The Light Shines in the DarknessSample

God loves the world

“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Today’s Bible verse probably is the most quoted verse from the whole Bible, since it beautifully summarizes the Gospel. It’s packed with meaning. It mentions the terrible fact that people will perish if nothing changes, but it also declares that God wants to give us eternal life instead. Despite our sinfulness, He loves the world so much that He gave His only, deeply loved Son to save us.

Another amazing fact is that salvation is available for “whoever believes in Him”. It took a while for Jesus’ first followers to understand that God offers eternal life to “the world”, not just to Jewish people. This was not entirely new information, since God had said similar things in the Old Testament. But the Jews had a special place as His own people, and many thought that non-Jews were excluded from God’s spiritual family. Jesus corrected this view.

John 3:16 also says that people are saved through faith in Jesus. Not through their own works, not through obeying the law, not through their social status or anything  else. The Bible proclaims “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

Do you believe in Jesus?