As we continue exploring John 3:16, we come to a startling truth about who receives God's love. Today, we'll uncover the shocking reality of the object of God's affection and why it makes the gospel so powerful.
John 3:16a "For God so loved the world..."
Who does God love? The text says "the world." Throughout John's gospel, "the world" doesn't refer to those who are children of God but to those entrapped in fallen humanity.
This is where the gospel becomes scandalous. God doesn't love those who are already forgiven. He loves those who are in the world—those who are fallen.
I was thinking about it the other night: God loves the pixie cut, pink hair, tatted, pierced girl at your local coffee shop. God loves your grumpy neighbor who cusses like a sailor and gets mad when you leave your trash can out an extra day. God loves the person at work who grinds your gears.
D.A. Carson says "what's amazing about God's love for the world is not that the world is so big but that the world is so bad." We like to think we're fundamentally good people who occasionally mess up, but Scripture paints a different picture.
Recently, the former Pope (Francis) said in an interview, "People are fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good." But that's not what Scripture teaches. We're not fundamentally good people needing reformation. We're fundamentally bad people needing regeneration.
God's love toward the world isn't because of our loveliness but because of His character. He does hate sin—in fact, the Psalms say ten times in the first fifty Psalms that God hates the wicked. But there's no contradiction here. God pronounces condemnation on the world's sin, but He loves sinners so much that He sends His Son to be the Savior so they might escape His just judgment.
"God takes no delight in the punishment of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11)." He delights in saving sinners. That's why He pleads with sinners: "Why will you die, O house of Israel? Why do you choose death?"
This should radically alter how we view others. Every person you encounter—regardless of how they look, act, or treat you—is loved by God. Apart from God's love, not a single person would ever be saved.
The gospel isn't just that God loves those who already love Him back. It's that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." While we were His enemies, God demonstrated His love toward us.
How does understanding that God loves sinners change how you view yourself?
In what ways does God's love for the world challenge how you view and treat others?
Who in your life needs to hear that God loves them despite their sin?
Stay dialed in,
Jonny Ardavanis