John, the beloved disciple, introduced his book with a serious and deep revelation of the deity of Christ. He announces that God’s Word is God, is eternal, and nothing was made without Him. In John 1:18, he points out that Christ is unique because He is the only Man who had seen the Father and had come to declare Him. Jesus is the only credible source of information on God because no angel knows God better than Him. Indeed, it is impossible for any prophet to know God than Jesus knows – because you can’t know the Omniscient than He knows Himself. No man knew God until Jesus revealed Him.
Jesus then declares in John 3:16, speaking about His Father’s relationship with the world. He says,
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
The emphasis of Jesus’ statement wasn’t that God loved the world. It was that He SO loved it. He wasn’t saying God loves the world. He was stating how magnificent, how large, how deep and high God’s love for the world is. His statement was not one of casual fact but serious emphasis. God loved the world so much that He gave us His Son to die and save it. And truly, who could we trust on that except the only begotten Son who is in His bosom.
The world for “so” in the original (Greek) is “houto” which expresses manner and not degree. He’s talking about the manner or kind of love God has for the world. However, because love is a flame (Song 8:7), its manner cannot be described in colours or size but in degrees or temperature. This means the degree of love you have for a person is shown in the manner of expression.
There are degrees and levels, kinds and manners of love. Jesus said, “GREATER love has no man….” It means that love is in levels. One love can be greater than the other. In 1 John 3:1, we read, “Behold what MANNER of love….” There are manners of love then. In 2 Samuel 1:26, David compared he and Jonathan’s love to the love of a man for a woman. This suggests that such love as “relationship”, “dating” or “courtship” and marriage are one of the highest of human loves. I say this because David wanted to explain how deep he and Jonathan loved each other; and he used the “courtship-marriage” kind of love. Praise the Lord!
“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, SURPASSING THE LOVE OF WOMEN.” (2 Sam. 1:26, ESV)
When you propose to someone or accept a proposal, you are committing yourself to a manner and level of love. After saying “I love you”, it’s now time to express how much. Love is in levels and degrees. In the first part of John 3:16, we like to delve into how to love so. God so loved. We are not called to a lackadaisical love, but a serious passionate heartfelt love.
“Hereby perceive we the love of God , because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16)
Watch out for Part One (1)
John 3:16
#pds