Arguably one of the most memorized scriptures in all of the Bible, John 3:16 brings a reminder of God’s love and a hope for our future. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It reminds us of God’s love and affection, as well as His plans for our future.
And yet the idea that God loves the world is surprising. Elsewhere in the book of John is the caution not to love the world, he cautions against loving the world because it is a place of disbelief and hostility. Commentator Carson puts it this way, “There is no contradiction between this prohibition and the fact that God does love it [the world]. Christians are not to love the world with the selfish love of participation; God loves the world with the selfless, costly love of redemption.”
This insightful comment brings new meaning to the prohibition against Christians loving the world. The prohibition isn’t against loving the world that is protected by Greenpeace or the Sierra Club. The world described is not God’s second book, nature. We as Christians are called to be stewards of the physical world around us. Rather it is that part of humanity that is opposed to God. That part of society that chooses to rebel against God’s laws and instructions. And while we are told not to love that part of the world, or become a part of it, Jesus purposefully chose to enter that very world with the goal of redemption.
This is what Jesus came to do, to show this love through redemption. It is not to a specific group of people, not those chosen or privileged that the Savior came to seek and to save. It is the world. It is all of humanity. It is you that Jesus chose to save. “He came to save the world, namely, the all-encompassing circle of men and women who inhabit this planet, people who embrace darkness habitually (3:19–21),” according to Burge. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
And yet the idea that God loves the world is surprising. Elsewhere in the book of John is the caution not to love the world, he cautions against loving the world because it is a place of disbelief and hostility. Commentator Carson puts it this way, “There is no contradiction between this prohibition and the fact that God does love it [the world]. Christians are not to love the world with the selfish love of participation; God loves the world with the selfless, costly love of redemption.”
This insightful comment brings new meaning to the prohibition against Christians loving the world. The prohibition isn’t against loving the world that is protected by Greenpeace or the Sierra Club. The world described is not God’s second book, nature. We as Christians are called to be stewards of the physical world around us. Rather it is that part of humanity that is opposed to God. That part of society that chooses to rebel against God’s laws and instructions. And while we are told not to love that part of the world, or become a part of it, Jesus purposefully chose to enter that very world with the goal of redemption.
This is what Jesus came to do, to show this love through redemption. It is not to a specific group of people, not those chosen or privileged that the Savior came to seek and to save. It is the world. It is all of humanity. It is you that Jesus chose to save. “He came to save the world, namely, the all-encompassing circle of men and women who inhabit this planet, people who embrace darkness habitually (3:19–21),” according to Burge. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
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