Palabok Express…

John 3:16

“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 (KJV)
It is in fact Jesus Himself… the one speaking on this verse and put it on record by  Apostle John the Beloved.
We’ve been hearing about this verse since we were just little kids attending Sunday Schools and as we grow older we still see them around, on signages, movie clips, posters, car stickers, shirts, magnetic pins even on vandals.
As a matter of fact it is the most quoted and memorized verse of all time. You may want to ask a kid to recite it and provably even that child can declaim this Bible verse word per word.

But here’s the question… do we really know what John 3:16 really says?…  Ask yourself, pause for a while and meditate on this verse.

“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 (KJV)

Now let’s slice this verse into bite size pieces:

1. For God so loved the world…
If we look into the Bible, whether we acknowledge it or not… Yes… God loves Us.

“Romans 8:39, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

More often than not, we tend not to see it, and sometimes we don’t even feel it or normally ignore it for some reason. But it’s inscribed in the Bible, it is written that God loves the world, and you’re obviously part of the world that the Bible is referring to, the truth is… you’re the most special part of it, we are the most precious creation in God’s eye here in this world that we live in and the Bible is not just saying God loves the world… but “so” loved the world! A two letter word that is equivalent to a phrase… “So much” a very high degree of attribution “…a great extent… It’s there in the Bible… Claim it!… God loves you!

I know there are so many point of views pertaining to this one sentence alone but if you would just claim what it says you’ll see and experience Gods love. God loves you ”SO”, as He loved the world and everything in it.

2. that he gave his only begotten Son…
Who is this Son in the first place?

Here’s a nice reference: When Jesus and Nathanael was talking in:

John 1:49, Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

The Fact that Jesus did not refused, disagree or react on how Nathanael adressed Him on this verse, I can personally believe that it is Him, Jesus who is THE Son of God.

Begotten: according to Merriam-Webster, is to produce especially as an effect or outgrowth.

Yes, “Outgrowth”…Just like hair, skin or nail growing from you which is almost a part of you and therefore can be referred to as you, yourself.

He Gave His only begotten Son… If you’re a parent and you have a son and you’re offering the life of your son as sacrificial lamb for the one you love… that action is so extreme, intense and other people might consider that as a crazy kind of an act. Have you ever been in love? There’s this saying that people do crazy things when they’re in love… Isn’t it wonderful to think that God loves us?…nah!… He is crazy for us. If what he did isn’t crazy enough, I don’t know what else is crazy.
3. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish…
“Perish…What?!”

Let’s take a little review from the beginning of it all.

God created the first humans, put them in Eden a Paradise where God originally wants us to live, to populate, to rule to govern. Sadly, man have sinned against God and it is written in the book of:

Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We inherited that sin and we have been cast out of that heavenly place. Since then, the result of sinning against God is death. We humans must die as a consequence to our sin, and we are talking about spiritual death here, which is actually more frightening than physical death. Spiritual death only means one thing… we’re already dead before we even die.

Matthew 10:28, And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Hell according to Merriam Webster:  a place or state of misery, torment, or wickedness.

And we don’t want to get there do we? And since our spirit, our soul never dies, when we have been thrown in hell, we’re going to be there FOREVER!

However, God loves us so much!!!… He doesn’t want us to be on that place although the Law is the law and we need to comply based on the said verse I quoted earlier:

Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death;

Somebody must die, it was supposed to be us.

But you know what?… On that same verse, we can also find the GOOD NEWS  for us all…

Romans 6:23, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is Him, Jesus who died for our sins. He took all the pain, all the shame, the humiliation, the infamy. By dying on the cross for us as a wage for our sins.

1John 1:7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. His blood cleanse us from our sins.

Now, what do we need to do?

We can find the answer right here on the same crumbs we’re eating right now.

Review this part: (that whosoever believeth in him should not perish), did you get the key? “whosoever believeth in him”. Yes! As simple as that, all we need to do is believe!
Yes “YOU”, you belong to that “whosoever”.

Jesus did it all on the cross? Have you seen Mel Gibson’s movie?… “The Passion of the Christ?” That’s a lucid interpretation of what Jesus did for us and I bet you, in reality He even suffered worst. So let us not insult Jesus by doing other else’s stuff like hurting ourselves, up to the point that some people would even have themselves crucified to pay for his sins… Ahmm… People!!!… JESUS did that already so we don’t have to!

All we need to do… all He’s asking us to do is to BELIEVE IN HIM! ‘whosoever believeth in him should not perish”… Just BELIEVE!

4. but have everlasting life…
Here’s the result…

Everything would be back to normal, just as God intended for us to be. To live forever.

Genesis 2:7, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

As I was writing this stuff, It finally come to my mind the reason why I’m hearing this word from our Pastor almost every Sunday worship service:

“God is Crazy for You!”

He’s crazily in love with us, let’s be thankful people!

Why don’t you take a moment and talk to Him right now. He loves you, so He will listen, and if you would just learn to listen to Him… Yes! He talks back.If you don’t know how to pray, here’s an inspiring guide for you:

Philippians 4:6-7, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

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 ”God loves us so much! Let us repent and ask for forgiveness. Accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And be Saved!”

That my friend is the essence of John 3:16

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Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς Αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ᾽ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. (John 3:16, Greek translation)

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References:

Time.Com: John 3:16 in Pop Culture
Bible.Com: King James Version
GreekBible.Com: Greek Translation