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John 3:16 - XVII
'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.'
When we consider the three words, should not perish, they seem to be in contrast to the next four, but have everlasting life. Those who believe in Jesus as Lord, and accept His sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sin, will not perish. But what does it mean to perish? What will happen to those who love their sin and reject the only remedy for breaking God's law?
Thayer's Greek Lexicon gives the word perish in John 3:16 this meaning: "to incur the loss of true or eternal life; to be delivered up to eternal misery." True life, as it was in the beginning, was of or from God. Our very existence was because he made us (mankind), and gave us strength for each day.
Acts 17:28 says, "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of our own poets have said, we are also His offspring." To experience God's wrath and judgment would seem to imply, not having His sustaining grace and mercy. To be left to yourself and your own depraved, sinful nature.
In the beginning (in the garden) our life was with God, we were daily in His presence. Adam and Eve enjoyed God's sustaining goodness, and also the intimate fellowship and interaction between God and His creation. But in Genesis 2:17, God gave Adam and Eve a warning about eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Geneva Bible of 1599 says it this way, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death." Here is the comment they made on this verse, "By this death He meaneth the separation of man from God, who is our life and chief felicity; and also that our disobedience is the cause thereof."
Genesis 3:8 says, "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Because of their sinful choices, Adam and Eve separated themselves from God. Instead of enjoying the communion and fellowship with God, they hid themselves because they had sinned.
Genesis 2:19 also shows us the relationship between God and man. God brought all the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field to Adam, and he gave them names. Instead of this close relationship to God, every person who rejects Christ, is without His communion, fellowship, and presence. After death, it will be even worse, they will also be without His restraining grace. In other words, those who are condemned, will not know love or good. They will be incapable of such things because love is of God as well as good.
When sinners are finally judged by God, they will be left to themselves, without hope. This is one of the most horrible, unpleasant things to think about and consider. If you have ever seen a person lose control and beat, abuse, or torture someone, you know the sick, sad feeling you get when you see it. Can you imagine what it would be like if God's grace was completely removed?
Those who have rejected Christ because they loved sin, will experience death, but not die. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Everyone is given a choice in this life. Will we receive Christ and die to our old sinful nature? Or will we live to fulfill the lust of the flesh and all this world has to offer? The one leads to death, the other to eternal life.
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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.