truth to you.
Remember you are so loved!
Visit Neta Monroe’s blog at www.godstidbitstome.blogspot.com