For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:16-17
Some people wrongly believe God to be a harsh, unloving Judge who is eager to punish people for their sins. It is true that He is “the judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25), and that as a just judge He must punish sin; but it is not true that He is harsh and unloving. These words from John’s Gospel beautifully reveal the compassionate heart of God in His costly plan for saving mankind.
It has been said that “God’s love is to be admired not because it is so big and includes so many people, but because the world is so bad” (D. A. Carson). This world is under God’s condemnation because of sin but God has determined to rescue those who will believe in His only begotten Son. God knew we would rebel against Him and seek to establish our own authority and determine our own destiny so even before this world was made God planned the death of His Son as our substitute. So, John speaks of Jesus as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8); and Peter speaks of Him being “foreordained before the foundation of the world but … manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:20).
In fact, if we want to know what love is, we must look to the cross of Christ. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). True love is not simply a feeling, but a decision to act in the best interest of those loved, even if it means sacrificing ourselves for them. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). And so Jesus willingly went to the cross, knowing all that lay before Him there.
And while the cross demonstrates the love of Jesus, we must not forget that it also reveals the love of God: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9, NIV). Those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus will not perish but will have everlasting life, saved from the eternal consequences their sins deserve. And while we may not think our sins are very serious, “the judge of all the earth” has a different verdict. But praise God, He also designed a plan of salvation and sent the only One who could accomplish our redemption.
DNW