Gospel in a Nutshell

 

“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.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”


There is no verse in the Bible that is better known than John 3:16, and thanks to it being on display everywhere — from billboards in sporting arenas to messages written in the sky — even unbelievers know the words: “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.” This is the gospel — the good news of salvation — condensed into one sentence.  How does one understand it? Here is an explanation in four more sentences.


The universe is a huge place. There are billions of galaxies, each with trillions of stars and planets. God created it all — quite possibly with a Big Bang — but despite its immensity, he has a fondness for a little planet called the earth with its few billion inhabitants. It is amazing that God cares about us who are like specs of dust in the vastness of the universe. And he cares about us all. “For God so loved the world,” Jesus says. That’s everybody in it.


And he loved it so much, that he sent his only Son Jesus to save it. But save it from what? From eternal damnation. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). This death is a spiritual death, where we damned for all eternity to suffer in hell. Hell is not a place of fire and brimstone, but a separation from God, might actually be worse than being in fire and brimstone. Sin results in that. Now God allowed for a substitutionary sacrifice where an animal could be killed instead of us, but this was a temporary atonement at best. 


A perfect sacrifice was needed, and because there was no human without sin, God sent Jesus down to be that perfect sacrifice. Although divine, he walked upon this earth as a human being like us, lived the perfect life that none of us could live, and then was crucified and died in our place. That’s the part where Jesus says, “God gave his only Son.” On the third day Jesus rose again. 


And as he says in this passage, “everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” All we need to do is believe that this is what Jesus did, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and we will have eternal life. It’s amazingly simple. So, if you are watching this and aren’t saved,  you now know what to do.


“The wages of sin (might be) death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

 


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