For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal.
These words are among the best known in the Bible, yet they sit inside an argument that begins with a cross and ends with a choice. The verse names four things: a love, a gift, a condition, and two outcomes.
The cross behind the "for"
The verse starts with the word "For". One writer insists we must not cut it loose from the verse just before, which speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up as Moses lifted the snake in the wilderness.
In this same Gospel we read that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. But we cannot separate those words from what goes before them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Must is a strong word. No word in any language says more forcefully that something cannot be avoided.
Another writer makes the same point against those who treat this verse as the whole story:
Besides, it is not only said "God so loved the world," but "the Son of Man must be lifted up." There was a necessity laid on Him which He had to bear. It is completely untrue that Scripture says nothing more about it than "God so loved the world."
The measure of "so"
The word "so" is not vague. Writers measure the love by the gift.
This verse also declares how strong that love is: "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." We measure God's love for the world by His gift. He gave the One who alone was the object of His affection — His Only-begotten Son.
Because that gift is the point, the identity of the One given carries weight. The old phrase "only-begotten Son" means the one and only Son. Some say it describes Jesus only as a man. One writer answers that this shrinks the very thing the verse shows:
Some say the term "only-begotten Son" here applies to Christ as Man only, with no reference to the Son's relation to the Father before He came into the world. That view at once dims the greatness of God's love to a guilty world.
Love came before the cross
A common misreading turns the cross into the thing that persuaded God to love. One writer pushes back. He points to Israel's escape from Egypt, when they put blood on the doorposts of their homes.
The cause was the unfathomable, eternal love of God. For God so loved. Do not suppose that God loved us because Jesus died for us — that He only then began to love us. Did He love Israel in Egypt because they shed the blood and sprinkled it on the doorposts? No, they sprinkled the blood as the token of His love.
Not one nation, but the world
This love is not limited to one nation.
Nor does this apply only to Israel. "For God so loved the world." This love is so marvellous that the Father gave His beloved, only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for the whole world. Yet only those who believe in Him can know its value, since it applies to "whoever believes in Him." No one, Jew or Gentile, is shut out except by his own unbelief.
Writers also press for exactness on which relationship is named here. One notes that the verse says God loved the world, and that a different bond is described elsewhere:
It is never said that Christ loved the world, while we have seen that God loved the world; John 3:16.
The one condition
"Whoever" leaves no one out. Yet one thing is still required.
Notice, this was no longer limited to Israel as a nation. No, "whoever believes in Him." This is a message for you, to you, because it is to everyone who believes. The only limit or distinction is faith — "who believes in Him."
Having, not hoping
The closing words describe something the believer owns now. The verse also falls into two halves.
In this verse you have God's side of the action, and man's side too. God's side — loving and giving; and man's side, my side and yours — believing and having. Really, my dear friends, the gospel is wonderfully simple. God loving and giving; man believing and having.
One writer describes the moment he saw four words meet in this one sentence:
Until this moment of reading it, the writer had never noticed that this one verse holds all four of our words — life, love, world, believing!
Summary
- Cause. Love did not begin at the cross; the cross was love's proof — the blood was "the token of His love," as it was in Egypt.
- Cost. The gift measures the love: God gave the One who alone was the object of His affection.
- Compulsion. "Must" stands beside "so loved" — the Son of Man had to be lifted up, and this verse should not be quoted apart from that cross.
- Compass. "World" reaches past one nation; no one is shut out except by unbelief.
- Condition. Faith is the only limit — and its outcome is present tense: God loving and giving, man believing and having.