“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” The most amazing verse in the Bible and probably the most under-appreciated. This planet has close to what? 8 or 9 billion people. Something like that.
There’s a second verse that should give everyone a pause if they even half-way believe the Bible, the Word of God. It’s Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Now that’s a plan that God gave directly to Jeremiah. Long before Jeremiah came into existence, there was a plan. Think about it. If God has a plan for Jeremiah, then he’s got plans for us, too.
There’s more to this story. God does have a plan for us. But, there’s always a but, Deuteronomy 30:15-20 lets us know that God has set before us life and good, and death and evil. We can go either way. We can follow God and his plans or we can choose not to. If it sounds pretty simple, that's because it is. Whatever you choose is going to be what you’ll live with in eternity.
Time for a recap. Before we are ever born, God has a plan. He knows what his plans are for us. As we grow and mature there is an opportunity to make choices—either for good or evil. As humans we make those choices.
But God did not leave us with no hope. That’s where John 3:16 comes in. “For God so loved the world”—not just the specially selected but the world and all of us in it. “That he gave his only begotten Son”—God gave us his most loved gift, his Son, Jesus. This is living proof of God’s love for us. “That whosoever believeth on him should not perish”—all that accept Jesus as their savior will not die into a world that waits for the wrath to come (John 3:36). “But have everlasting life”—eternal and permanent and no separation from God.
There’s a second verse that should give everyone a pause if they even half-way believe the Bible, the Word of God. It’s Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Now that’s a plan that God gave directly to Jeremiah. Long before Jeremiah came into existence, there was a plan. Think about it. If God has a plan for Jeremiah, then he’s got plans for us, too.
There’s more to this story. God does have a plan for us. But, there’s always a but, Deuteronomy 30:15-20 lets us know that God has set before us life and good, and death and evil. We can go either way. We can follow God and his plans or we can choose not to. If it sounds pretty simple, that's because it is. Whatever you choose is going to be what you’ll live with in eternity.
Time for a recap. Before we are ever born, God has a plan. He knows what his plans are for us. As we grow and mature there is an opportunity to make choices—either for good or evil. As humans we make those choices.
But God did not leave us with no hope. That’s where John 3:16 comes in. “For God so loved the world”—not just the specially selected but the world and all of us in it. “That he gave his only begotten Son”—God gave us his most loved gift, his Son, Jesus. This is living proof of God’s love for us. “That whosoever believeth on him should not perish”—all that accept Jesus as their savior will not die into a world that waits for the wrath to come (John 3:36). “But have everlasting life”—eternal and permanent and no separation from God.
