|
Author
|
Topic: John Three Sixteen
|
epouraniois
unregistered
|
posted
Joh 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.
Having seen many studies upon this most declaritive verse, I thought about trying to dig out some further attributes if possible.
The first thing to note,is that this verse is basic truth, it is non dispensational, it applies to all people of every dispensation. One of John’s interpolations begins in v13, where John interrupts to explain that the only way to go up, is to come down first, that even Christ has done this. We all come down thru the water and blood. We are all born from above. And this must needs be, for even the manifest God is constrained to follow His laws, as they are righteous to the Lord. So John says:
Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And, we find that at the time John is writing this, Christ is already in heaven, and if we go back to John 1:18, we find a close relationship not only in heaven but in the bosom of the Father.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
And in Luke 16 we have another example of being in the bosom. This time it is in Abraham’s Bosom, and the context is that the rich Pharisees is an abomination, and the poor man is acceptable to enter into Abraham’s Bosom. The context is the Kingdom [v16]. So we can see how closely related the kingdom is to the Israelite. All their hopes rest in the kingdom being brought down from heaven to be fulfilled in resurrection and in the land. So this being in the bosom is expressing a very close relationship with the promises and the Father. Continuing in Joh 3:
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
The crucifixion is past and John still speaks of the need to lift Him up. He is telling us to proclaim the resurrected Christ. We should be lifting Him up, even now.
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 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.
The word “for” is very meaningful here, it is expressing an outcome of something. That you should have eternal life. Why? Because God loved the world. He so loved the world, that He gave, and there is a lot to that giving. And immediately we see that God is the Father, as we have the relationship to the son given. We don’t have any reference to God in His essence, without speaking of the Son, the Holy Spirit, or the Father.
In Genesis 1:1, it is God the creator; and when we get to John, we find it is the Word that is the creator, and that the Word is the Son. God is beyond all comprehension, all knowing, and He has to be revealed to us in some way. So, we see the revealing of Himself as the Son and as the Father and as the Holy Spirit. And we can’t go beyond it. Most people struggle just getting to this point.
But there should be no reason for anger at this point. Some understand this to be the one God, and others see God as more than one. As long as we are all gathered to search the scriptures, we should do well. If we just search them out, we should see what God is asking us to see of Him. But when we get into it with folks with manmade creeds and commentaries and science and philosophy, well, we are well outside of the scope of finding out by opening the Book. You just can’t get anywhere with people who won’t listen to God.
We don't find the Father mentioned without the Son, and that in the NT. We do have one mention of the Father in the OT, in Isaiah, but when we look at it, the Father is Christ. Not only that, but it translates this Father as the Father of the ages. Well, that title belongs to Christ too. And we find further that in the NT, Christ is the LORD Jehovah of the OT. In Psalms 23 there are about 7 extra aspects of His deity as Jehovah.
“So Loved” in John 3:16. While it is true that God so loved the world, it isn’t the particular meaning of this verse. He so loved, and this is the way He loved, He gave. That is how He loved, He gave, and He gave His all, He stooped down and manifest in the flesh for the purpose of death, that we may know Him, thru His resurrection, His love, His mercy, His giving to us, His Son, His redemptive plan of the ages.
Its pretty hard for us, who are made of dust, to comprehend the magnitude of God and His love, but He tried to impress upon us, with Abraham. Abraham took is only son, and had the faith, that God could and would raise him up again if he should die. Now Abraham must of talked with God to have that kind of faith.
We are asked to have that kind of faith.
Joh 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
We can take the word “world” out of John 3:16, being Cosmos in the Greek, and look at another place where it is used. Lets remember how John used it; For God so loved the world, that He gave, and He gave His only begotten Son, for whosoever might believe on His name. That “whosoever” is referring to those who believe:
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
The word of reconciliation came from God, who was in Christ, to take away the sins of the world. This is not just for the Jew only, as in the gospel of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, no; this is where John’s gospel differs from the three.
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Behold is a powerful word, and here it means pay attention, this is a surprise. Lets look at it. The Lamb of God, Christ, takes away the sin of the world. That is our reconciliation. This is the reconciliation that Paul spoke of when he preached the gospel of grace.
Every man, woman, and child of today should be taught this truth. Every one is equal in the eyes of the Lord, and He doesn’t hold anything against them. Each person is free to come to the Lord as perfect and clean, unblemished in His eyes. People don’t want to receive this message though, no, they want to argue that it is license to sin, or that we have to do something for His grace. Well, it should be obvious when we hear things like this, that they just don’t understand the Word of God, and the Love of God and the Mercy of God and why He came. Certainly, God would rather you receive your reward, and that by faith, but if sin is not imputed, then sin is not imputed.
And, it is true, Christ came for Israel only, but He knew what would happen, it is all written in the OT. He still had to give them the opportunity to turn from their blind and evil hearts. They were the called out nation from all the world. And He did it, teaching and healing every day and night, even knowing they should kill him in the most brutal of ways for doing what was right. That is some powerful love. Can He be blamed for not sharing the rest of His plan until every opportunity was exhausted in the Israelites? Or should we be ever so thankful that He did foreknow, and did have an expansion in His mighty outworking, that it was hid in God, where we too should receive the word of truth, as people in the nations?
So God is reconciled in v19; Now we are told that we need to be reconciled to this fact:
2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, [U]be ye reconciled to God[/U].
Going back to john 1:18:
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Begotten means "born again". Not “born from above” as earlier in the chapter of John 3, where Christ is speaking to Nicodemus about flesh and blood not being able to enter the kingdom of heaven. But truly born again.
Christ is the only one who was ever born again. He is the only one who has ascended into the highest heaven.
Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
So, not only had the Son of man, Christ done this, He is the only one who has done this. He is the firstborn from among the dead, and in the OT, the first fruits were always a sample of that which would follow:
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
God knew that for reconciliation to be secure, it must needs be a risen Christ, not a dead Jesus that hangs on a cross, like we see all too often, not a babe in a manger, like we see at Christ mass time, but the fullness of the God Head Bodily, and a risen Christ. Working miracles in the flesh, and beyond the flesh. A true first fruit.
It is necessary that this gift be a risen savior. That in all things He "might have" should read, "cause to be" the preeminence.
And that’s what God gave in John 3:16.
IP: Logged | 
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
