July 3, 2011
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
❝What is God like?
The Bible acknowledges the existence of atheists (“The fool has said in his heart ‘there is no God’”), yet it makes it clear that even these atheists know that God exists (“that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”). Even though they try to hide themselves from that reality and pretend it isn’t so, in the moments just before they fall asleep, the question begs an answer: “What is God like?” Satan has always attacked the issue of “what is God like” and he tries to bring into question the very character of God. After the Fall, this is at the root of our hearts: A mistrust of God, and Satan’s lie that God is not good. The question “What is God like?” is at the root of unbelief. The Gospel itself is the message of Christ, the message of the Cross, and the message of the character of God. The reason for the Cross is the underlying foundation of the love of God.
We have seen the object of God’s love (the world) and the action of God’s love (He gave, He sent, He saved) as two facets of God’s love. We come to two more facets: The goal of the love of God and the gift of the love of God.
Why did God give His Son? Our passage tells us that God’s motivation is to bless, benefit, and save. Verse 16 tells us “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” His goal was to save sinners. Even though unbelievers think God is “out to get you”, and create a god (an idol) about whom they say “my god is not like that; he wouldn’t judge and punish people in hell forever.” The God of the Bible will judge and punish the unrepentant forever in hell, because He is just. But, the accent of the New Testament is that the heart of God is to save through His Son. The emphasis is upon God’s mercy and His kindness.
“Only begotten” is not the better English translation for the underlying Greek word, which is best translated as “one and only”, “unique”, “one of a kind.” A similar Hebrew word is used to describe Isaac in Genesis 22, where Abraham is instructed to sacrifice his son. After the Angel of the Lord told Abraham not to harm the boy and God provided a ram for the sacrifice, Abraham named the place “Yahweh will provide.” Isaac is a “type” or “shadow” of the sacrifice that God would make of His Son. That is the gift of God’s love.
What is God like? Look at Calvary.❞
- Pastor Ty Blackburn, excerpted from Amazing Love, Part 3
Additional Resources
A Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness, Part 1
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