Loved In This Way

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16 

The love which God exhibits is vital, active, and powerful.  It is effective in every way.  Christ was in conversation with Nicodemus, who was a member of the separatist group which taught religion to the people of Israel.  They considered themselves to be greater in their spiritual, moral, and ethical behavior to the common people.  They were educated and educators in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as all the commentaries upon those Scriptures.  Christ shocked Nicodemus, who seems to have been a genuine enquirer, by saying, ‘you must be born again,’ indicating his need for spiritual transformation.  In the midst of His expounding of truth to Nicodemus, Christ uttered the words of our text.  This is a summary statement of the practical effects of the love of God.  He begins this statement with, ‘For God so loved the world,’ or ‘For God in this way loved the world.’  What follows will be the articulation of what that love has produced in real time.  It shows that the highest form of love is more than mere theorizing or profession ‘God in this way loved the world that He gave…’  This is vital, active, and powerful love. 

Our Glorious Living God, 
we rejoice at Your wondrous love. 
We praise You that we see  
the most powerful manifestation of it, 
in the person and work of Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning