God Loves You...More Than You May Think

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:16 – 18

“God loves you just the way you are,” is a true but incomplete statement. It is true that God loves every person on earth just the way they are, but He does not stop there. God loves them so He sent Jesus Christ to redeem them and bring them into relationship with Him. The cover of Max Lucado’s book Just Like Jesus has the statement in its true and complete form, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.”

John 3:16 is one of the most treasured verses in Scripture, but many people do not realize that when we accept His gift of love and salvation that we must be changed. Not in order to receive salvation, but as a result of receiving it.

Here is a paraphrase of John 3:16 – 17:
God loved the world (people, His creations) so much that He sent His only Son so that the people (every human who has ever lived) He loves so dearly would have a way to be reconciled (not perish, die in their sin) to Him (eternal life). Jesus’ coming was not a sign that we (humanity) were bad and needed to be punished. Jesus’ coming was a sign that God loved us so much that He wanted to remove the condemnation that we had brought on ourselves.

When some people hear the name Jesus they think of judgment and intolerance, but they do not know this Jesus the way I know Him. Jesus is the One who has made intimate relationship with God possible. He is the One who has saved me from the condemnation that I so rightfully deserved. As a result of the gift that I have been given I am moved to behave more like my Savior. Sadly, many people do not wish to change. They want to take their “fire insurance” policy and be on their way. This, however, is not possible. As long as our lives are lived “our way” we have not received God’s matchless gift of salvation.