“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 NIV
As mother’s day was yesterday, I thought of this verse. This was my mother’s favorite verse. She told me before she passed that this verse “says it all”. I believe it truly does.
John is telling us how much God loves us, what we mean to Him. He loves us so much that He did not want to spend eternity without us. Our sin blocks us from being with God and all the sacrifices that were offered to atone for those sins were only temporary fixes.
Humans would sin again and need to offer another blood sacrifice. God changed all that when He was willing to give up His Son so that the final blood sacrifice would be offered. There is no longer any need to offer sacrifices to God because Jesus paid the final price, He paid the final blood sacrifice for each one of us.
“So whoever believes…” makes me excited. There is no one excluded in “whoever”. It includes every person, no matter their religious background, their gender, their nationality, their ethnic background, the color of their eyes, the color of their skin, whether they can see, talk or hear. Everyone is included.
The only thing we have to do is believe that Jesus died for our sins, confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and accept the gift of salvation. By believing, confessing and accepting, we are given the gift of eternal life with Jesus and God in Heaven. I have said before that I am selfish when it comes to Heaven, I want every person there. I don’t want anyone to be in hell with the devil, I want him to be all alone. I want everyone to be in Heaven.
So as you read John 3:16, let the words sink into your heart and know that God loves you that much and wants you with Him for eternity. John 3:16 really does “say it all”.