THE GOSPEL OF JOHN # 8

John 3:16-21

For God So Loved the World

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. John the Evangelist now makes the universal application of the words of Jesus found in the first 15 verses.
7. First, with “God so loved the world” we note the word “loved” is from the Greek word agape and is a kind of love we are not able to fully appreciate or comprehend.
8. “World” is cosmos in the Greek, and refers to all the peoples of the earth, not only the descendants of Abraham. The Gospel is to go to Gentiles as well.
9. God loves His physical creation, yet even that perfect garden experienced corruption. And it too, has a built-in shelf-life. One day it will cease to exist.
10. The “love” is intended to prevent perishing and give eternal life to those made in His image, those He has chosen..
11. The “world” in the process of perishing may be saved.
12. The saving is based upon one thing, and one thing only, the One sent, the Son of God.
13. Judgment is also a central theme. The Light has come into the world yet the object of God’s love preferred darkness because their deeds were evil.
14. It is the hating of the Light that brings judgment. Because of the doing of evil deeds, a fear of the Light develops. The Light is Jesus, and thus He will be hated.
15. John the Evangelist knew of this intimately; all of the called apostles were martyred. He had already seen severed persecution. He himself alone is left.
16. Only those who have been born anew will want to come to the Light.