John 3:16 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.
God loved the world, so he gave us Jesus Christ to die on a cross for us and give eternal life to those that would receive Him. But what does it mean, “God loved the world” ? When God said he loved the world, it means he loves everyone in the world. It is a vast love, but a personal love at the same time. He loves all because He loves each! God loves each and gave Jesus Christ for each person.
And when Jesus looked at the world, he did not observe a sea of humanity, but rather, he saw:
1. A Samaritan woman at a well who needed living water...
2. A young Jewish man named Joseph agonizing over an espoused, but pregnant bride....
3. A woman who spent her entire life savings to cure a disease she had for 12 years....
4. A blind man begging on the Jericho highway...
5. A ruler of the synagogue named Jarius who had a daughter that was sick...
6. A young man that was blind since his birth...
7. A bold Peter that would deny him three times....
8. A thief on a cross that cried out to him...
9. A traitor who would sell out for 30 pieces of silver...
10. Me, a teenager in Goshen Connecticut that was religious, but lost...
11. And he saw you.
To help us understand the personal nature of his love for us, substitute personal pronouns in John 3:14-18:
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That IF I believeth in him I should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved ME, that he gave his only begotten Son, that IF I believeth in him I should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son TO ME to condemn ME; but that I through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 IF I believeth on him I AM NOT condemned: but IF I believeth not I AM condemned already, because I hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Re-read John 3:16. Paul personalized John 3:16 when he wrote Galatians 2:20...the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
That’s who God sees when he looks at the world: People that he loves and sent his Son to die for them.
