John 3:16, and 17
16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved.
FOR GOD…
Whose God, or what God are we talking about here? We are talking about the God that created the heavens and the
earth, just by speaking them into existence. This is the God I AM as He referred to Himself while talking to Moses at the
burning bush (Exodus 3:14-15). All through history man has worshipped a multitude of gods. The ancient Romans had
gods for just about every occasion and time. The ancient Greeks had many gods and half gods. (How can you be a half
god?). People from all walks of life have worshipped gods and spirits of every conceivable name and makeup. There is
only one true God, and He is the God we are talking about. He is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Alpha and the
Omega. He is the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, the God that told Noah to build the ark and collect the animals
two by two, the God of Daniel, the God of King David, and the God that sent His Son to earth to die for our sins.
For God SO LOVED …
Whenever we tell someone that we love them, we usually say something like “Mom, I love you”, or maybe to a girlfriend
or boyfriend we say “I love you”. To emphasize a GREAT love that we have for someone, to give those words that extra
special meaning, and to emphasize that we love them more than mere words can say, we tell them “Mom, I love you SO
MUCH”. This added emphasis on the words “SO MUCH” lets them know that we love them beyond what words can
describe. We have an absolute love for them, and we want them to know. In these situations we usually find ourselves
doing special things for them, or showing them extra special attention and kindness. God is no different. He uses the
words SO LOVED to emphasize just how much He loves us. He wants us to know that He has that special love for us, a
love that goes way beyond what we can imagine or understand. His is a perfect love, and He wants us to know it.
God wants so much to let you feel His love. He wants to wrap you in His arms like a large blanket, and let you feel the
power of His perfect love. We are His beloved, and He wants so much for us to understand, accept, and enjoy His love
and warmth. When we are at our low points in life, He is there right along side of us. All we have to do is reach out our
arms and ask for Him to blanket us in His perfect love. Too many times we turn our backs on Him and look for other
ways to comfort ourselves. We fail miserably when we try that approach. He wants us to turn to Him, and ask Him to hold
us in His mighty arms and tell us how much He loves us. He wants to take away our pain and comfort us. All we have to
do is ask. All we have to do is turn our eyes toward Him and just ask.
When we are depressed, He feels our depression as if it were His own. When we are lonely, sad, heartbroken, in pain,
or feeling like the whole world is out to get us, He is right there beside us, feeling our anguish and pain right along with
us. He wants so much to comfort us, but we have to let Him. He is our Father, and we are His children. Like any good
Father, He wants to pick us up and hold us in His arms whenever we are hurting. He wants to hold us, comfort us, and
tell us everything will be all right. All we have to do is let Him.
For God so loved THE WORLD…
Exactly who is THE WORLD.. Every man, woman, and child that walks the face of the earth. It doesn’t matter what color,
race, nationality, religion, whether your rich or poor, or what you look like. God sees all of us the exact same way. We
are His creation, and He loves us SO MUCH… His love is meant for everyone, everywhere, all of the time. His love is not
reserved for certain groups or certain individuals, it is meant for everyone.
For God so loved the world that HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…
First, let’s define BEGOTTEN SON. Begotten is the past tense for the word begot. Begot simply means “to Sire, or to
become the Father of”. Adam begot Cain and Able, and your dad begot you. When you have children, you will begot
them. It simply means that God was the true Father of Jesus. Jesus had no earthly natural father. God was His natural
Father (says so right there in John 3:16). It also says that Jesus was God’s ONLY begotten Son. God did not begot
any more children.
Now, what does it mean when it says “HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON”? It means that God sent Jesus (His
ONLY Son) to earth, in human form, to serve as a sacrifice. God, and Jesus, knew what this meant, and what the
ultimate outcome would be for Jesus (death). Even knowing the outcome, Jesus came to earth to save THE WORLD.
Why? Because God SO LOVED the world.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM …
What does it mean “whoever believes in Him”? It simply means anybody, anywhere, at any time that believes Jesus is
the Son of God, that He was sent by God, and that He came to earth to sacrifice His own life so that we may be
cleansed of our sins. We simply have to believe that God sent Jesus to earth to save mankind, that Jesus sacrificed His
life for us, that He is the true Son of God, and is our Lord and Savior. No man, woman, or child is left out of this promise.
No one.
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 …
What exactly does this part mean? God gave man a life on earth that would end. This is our earthly death. Our spirit
(soul) will live on after our earthly death. God is promising here that whoever believes in Jesus as the true Son of God,
and believes that He died to save us from our sins will have life everlasting (that is life without end) – everlasting life in
Heaven with God. We use the term eternity to describe “life everlasting”. It simply means “without end”.
