The unbelieving world has believed the lie that God is a ‘grumpy’ and ‘angry old man’ who eagerly wants to unleash His rage on a rebellious realm. This same lie also communicates that, even if God does provide mercy, He does so begrudgingly and there always remains the threat of a secret wrath ready to trample unsuspecting sinners. Yet, while this lie is pervasive in the world, it does not mean that those in the Church are immune to this deceit. Many genuine believers have become so immersed in spirituality and religious busy work that they have come to see Christ as One who is eager to destroy unless they meet the performance requirements.
Consequently, many Christians struggle to view God as He really is, as revealed in the Scriptures: One who sincerely longs to meet us with comfort and good news, One who came into the world not to destroy humankind but to save sinners (I Timothy 1:15), One who provided His Son so that we would have an eternal remedy for our sin (I John 2:1-2). In Matthew 11:28, Christ demonstrates His concern for us by exposing our deep weariness and soul-longing. This is why He does not shun sinners away but invites them to Him while providing the rest that He exclusively offers:
Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Truly, God does not invite to Himself those He wishes to dispose of.
All the aforementioned verses have comforting words. Accordingly, I’d like to draw your attention to more comforting words in one of the best-known Bible verses, John 3:16. This verse is important because it communicates God’s disposition toward the world. Having a true biblical understanding of God’s heart toward sinners is not just a therapeutic exercise that soothes guilty feelings or imparts false hope. Rather, a true biblical understanding of God’s disposition toward sinners is the Christian’s only hope in the midst of their spiritual weariness and burdens.
Exposition
And so, John 3:16 says:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
The first thing we have to ask ourselves is, “What is the subject of John 3:16?” Basic grammar tells us that the subject is God, not faith. God is the One acting, and that acting manifests as giving. So, the first thing we notice about John 3:16 is that the focus is not on ourselves but on the Lord; He is the agent who does.
The next question we ask is, “How is God acting?” The text says, “For God so loved.” This great Bible truth gives us insight into the heart of God: what motivated God’s plan of salvation is love (c.f. I John 4:7-14). Thus, how God is acting is out of love. What motivated God was not obligation, anger, or wrath. He wasn’t motivated by malice. God is love, and, as a result of the overflow of that love, He sent His Son into the world. What the Bible therefore makes plain is that God is neither ‘grumpy’ nor ‘angry.’ If that were the case, He wouldn’t have bothered with us and let us perish. But, instead, He lovingly acted by gifting. This aligns neatly with the rest of Scripture because it explains that biblical love does not manifest in words but in deed and truth (I John 3:18).
The third question we will ask of this text is, “What is the object of God’s love?” The world. “For God so loved the world.” The word for world in Greek is kosmos, which can refer to the universe, the Earth (and the creation in it), the world system, or the people in the world. So, what does the apostle John mean when He tells us that God so loved the world? Well, we don’t have to look too far, because this is not the first time John uses the word kosmos in his gospel. If we go back to John 1:9-11, the apostle is talking about Jesus, and he uses the world kosmos four times. He writes:
This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him.
In context, then, what John’s usage of the word kosmos suggests to us is that he is using it to refer to all the people of the world regardless of time, tribe, or ethnicity. (And, considering what the rest of the verse says, it would not make logical sense to say that God so loved all of creation that He sent His Son for them. After all, for example, whales and oak trees do not have a sin problem. Christ was not sent to die for sea creatures or plants.) This helps explain why, after the true Light came into the world, it enlightened every person. This was a world into which the Light had to come because it was in darkness. This darkness of unbelief and rebellion (c.f. John 7:7, 14:17, 15:18-19) is evident in that “the world did not know [Christ].” What the Lord consequently does in effectual calling is take a person out of the darkness and into the light. I Peter 2:9-11 says:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (italics mine)
And so, when John writes that God so loved the world, he is writing that God so loved people—that is, all of His image-bearers—that, even though they were living in darkness and actively rebelling against Him, God chose people who by their works would disqualify themselves from salvation.
