John 3:16 ('Nuff said)

Max Lucado refers to John 3:16 as the "Hope Diamond" of Scripture. Can we argue with that assessment?

I don't know of any other single verse that is memorized (or quoted) as much as John 3:16. There is great power, great freedom, and great revelation wrapped up in this one verse. When it comes to understanding the love of God for the world and the gift of salvation wrapped up in Jesus - John 3:16 says it all!

I heard a message yesterday by Drew Landry that brought out some wonderful aspects of this verse. He said that there is one thing that is missed in the translation from Greek to English and that is that the verse reads "The God." Think about that with me... "The God" of the world loved so much that He gave... WOW! Is the current century any different that the 1st century? Do we not live in an age when there are many gods that could be followed? Is there not a vast number of religions in the world? Maybe we need to introduce our generation/culture afresh to "The God" of the world. The one and only God is Jehovah God and He loves us so much that He did something.

God gave. Isn't that so true of God? God always demonstrates His goodness to us. He gave us life. He is the one who created us and He is the one who redeems us. What He gave is truly significant. He gave His one and only begotten Son. He gave the only one of His kind. He gave Himself wrapped up in human flesh as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Why? He did this because He loves His creation. Man had fallen far from God. Man had went in his own direction. However, God still loved and because He loved - He did something about it.

The result: SALVATION TO ALL WHO BELIEVE! I'm so glad that God has opened the door to all of us for eternal life. Even better than that is to know that we can have eternal life if we simply believe. Don't listen to anyone who tries to add to God's Word. If you need to be saved today, all you have to do is put your faith and trust in God's gift of salvation. That is it!

We have a young lady in our church that has been bombarded by those who think you must add something to your faith in order to be saved. In their belief system you must DO SOMETHING else. Faith alone can't save you {In their words}. But God's Word says different! God's Word says that "Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame." (Rom. 10:11) In fact, just a couple verses ahead of that, the Bible says that "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." And if you drop down a couple verses from verse 11 you will read, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

The point of this is to understand that God has done everything in regards to our salvation. John 3:16 can stand alone because the remainder of God's Word assures us of its great promise: Anyone - Everyone - who puts their belief in Jesus Christ will have eternal life.

Praise God for His great love toward us! Praise God for the gift of Jesus Christ for our sin!

John 3:16...'Nuff said!