'Caught Off Guard' Concerning Love

For God so loved…

The first word in this well-known verse (John 3:16) is usually ignored when the verse is quoted in isolation. The word for actually introduces an explanation. Jesus had been speaking with a prominent Jewish teacher, Nicodemus. He was trying to help Nicodemus understand how to enter into the kingdom of God through spiritual birth. He had just drawn from an Old Testament event involving Moses.

On one occasion the Israelites had sinned and God sent a plague of snakes against them. People were dying from being bitten by the snakes and Moses was instructed to make a bronze snake and place it on a stick for all to see. When the people looked at the bronze snake that was lifted up by Moses, they would not die from the snake bites.

Jesus was thinking about the faith that it took for the people to look upon the bronze snake that had been lifted up. Then, in reference to Himself, He said that the Son of Man must also be lifted up (on the cross), “so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (John 3:15) Then, He further explained:

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.

It is easy to think that the phrase so much refers to how much God loved, as if God was quantifying His love. Too often God is made into a jolly grandfather-type being who is so full of love that He just accepts everyone no matter what. Hugs. (Think, Santa Clause...Ho, Ho, Ho.)

Actually, Jesus was describing the extent of God’s love. God loved the world so much, that is, to such an extent that He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrificial lamb to die on the cross in place of sinners. That is love.

In our day love more often describes some degree of affection or a sexual relationship. Yet, the love of God involved personal sacrifice.

Sexual love has nothing to do with sacrifice, but rather personal satisfaction. Affectionate love has more to do with emotional feelings and natural connections to something or someone. It too is often about personal satisfaction.

God loved mankind to the greatest extent that anyone can love. The Apostle Paul described this love by first noting that Jesus was equal with God. He was deity, yet…

Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

—Philippians 2:6-8

God desired to have a relationship with those He created and He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to make that relationship possible. And He wants His people to possess the same attitude and behavior of love.

So, if you truly love God with all your heart, you will make whatever sacrifice is necessary to keep your relationship with Him. And if you truly love your neighbor as yourself, you will make whatever sacrifice is necessary to maintain your relationship with him/her.

Don’t be caught off guard. The love of God is not about sex or self, but sacrifice.

To what extent do you love?

Mark Stinnett

August 15, 2021