This of course does not mean that God loves sin or delights in idolatry; rather, it is meant to demonstrate how awesome divine love is. How can a holy God lovingly act for people who are purposely reveling in that which He hates? God’s love is greater that human hatred of Christ. The wonder of God’s love is demonstrated in the unworthiness of its object.
Human love tends to grow in reaction to something desirable in its object: for example, the character of a spouse or the felt connection to a child in the womb. But God’s love isn’t reactive because the source of His love is Himself. The Lord therefore does proactively for our long-term spiritual benefit. As Martin Luther once said:
The love of God does not find but creates that which is pleasing to it.
It was stated before that biblical love manifests in deed and truth. So what was the concrete demonstration of God’s love to the world? According to John 3:16, it was the gifting of His Son:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son
In other words, God so loved the world bound up in sin that He sent His Son to redeem it.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Any parent will tell you that they would willingly die in their children’s place or willingly suffer for them so they will not experience pain. Yet, by using the language of a human relationship that we can relate to, God uses the picture of a Father sending His Son in order to relay just how transcendent divine love is. And let us not make the mistake of thinking that Christ was sent unwillingly. Divine love does beget child abuse. Rather, Christ was eager to redeem the bride that was promised Him. She, of course, must be rescued because of the sin that she has fallen into. Love thus motivates the Father to give the Son, who then voluntarily lays His life down for His bride. In fact, before God said, “Let there be light,” there was already a covenant between the Father and the Son (John 17), who made all of creation with the Cross in mind. Jesus is “the lamb slain before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The One who chose to lay down Jesus’s life was Jesus. In John 10:17-18, Christ says:
For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it back. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father. (italics mine)
It is a trustworthy statement: Christ did not come to call upon the righteous but to call sinners to repent (Luke 5:32). God saw our wretched condition. And thus, out of love, figuratively speaking, He starts from heaven, climbs down the ladder, and then enters the world to redeem people from the very thing that condemns them in His eyes: sin. In Luke 19:10, Jesus says:
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus does not save upright, virtuous people who need no help. He only saves lost sinners.
In the final phrase of John 3:16, the apostle writes about the effect of God’s love-gift:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
The Bible communicates a reality full of despair: that, without a Redeemer, man is lost; his ultimate problem is reconciliation with God, yet there is nothing he can do to save himself. God knows that, by ourselves, we have no hope. Yet, the great hope of John 3:16 is that, because of the Lord’s incompressible love, He has graced man with salvation, which is made accessible to all by faith. Many mistakenly think that the point of John 3:16 is faith or what a person has to do to “get saved.” But, as has been demonstrated, the subject of this verse is not man but God. The emphasis of John 3:16 is the Lord, who brings forth a Savior who can deliver those who are helpless to save themselves. Furthermore, it is important to remember the context in which John 3:16 is communicated. Nicodemus comes to speak to Jesus by night and says to Him, “We know you are from God.” Jesus then says:
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
Jesus then clarifies by saying a man cannot crawl back into his mother’s womb: just as a person has no role in their natural birth, they also have no role in their spiritual birth. Hence, considering the context of John 3:16, it is evident that this verse communicates the crucial idea that salvation is a gift from God. It is never something that is owed or earned but freely bestowed on those who don’t deserve it. Did the world merit a Messiah? It did not, but, because of love, God gifted the world with one regardless. Consequently, in the same way that Christ is a gift, faith is also a gift; in fact, faith is only possible because of who God provides: Jesus. The faith that results because of Jesus now becomes the means of salvation. The person who truly hears and understands the gospel message, then, understands that faith does not well up out of nothing from their own hearts, but rather grows in soil saturated in the gospel of Christ. The good news is that God’s kindness leads to faith, and, because of God’s disposition, we don’t need to grovel and beg to appease the wrath of an angry God. God the Father sent His Son to appease His wrath so we wouldn’t have to.
