John 3:16
Recently I ran into the best English translation of the first few words of the old beloved John 3:16. The CSB (Christian Standard Bile – which is the Holman revised) reads as follows: “For God loved the world in this way:” Now, though the rest of the verse in the CSB is fine, it is this portion that really shines. I have for years wondered why this was not translated correctly. Indeed, depending on how you take the word ‘so’ it has been right in the KJV for years. However, our words change meaning over time, mainly losing meaning.
Why does this understanding of the verse make such a difference? I’m glad you asked. In John 3 Jesus is not telling Nicodemus that God loves him. Nicodemus knew that. That would be like telling a schoolteacher what the alphabet is. No, he was telling Nicodemus HOW God loves. This is so very important, and is often missed even today. Over 2000 years later we still often fail to see HOW God loves us. Oh we have lots of people around still who believe that God loves them. In fact many people have stopped believing in God because they thought He didn’t love them. Indeed, many want to boil all of Christianity down to that one thing, love for all. We hear, God loves you, so you should love others. It all sounds so nice, and is seen as quite orthodox. But, does God love us? Is that what the Bible says?
The answer is a resounding yes! He does indeed. In fact John says in his gospels that God IS love. But, HOW does He love us? This is of utmost importance. Jesus, and all He is and has done, and shall ever do, is the manner in which God loves us. In other words, Jesus being sent to us is the expression of God’s love. Have you ever loved someone sincerely only to be snubbed? You wanted to help them, love them, do good for them. But, instead they turned away. This is what happens with God. People want God to love them. But He does it in His way. This is the nature of love. It is only as good as the genuineness of the lover. It is only as precious as the value of the lover. It is only as influential as the faithfulness of the lover.
Sending Christ to save us for all of eternity is the manner in which God has loved us. If we fail to receive that salvation, we fail to receive that love. People don’t go to hell because they are sinners. We die because we are sinners. People don’t go to hell because God wants to send them there. People go to hell because God has opened His arms in love by sending His own Son to pay the price for sin, and they have said ‘no thanks’ and moved on without receiving the free gift.
This moves me on to one other observation. Many throughout Christian history have had a couple of things backwards. We say God is good. And by that many of us mean to say that there is this universal concept of good, and that God is the ultimate manifestation of it. Well that is just backwards. Good doesn’t define God, God defines good. Jesus said it when He said God alone is good. He means that you cannot separate the two. Without God we would have no conception of good because any conception of good without God would be absolutely meaningless. Without Him my good becomes my good and your good becomes your good and never shall they meet again. The definition becomes just as likely bad as bad can become good too if God is left out.
Also, love is the same way. Love does not define God, God defines love. John also explains this to us. He says God IS love. Is love God? No. But without God, love is meaningless. It comes in only as a certain creature seeing the good of others as his own ultimate good, and thus love is as selfish as hate depending on the mood at the moment. But, if God defines love, that is something else again. By Him we can see it and know it and express it as it should be. And in John 3:16 we find expressed to us the highest and greatest of all that love is or ever shall be. That is, HOW God loves us.