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8th September 2024
SundayReflection
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"Scott Stein offers"
President, at Prepared to Answer
" "So" Misunderstood"
Might Not Mean What You Think
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John 3:16 is arguably the best known verse in the Bible.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
But could it be that for all its familiarity we have been blinded to its meaning?
As a pastor, I would stand to the side of the pulpit, stretch my arms out wide and say,
"Jesus' outstretched arms on the cross was God's way of saying that he loves us
'this much' "; giving my arms a little extra stretch for emphasis.
It turns out that I was making the mistake that many make about the meaning of one little word - "so".
So what's the big deal about "so"?
In most English Bibles, John 3:16 begins like this: "For God so loved the world".
Read this way there are two possible meanings.
One is for "so" to mean the extent or amount of God's love for the world, as in the Message version of the New Testament, which says,
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son.
The second is for "so" to mean the manner or way that God loved the world, as in the New Living Translation which says,
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son.
So ... which is it?
The answer is the latter.
But then hey, does it really even matter?
When we read "God loved the world so much" our focus is immediately put on us.
It makes the Father's motivation for sacrificing his Son the amount of his love for humanity, as if he simply could not do without us and would do anything to get us back.
The biggest problem with this idea is that it's not in the Bible.
It wasn't our worth that brought Jesus down; rather his coming down brought us our worth.
This difference is no small thing, especially in our idolatrous culture of self-love.
One of the greatest lies is that God needs us.
He doesn't.
That idea is the heart of all false religion.
God doesn't depend on and needs nothing from his creation.
This was the Apostle Paul's opening correction to the Greeks he brought the gospel to in Athens:
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
When we read "This is how God loves the world" however, our attention rightly focuses on God.
It's not because he needed us that God loved us this way; quite the reverse.
It's because we need him.
The Father's motive for sending Jesus was actually his love for the Son and his desire to glorify the Son.
Listen to what Jesus says to the Father in John 17:24
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Salvation through Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is all about the Father glorifying the Son whom he loves.
Christians are the Father's gift to Jesus.
We are his inheritance.
And Jesus is glorified because through our union with him by faith he has drawn us into his eternal love relationship with the Father.
Listen to Jesus again:
[Father] I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
Conclusion
What a difference one little word can make.
I hope this breathes some fresh life into John 3:16 for you.
The wonder of the gospel is in the nature, not the amount of God's love.
By giving his Son, God has shown his intention to make you his child.
He wants to love you with the same love that he has for Jesus.
How can this be?
Because this is the way that God loves.
What a powerful gospel.
What a glorious Saviour.
What a difference one little word can make.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
"Scott Stein"
As founder and President, at Prepared to Answer, Scott serves as chief apologist and ministry partner to local Christian church and Campus parachurch ministries in the Region of London, Ontario.
Emmanuel Baptist Church
For seven years Scott had the privilege to lead a vibrant congregation of 350.
His primary roles were preaching, leadership, pastoral care, as well as casting and directing the ministry vision of our church in order to fulfill the gospel mission of reaching our community and world with the Good News found in Jesus Christ.
Prepared to Answer
Prepared to Answer was established in response to the alarming rate of attrition among younger Christians who are departing from their faith commitments to Jesus Christ due in large part to our culture's successful creation of a false dichotomy between "secular" and "sacred" spheres of life.
Broadly accepted and accommodated by the church, we are now witnessing a generation of Christians who can no longer integrate the message of the gospel with the majority of life issues and their understanding of the world.
The result has been the general withdrawal of the church as salt and light to our culture, and a steady exodus of young Christians away from faithful witness and commitment to Jesus Christ.
Contact the Rector
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