How We Know The Love Of God

One of the most popular Bible verses of all time, memorized in Sunday School by thousands of kids, is from the third chapter of John. With this blog I conclude my meditations upon that chapter by taking a careful look at what Jesus said to Nicodemus.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - Jhn 3:16-17 ESV

Who or what is this world that God loves? The Greek word is kosmos, a word we are quite familiar with, only we spell it cosmos. By this we usually think of the universe as a well-ordered whole. In the original Greek kosmos was also an ornament or decoration. Peter uses the word in that manner when he urges women to be less interested in outward adornment (kosmos) and more focused on the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:3-4).

A third use refers to the people who live in this world, the human race itself. So the apostle Paul writes that . . .

in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - 2Cr 5:19 ESV

The word is used again and again with this meaning in John's Gospel. For instance, the Samaritans tell the woman who met Jesus at the well,

"It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." - Jhn 4:42 ESV

But this is also the world of people that despises the Savior and rejects the light and salvation he brings. Immediately following the verses quoted above in John 3, we hear Jesus say,

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. - Jhn 3:19-20 ESV

Jesus is the light of the world that loves the darkness. He is the one who gives sight to the blind (John 9:39; 12:46). His life and teachings expose the world and the ruler of this world who dwells in darkness. All through the Gospel of John we sense this conflict building. As in modern cowboy movies the drama moves steadily toward that final scene in which the good guy and the bad guy come face to face. It is like Moses coming before Pharaoh to demand that he let the children of Israel go.

Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" - Exd 5:1 ESV

But this time it is not a mere messenger from the LORD. Oh no, it is the LORD Himself who has come to win freedom for His chosen people. Moses was given a glimpse of this when the LORD said,

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. - Deu 18:18 ESV

The good word this Prophet speaks is that God loves this world. He does not desire that it perish. This is why He sends His Son to save it. But to save it in a most peculiar manner. The cowboy with the white hat does not stand with his hand ready to draw his gun and drill a bullet into the heart of the dirty sheriff who has ruled the town for years. Instead he allows one of his own disciples to betray him into the hands of his enemies. And when they come for him in the garden Jesus says,

"Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness." - Luk 22:52-53 ESV

So the Son of God by whom all things were made, submits himself to them and to the power of darkness, the prince of the world, the spirit at work in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). They condemn him, beat him and nail him to the cross. There, at about the ninth hour of that dark day, the Prophet shouts out the decisive word of the LORD.

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - Mat 27:46 ESV, (Psalm 22:1)

Thus he saves the world, the entire world of men who live, have lived and ever will live. He does it not by killing this world's prince, but by being himself condemned and forsaken by God, by drawing the unspeakable burden of this world's sin upon himself until he finally can say,

"It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - Jhn 19:30 ESV

The prince of this world lives on. Darkness is yet at work, but that final day is coming when that prince and all his minions will be cast out. For the Light has come, the Light of the world and whoever follows the risen Savior "will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). John pulls it all together in his beautiful letter, words with which I complete this brief study of John 3.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (all atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. - 1Jo 4:10-16 ESV