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For God so loved the world -- John 3:16
In our first article we considered the God of John 3:16. We said that He was the great "I AM" of Exodus 3:14. He was also the Creator God of Genesis, and the God of Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Nicodemus, and the woman at the well. In this article, we want to move on to the next few words in our text, "so loved the world."
The word "so" has the meaning of, "marking degree of intensity, so greatly." Sometimes we tell our grand-children, "I love you so much;" that means I love you a lot. These two words are describing the intensity, or degree of which God loves His creation, which also includes us as His creatures. In Genesis 1:31, it says, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good."
God was pleased with his creation to the point that He sent His Son to die on the cross. He lived the life that we could never live; and He died the sacrificial death that we could never die. But it wasn't simply mankind that He came to save. He also came to redeem all of His creation, the cosmos.
He came to earth with the purpose (plan) to redeem, and eventually restore all of His creation; that in the end His glory would be much greater than it is now. He will be glorified when the saints are worshiping Him in eternity; and when sinners are judged for choosing the pleasures of sin and rejecting the Son of God. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," Romans 6:23.
Now someone may ask the question, is it Scriptural to say that God loves His creation? I believe it is; when we read about the rich young ruler in Mark chapter 10:21, it makes this statement. "Then Jesus looked at him, loved him." Jesus loved this man, although the man would not repent and put God first in his life. Jesus loved him as a sinner who came from the womb with a sin nature.
Even though God loved the rich young ruler, he walked away from Jesus under the wrath and judgment of God because of his sin. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe in God, and they tremble rather than submit to God. There are people who preach the gospel today because they have charisma, are eloquent and can make a lot of money, but that doesn't make them a Christian. Paul said in Philippians 1:15, "Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife." Paul goes on to say in the next verse, that some preach with selfish ambition, not sincerity.
The next word we will be considering is "world;" we have already mentioned the meaning behind the word. But we will see that the definition we give to that one word affects our theology and our worldview. In closing, I have a question for all of us. Are we like the rich young ruler who loved his wealth more than God; or have we been born again by the Spirit of God? Contact the author at thoughtsonword@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.
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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published three books, Common Thoughts on The Word in 2016 and Eye of a Needle in 2017 and Common Thoughts on The Word II in 2019. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children's book.