Summary of passage: God loved us so much He sent His one and only Son to die for our sins. Whoever believes in Jesus shall have eternal life. If you don’t believe in Jesus as God’s Son, then you are condemned. Those who live by the truth (that Jesus is God’s Son) live in the light and work because of God.
Questions:
10) John 3:16: Whoever doesn’t believe in Jesus, shall perish.
John 3:17-19: Whoever doesn’t believe in Jesus is condemned.
John 3:36: Whoever rejects Jesus will not see life and will have God’s wrath on him forever.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9: Whoever doesn’t obey Jesus shall be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.
11) Part personal Question. My answer: Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned and has eternal life. As I said in my Conclusions YESTERDAY, it’s simple: I focus on knowing I’m saved, that I’m His, that He is with me and all else falls into place despite my humanness. He does it, not me.
12) Personal Question. My answer: God makes coming to Him as easy as possible. A simple choice: to believe in Jesus or not. Yet, as John the Apostle states, men love darkness and are attracted to evil so this choice is not as easy as it seems. It gives me greater understanding and a new perspective to the struggle of those choosing Jesus or evil.
Conclusions: I love the focus on simplicity here. As perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible, it would be easy to delve too deep into this. Instead, BSF focuses on exactly what it says: “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.” The End. The crux of Christianity in 26 words. Amazing!
End Notes: God loved the world. All of us, including the Gentiles, not just God’s chosen people. Jesus sets the record straight.
Morrison suggested that there are three centers of love:
· God so loved the world (John 3:16)
· Christ also loved the church (Ephesians 5:25)
· The Son of God, who loved me (Galatians 2:20)
God gave. What we are all called to do: give to others and back to God.
Nicodemus might have been reminded of Abraham’s offering of Isaac with these words.
Believe means to trust, rely, and cling to. This is the only requirement of the world.
God gives us eternal life–His intent is to save us–eternally–forever.
Seven Wonders of John 3:16:
- God–Authority
- World–Motive
- Son–Gift
- Whoever–Welcome
- Believes–Escape
- Not perish–Deliverance
- Have everlasting life–Possession
“So” means “in this way”. “World” is all people on earth. Jesus is the Son. “Believes” is continuing belief and convictions.
God’s purpose is to save.
John does not address those before Jesus. He focuses on those who deliberately reject him. Romans 1 & 2 addresses this issue and it’s best understood in terms of light: rejecting light or accepting light.
It is all on our shoulders whether we accept Jesus or not. God presents; we decide.
We tend to think of evil as the worst sins: murder, rape, violence, etc. But love of one’s own life and doing it your way instead of God’s and ignoring Him is the same. It’s either all of God or none. Period.