The focus of John 3:16 is not the gift (faith) but the gift-Giver. Properly speaking then, what this verse also explains to us is that faith is not the cause of your salvation. Faith is the means of salvation, whereas Christ is the cause. Faith is a weak hand that merely receives a strong Savior. You could have all the faith in the world yet lack Christ, and the only result would be condemnation. Yet, all one needs is a mustard seed’s worth of faith that grabs onto Christ with its pinky finger, and the result is miraculous (Matthew 17:20). God sent His Son so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but inherit eternal life. In the many times on WCSK and in my personal interactions, I have said, “We are saved by faith alone.” That is shorthand for saying, “We saved by faith alone in Christ alone, who does all the heavy lifting.” Without Jesus, ‘faith’ is meaningless.
It would thus be wholly incorrect—because it is inconsistent with Scripture—for a person to think that God would send His Son and now they must stir up this thing called faith. Jesus did not live a perfect life and then offer an atonement of infinite value only to wish that you will accomplish all the things on a checklist to qualify for salvation. Biblical faith never looks in the mirror: it is not the strength of our faith that saves us, but rather it is the power of the Savior that saves us. In fact, it is the constant focus on the Savior that creates faith.
This understanding of the text is crucial because what many sincere Christians have a tendency to do is read John 3:16 and then focus on themselves. They ask, “Do I have genuine faith? Is it strong enough? What must I do to secure this faith the Bible talks about?” Yet, whenever a person only looks inward—or only hears preaching that focuses on human faith—the result is doubt. Sadly, this perspective perverts biblical Christianity into a religion of works. Beloved, faith is never the cause of our salvation because our faith wavers: it is weak and ebbs and flows. Our faith at best is a shifting sand, which is why, repeatedly in the Bible, God assures us that our hope and the anchor of our soul does not rest within but without (c.f. Hebrews 6:13-20). And so, if a person meditates about or constantly hears preaching that focuses on the love of God, the effect will be faith. Preach faith and the effect is doubt. Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the effect is faith-creation by the power of the Holy Spirit:
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
A person left to themselves will invariably fall (A lesson painfully taught by our first parent, Adam). What would become of us if God leaves us to ourselves? God’s love refused to leave alone the ones whom He loved. He thus made a way of salvation certain for His elect. Biblical faith is thus only legitimate because of its object, Christ, who assures us that no one will ever be snatched out of His hand (John 10:28). We are secure because of His loving grip on us, not because of our grip on Him. We are secure because the Son has promised that “everyone who believes in [Me] will not perish, but have eternal life.”
Now, we must ask: does John 3:16 teach that everyone will be saved? Of course not. All you would have to do is spend a few days in reality to know there are some folks who want nothing to do with God. All I will say here then is this: John 3:16 tells us nothing about specifically who will be saved or about a person’s ability to saved. The text simply describes to us the fruit possessed by those who are saved: that fruit is faith.
As human beings, it is only natural for us to look at heavenly things with an earthly perspective, but let us always remember that God is not like us. God’s love is unlike human love, which is uncertain, conditional, and can be withdrawn. God’s love is certain, will never change, is never conditional, and will never be withdrawn. Meditation on the sweetness and excellency of divine love is what produces unconquerable faith and invincible hope. Beloved, before you were born, God loved you. He then made the world with the bride of Christ in mind. When you walked in darkness and actively rebelled against Him, He loved you. When you shunned spiritual things and reveled in your own idolatry, He loved you. At some point, by His loving grace, He caused you to be born again; and now you are the peculiar object of His affections and a permanent member of His family. And yet still, even when you falter and waver, He continues to love you. He refuses to ever let you go and guarantees that you will persevere until the end. And one day, when history ends, God will be able to look at every one of His children face to face and tell them that He always loved them and will do so forever. God so loved you that He would give up what He loves—His Son—so that you would be His forever. What a magnificent truth! To God be the glory forever.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long; we were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Beloved, never forget: God’s disposition toward the world is love.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal