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The Greatest Gift

JOHN 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Bennett Cerf was a respected publisher and author for Random House a few years ago. Because of his keen intellect and warm sense of humor, he was often featured as a panelist on numerous television and radio programs. Some of you will remember seeing him on those early popular TV shows like "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a Secret."

One evening he appeared on an NBC radio program called "Conversation." The panelists on this particular show were asked to spend the entire thirty-minute program that night discussing just one question: "What Are You Most Afraid Of?" The panelists went at it, dialoguing and debating that topic for more than twenty minutes. They talked about a wide range of fears, but finally they decided on the one thing they were most afraid of: "annihilation by the nuclear bomb."

After the panelists had reached that consensus, the moderator, Clifton Fadiman, noticed that Bennett Cerf had been unusually quiet throughout the vigorous discussion. In fact, he hadn't said a word. When prodded, Cerf replied in a humble voice that he had hesitated to answer the question truthfully because he was afraid that his concern would seem so trivial beside the vast issues that others had introduced.

But he went on to say that since the point of the program was to share what you really thought, he might as well admit that what he feared most was "not being loved." Bennett Cerf was a smart and honest man. He knew about the importance of love. And he was right on target that night. For there is nothing more destructive to the human heart than to live without love. As Dr. Smiley Blanton once put it: "We love or we perish!"

Now, if I were to ask you to write down what you consider the single greatest verse of Scripture in the whole Bible, what would you put down? Of course, there would be a variety of answers given, I'm sure, but in all likelihood, the verse most written down would be John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

With good reason, many people would select John 3:16. This single verse is a magnificent summary of the gospel, the message of the Scriptures in capsule form. It is the story of God's seeking, redeeming, reconciling love, all in one sentence. It has been called "everybody's text." Here, for every simple heart, is the essence of the Christian faith and "good news," and God's greatest promise.

This verse reminds us that we are indeed loved and that God himself is the one who loves us; that God seeks us out, that God values us, that God graciously reaches out to save us, and that when we (in faith) accept God's love, we can have life eternal. We see this verse acted out dramatically during Holy Week.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides triumphantly into the Holy City. He is received as a king, with palm branches strewn before him and loud Hosannas ringing in the air. But he comes to establish a surprising kingdom, one different from anything our world has ever seen—one built not on power and violence and might, but rather a kingdom built on faith and hope and love. Through the days of Holy Week, he teaches the people, heals the sick, helps the needy, cleanses the Temple, and withstands, with amazing spiritual dexterity and wisdom, the tricky, loaded questions fired at him by the chief priests and elders who are trying to entrap him.

He tenderly takes the disciples through the last supper, and then he goes into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. There he is betrayed by one of his closest friends, arrested on trumped-up charges, rushed through a hurried fixed trial that takes place illegally in the middle of the night, and is sentenced to death by crucifixion by a waffling Pontius Pilate.

And then on Good Friday (which, by the way, originally was called God's Friday), in the greatest act of sacrificial love this world has ever known, he goes to the cross and dies there for you and me. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

No question about it, John 3:16 is one of the greatest statements ever spoken, because it describes, defines, and outlines the fullness of God's redeeming love. The verse falls neatly into three parts, showing us the width of God's love, the depth of God's love, and the power of God's love.

First, We See the Width of God's Love

Look at the very first phrase: "For God so loved the world"—not just one nation, not just one culture, not just one denomination, not just the attractive people, not just one little corner of creation, but the whole world! As the famous spiritual puts it: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." In a word, the reach of God's love is as wide as the universe.

One sad thing that happens to us human beings is that we often forget the bigness of God's love, and consequently, we become small and selective in our loving, limiting our love to only a favored few. Not so with God. God's love leaps over every barrier to embrace every person. And as human beings, we become impatient with people who don't act as we want them to act or do what we want them to do.

The great Protestant Reformer Martin Luther once became so aggravated with those around him that he cried out, "If I were God and these vile people were as disobedient as they now be, I would knock the world to pieces!" And Luther might have done that, but not so with God. The Bible underscores again and again the amazing grace of God, and this verse (as no other) shows the enormous sweep of God's gracious forgiving, seeking, reconciling love for the whole world. We may reject God's love. We may run away from God's love. We may ignore God's love. And our own hardness of heart may keep us out of God's kingdom, may keep us from accepting God's love in faith. But one thing we can know, one thing we can count on: God loves us, and God wants to bring us into the circle of his love.

It's important to remember now that although God's love is worldwide, it is yet very personal. Even though God's love is vast enough to reach around the globe, still it is closer to each and every one of us than our breathing.

Remember the "Peanuts" comic strip in which Lucy announces that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Younger brother, Linus, is very upset by the prospect, and he says, "Lucy, it won't work. You can never be a doctor!"

"And just why not?" Lucy retorts.

"Because," replies Linus, "you don't love humankind. You can't be a doctor because you don't love humankind!"

"But I do," says Lucy, "I do! I love humankind; it's people I can't stand!"

Not so with God. He loves the whole world, and he loves all the people in it. Do you see what this means? It means that you are the beloved child of God, that I am the beloved child of God, and that every single person we meet in this world is the beloved child of God. The message is obvious: Accept God's love for you and love God back, and pass God's love on to others in this world. Here we see the width of God's love—"For God so loved the world."

Second, We See the Depth of God's Love

God's love is wide and it is deep. Here's how John's Gospel records it: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." Talk about depth of love. He gave his only son!

You are aware of the fact that the New Testament was written originally in the Greek language and that the common Greek had several different words for love. The three most familiar of these are:

 EROS—which gives us our word erotic;

 PHILIA—which gives us our word philanthropist; and

 AGAPE—the word used throughout the New Testament to describe God's love.

In capsule form, eros refers to sensual love; philia refers to social love; agape refers to sacrificial love. God's sacrificial love is what we see in Jesus Christ. God so loves the world that he gives his only son to save it.

In Becoming a Whole Person in a Broken World, Ron Lee Davis tells about a young woman named Marie who was admitted to a mental hospital in Europe. She was in a terrible emotional state. She had been reared by violent, abusive parents. At age twelve, she saw her mother and father in a horrible drunken argument one night. They were fighting and struggling over a gun. Suddenly, the pistol fired, and before young Marie's eyes, her father fell dead!

Little Marie's mind snapped. She was filled with pain, frustration, and hatred. She retreated into a fantasy world, but it too was violent. Marie would scream, scratch, hit, and curse at anyone who came near her. She was placed alone in a padded cell. The attending physician tried several approaches, to no avail. She seemed only to become worse. Finally, the doctor decided to try a then common therapy called catharsis—the venting of rage upon someone else.

A nurse named Hulda volunteered to be the victim. Every day, Hulda would enter Marie's padded cell. For a full hour, Marie would curse, kick, scream, hit, and scratch Hulda. Then exhausted, Marie would crouch in a corner like a frightened animal, and the nurse Hulda (battered, bruised, and sometimes bleeding) would go to Marie and hold the child tenderly in her arms, rock her gently, and say over and over, "Marie, I love you. Marie, I love you."

Little by little, this message of love got through. Little by little, Marie was able to respond with tears and affection. And in time, Marie was well. She became a whole person. She was healed by sacrificial love. On a deeper level, that's the kind of deep love God gives to us in Jesus Christ. As the Scriptures put it, "By his stripes we are healed."

Here in John 3:16, we see the width of God's love (he loved the whole world), and we see the depth of God's sacrificial love (he gave his only son).

Finally, We See the Power of God's Love

God's love is a love so powerful that it can redeem and reconcile and save. Listen to it again: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

Author Walter Wangerin tells a wonderful story about an experience he had some years ago with his son. When Matthew was seven years old and in the second grade, he became fascinated with comic books. So much so, that one day he stole some from the library. When Walter found the comic books in Matthew's room, he confronted him, corrected him, disciplined him, and took him back to the library to return the books. Matthew received a stern lecture regarding stealing from the librarian and also from his dad.

The following summer, however, it happened again. Matthew stole some comic books from a resort gift shop. Again Walter corrected him and told him how wrong it was to steal. A year later, Matthew once again stole comic books from a drug store. Walter decided he had to do something to get his attention and to underscore the seriousness of stealing.

So he took Matthew into his study and said, "Matthew, I have never spanked you before, and I don't want to now, but somehow I've got to get through to you and help you see how wrong it is to steal." So Walter bent Matthew over and spanked him five times with his bare hand. Matthew's eyes moistened with tears, and he sat there looking at the floor.

His father said, "Matthew, I'm going to leave you alone for a little while. You sit here, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Walter stepped out of the study and he just couldn't help himself; he broke down and cried like a baby. The father cried and cried. Then he washed his face and went back into the study to talk to his little son. From that moment, Matthew never stole again. In fact, to the contrary, he became a generous, giving person.

Years later, as Matthew and his mother were driving home from a shopping center, they began to talk about some memories of his childhood. They remembered the incident with the comic books.

Matthew said, "Mom, after that, I never stole anything again from anybody, and I never will."

His mother asked, "Was it because your dad spanked you that day?"

"Oh no," Matthew explained, "It was because I heard him crying!" It wasn't the spanking that turned Matthew's life around; it was the power of his father's love.

God's love is so powerful that it can sustain us all through this life, and it can take us all the way to heaven. But please don't miss this. The text says, "Everyone who believes in him may not perish." That means we must accept God's love in faith. The Greek word for believe is "pisteo" which literally means faithful, believing, obedience. It means believing in God and his love so much that we stake our lives on God and commit our lives, heart and soul, to God.

Do you believe like that? Have you accepted the power of God's redeeming love into your life? If not, do it today! Don't waste another moment. Let God into your heart. Don't miss out on the greatest promise and the greatest gift this world has ever known.