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And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Most people know John 3:16 but don't consider the context nor what is involved in it. Our reference starts our talking about Moses lifting up the serpent as a symbolic message about the crucifixion for our eternal salvation. Then we read For God so loved the world
. This sentence starts with the word For
, which means it is telling s why Jesus Christ had to be crucified for our sins. Now, there is a whole message in that but we want to consider the phrase God so loved the world
. This is talking about the love of God the Father. He is a different member of the Trinity than God the Son. God the Son proved His love for us by what He did, but that is different from the love of God the Father.
As most people know, even if they deny the truth, there are many spiritual beings that can affect this physical world and call themselves gods. The Bible calls these lying spirits devils. They demand that people worship them under threat of harm if people don't worship them. Further, they really have the power to cause harm, if the God of the Bible doesn't stop them. However, as much power as they have, none of those devils have the power to rule the entire world. Further, none of them have the power to prophesy, in detail, what they will do in the future, dare all other gods to try and stop them like the God of the Bible did. In addition, the true God give those other spirits hundreds of years to try and stop Him from fulfilling His prophecy. But no being has ever stopped God from doing exactly as He prophesied that He would do. Only the God of the Bible has that power and authority. In addition, God prevents all other spirits from making similar prophecies. Yes, there are prophecies like those from Nostradamus, but his so-called prophecies as abstract and general which lets people claim that many different things fulfill his so-called prophecies. However, the prophecies of the Bible are detailed and specific and prove that the God of the Bible is the most powerful being that exists anywhere. With that truth in mind, consider how great His love must be to lower Himself to love sinners like us.
Next consider that we not only were breaking His Law, but we were actively fighting against Him and not seeking His forgiveness nor His love. In spite of that attitude, He sought us, proved His love to us and offered forgiveness and salvation. However, He did not force His salvation on us but left us a free will.
The truth is that God is letting these devils tell people lies so that people can use their free will and freely chose Him to be their Lord and God, or they can choose to serve a lying devil. If there were no devils then people would not have a true choice on what spirit to serve. With the choice available, all who chose Jesus as their personal Lord and God do so by their own free will. They are not limited to only one choice.
Eventually, everyone is going to receive the end results of their own choice. Those people who believe the lies of devils, and don't verify their promises, will be cast into a lake of fire
, along with their lying devil, to burn forever without burning up. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords
. A king has the right to destroy all traitors in his kingdom along with destroying all supporters of the traitors. All of the so-called gods are truly devils and traitors to the true God. In time, after He has given everyone a choice of what spirit to serve, He will put all traitors and their servants into the lake of fire
.
Now, that truth was based upon the true God's power and the evidence of His power. Now, I want to talk about His character of love and how that makes Him different from all of the other so-called gods, which are lying devils.
Many people who seek power and do so to hurt anyone who does not obey them. Such people do not love others but want power to force others to do their will. Devils promise to give this type f power to people. However, it is temporary. While having power over others sounds great, we must also expect that other people, and even devils, will also use their power to hurt and force us to do their will.
That type of power structure is much different from love. A parent has power over their child. However, a loving parent only uses that power to correct their child from errors and to reward the child for doing right. The child of a loving parent does not need to fear the parent so long as he is obedient. Even when disobedient, the child of a loving parent is only hurt enough to cause the child to correct their wrong attitude. Such a child is not hurt simply because the parent wants to hurt someone. So likewise is the love of the God of the Bible.
With that concept in mind, let's look back at our Bible reference. This entire reference is what the Son of God, named Jesus, said to a religious ruler. The religious ruler had a hard time believing and understanding what is said in this reference because it is so different from what most religions teach. However, later in this Gospel we are told that he eventually understood and believed that Jesus said. In order to do that, he had to accept doctrine which went against his religious training because the God of the Bible is not like any other so-called god.
The first thing that Jesus told him was: whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life
(John 3:15). The word eternal
means that there is no end to it. This is totally different from reincarnation which teaches multiple different types of life. Part of what can be hard to understand is that Jesus is speaking about a never-ending spiritual life. Yes, we must still die physically so that our spirit can be separated from this corrupt body which will suffer disease, old age and other things. And, the children of God are promised a new incorruptible body in the future. But that body will get its life from the spirit where our current body gets its life from the blood. Therefore, this eternal life
is different from what we currently have in our current body. In addition, everyone dies. However, the new eternal life
does not die. Therefore, it is better than what we have now. This improvement shows God's love for those who accept Jesus as their personal Lord and God. No other so-called god makes this offer to those people who serve that god.