Man was given a free will to make his own choices. Man has been given a choice here – whether you choose to believe
that Jesus was the true Son of God, and came to earth to save us, or you choose not to believe. The choice is entirely
up to you. For those that DO believe Jesus is the Son of God, and came to earth to die for our sins, life eternal is
waiting for you. It will be love, joy, happiness, and everything exciting you could possibly imagine FOREVER! God is
promising this most excellent reward for you! All that is required is that you believe that Jesus came to this earth to pay
the ultimate price (death) for our sins, and that you open the door to your heart and let Him come in and be Lord and
Savior of your life. That’s it! What God is asking of us is SO SIMPLE! It doesn’t take money, it doesn’t take power – all
that it takes is YOUR willingness to do so. This is a choice that you, and you alone must make. There is absolutely no
one that can make this decision for you.
Now let’s take a look at everlasting, or eternity. Eternity is so long of a period that we cannot really imagine it as time.
Eternity has no reference for how much time it really covers. It just never ends. Imagine this – a small sparrow flies to
the top of the highest mountain in the world every New Years Eve at exactly 11:59 (one minute before midnight) and
lands on top of this mountain. He immediately pecks the top of the mountain just once, then flies off again. Every year,
and only once a year at exactly the same time (11:59) this sparrow comes back and pecks the top of the mountain just
once. By the time that mountain is worn completely down, and nothing of it remains, LESS than 1 second of eternity has
passed. Now understand that eternity really doesn’t keep time. Seconds, minutes, hours, etc…will not really exist. This
example is just a way to give you some perspective on just how long we are talking about when we say eternity, or
everlasting. Time is a concept that man developed in order to keep his life manageable and organized. With God, when
He is ready to do something, He does it. Time is not relevant to Him.
Now let’s look at John 3:17 – (refer to the passage at the top of page #1)
God is telling us that He did not send Jesus to earth to condemn or destroy the earth, but that you, I, and everyone else
in the world might be saved, and have life everlasting. The purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to save us. What does
“save us” mean? It simply means that if we choose to accept that God sent His Son to earth to die for our sins, and
choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will have life everlasting in Heaven. If we choose not to believe, we
will have pain and misery for eternity. If we choose pain and misery, surely we will be doomed. Jesus is giving us a
chance at life everlasting, and therefore he is “saving” us from an eternity of misery and doom.
We all have a void, and empty spot deep within our hearts. We try different things to fill that empty place, but each time
we realize that the dark void is still there, and still empty. We try drugs and alcohol to numb the pain and make the
empty feeling go away, but we find out that the empty feeling is still there. We try meaningless relationships and sex to
try and fill the empty place with love, but that doesn’t fill the void either. We walk around with that empty place in our
hearts, hurting so much, and cannot understand why the void can’t be filled, and why the pain and hurt won’t go away.
There is only one thing that will fill that void, that empty place in your heart. There is only one thing that will take the
pain and the hurt and make them go away. Only one thing that will make life worth living, and make joy a part of your life
once again. That one thing is Jesus. God sent His son, Jesus, for a purpose. Healing your heart and filling that void is
what the love of Jesus can do for you. All you have to do is ask. All you have to do is open the door to your heart and
let Jesus come in. Only He can fill that empty void, and make you whole again. Only He can take the pain and hurt away,
and fill that empty place with a perfect love.
If you are not absolutely sure that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of your life, and that Jesus sits upon the throne of
your life, guiding and directing you in His ways, then you might want to take this opportunity to ask Jesus into your
heart. Jesus tells us that He is standing at the door of your heart, and if any man asks, and opens the door, He will
gladly come in.
Make sure of your salvation by asking Jesus to come into your heart, and be the Lord and Savior of your life. You can
pray this simple prayer, asking Jesus to come into your heart.
Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I need you so much. I believe that You are the true Son of God, and that
You came to earth to die for my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, and for washing me
clean. I gladly, and willingly open the door of my life to receive You as Savior and Lord of my life. I thank
You for forgiving my sins, and I ask that You take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of
person that You want me to be. Thank You Jesus, Amen.
If you prayed this simple prayer, and asked Jesus into your heart, to be the Lord and Savior of your life, then you have
been welcomed into the midst of the believers. I would love to hear from you, and give you some more information to
help you on your new Christian journey.
Contact me at: james@godsfreemusic.com