Next, we have the well-known verse of John 3:16, which says: 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
. Now there is a lot preached based upon this verse and I can not cover it all but will only point out two things. Like the prior verse, we have the requirement to believeth in him
. Our verse uses the word believeth
for a lifestyle heart belief. This is not just some idea passing through your mind that you believe for a short time. In fact, it is not a mind belief but a heart belief which means that it has to affect how we feel and what we do. If it does not change your lifestyle then you have not met the requirements for believeth
.
Next, our believeth
must be in him
. This is putting your faith in the person Who is the Son of God in human flesh. It is not believing in a religion or a doctrine or some act. Belief in anything other than the person of God in human flesh will not be accepted by God. In addition, if you truly accept a lifestyle in the person of Jesus Christ, you are starting an ongoing personal relationship with Him. The Bible says that the relationship between a man and his wife is a picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church. A marriage starts with the ceremony where people vow to spend their lives together and then spend the rest of their lives keeping that vow. Likewise, God's salvation starts with a vow to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and then spend the rest of your life keeping that vow.
The other important thing to realize from this verse is that phrase he gave his only begotten Son
. There is a lot in the Bible to back what I will say but no time to go into all of it. Simply put, we each have done things that we knew were wrong. That is a simple definition of sin. Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
. Next, Romans 3:23 says: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
. That means that everybody has earned death by doing what they want to do instead of obeying the law of God. Further, Revelation 20:14 says: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death
. If we put all of this together, we have the doctrine that everyone was heading for the lake of fire
to be there forever, and the Bible calls that result the second death
.
Now, when we return to our original verse of John 3:16, we read: 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
This means that if we believeth on God's Son Jesus Christ
then we don't have to spend eternity in the lake of fire
. Again, there isn't time to go into all of it but simply put, the God of the Bible had His only begotten Son
become a literal human being like us and live a perfect life where He never sinned. Therefore, He didn't have to die only God let men kill Him so that God could count His death as payment for the sins of anyone who believes on Him. Yes, Jesus Christ came back from the dead to prove that He has power over death. However, our current verse is saying why He died and that was to keep us from an eternity in the lake of fire
if we believeth on him
. However, the Bible also warns that those people who refuse to believeth on him
will be cast into the lake of fire to burn forever because, by their actions, they show that they believe that God had His only begotten Son killed for no reason. If people can avoid the lake of fire without accepting His payment for their sins, then there was no need for God to have His Son killed to pay for our sins.
Returning to our original Bible reference, we see that John 3:17-18 says: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God
. Please notice that we are told he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God
. If you do not do what God requires then you are condemned already
. You are not condemned because you are a terrible person but because you have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God
. Think about asking a parent to do what God had His Son do and then say that the sacrifice was of no value. That parent will want vengeance. Likewise, God will take eternal vengeance on anyone who says that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has no value and people do that when they hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God
.
The last verses in our reference tell us: And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God
. Once more, there is more here than we have time to cover. However, the important thing is that, when we are in the dark, we need light to see. People who like to hide and do things in the dark are evil and God refuses to have evil people in His kingdom. Therefore, God not only sent His Son to pay for our sins so that we could avoid an eternity in the 'lake of fire, but God also sent His Son to give us spiritual light so that we could see and understand the consequences of what we do. When we let Jesus Christ show us how to live, our lives are changed by God. As our reference says: But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God
.
God wants to change our life so that people see that our life is wrought in God
. This type of change gives glory to God. The Bible says that Jesus is light
, and that God is love. People who belong to God are supposed to become like Him in their character. Therefore, people who belong to God should show God's light
and Gods love to this world. We see this in 1John 1:5-7, which says: This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 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.
.
God proved His love by paying the debt for our sins and offering us a way to avoid an eternity in the lake of fire
. No other so-called god does that. God also teaches us how to live so that our life displays the love of God to others. God offers you His love and to make you part of His family, but He does not force His love unto you. Each person must personally ask God to make Jesus Christ their personal Lord and God if they want to be saved from the lake of fire
and to become part of God's spiritual kingdom. Everyone who does not do that will be sent to the lake of fire
to spend eternity with the devil that they truly serve. Please , think about the eternal consequences and accept God's offer of salvation.