A Beautiful Gospel

Sam Stringer

Jan 31, 2025

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse out there, though it does seem that any biblical literacy

whatsoever is sadly fading. Nevertheless, this verse, which many Christians have recited so much that it may have

become nearly cliché to them, is still full of great meaning and depth. We ought not do it the disservice of

mindlessly rehearsing it but instead should take a moment, even today, to dwell on its truths.

God’s love for the world was so great that He gave His only begotten Son. There is nothing more that He could

have done or can do to convince us of His love. If the giving of Jesus Christ is not enough to convince you or me

that God loves us, there’s absolutely nothing that ever will. The most significant indicator of the love of God is the

giving of His Son, not just to the world in His birth, but also in His death. His death is the channel by which any of us

can come to have a justified relationship with God the Father. There is nothing, nothing, nothing else that can

evidence God’s love to us today more than the fact that Jesus Christ came, and died, and rose again on our behalf.

God could have kept the Son from ever coming; He didn’t come simply to be here, but to save. When we begin

doubting God’s love, we must look to the Lord Jesus Christ and remind ourselves that the greatest mark of God’s

love has been established in the incarnate Christ.

Secondly, let’s consider two very small words in this passage full of power and beauty, and the word I am referring

to is “that.” God so loved the world that He did something. Now, I have already spoken into what He did in giving

His Son as a sign of His love, but also consider this concept linked to the Greek words. The first “that” is here

referring to result, it’s what we call a hina conjunction. If you’re old enough, you might remember, “Conjunction

junction, what’s your function?” Alright, now snap out of that 70’s and 80’s kid’s show funk. The result of God’s love

is that He gave His only begotten Son; this is, in a sense, what His love produced. The eternal Son of God came

and took on flesh and lived amongst humanity, being fully God and fully human, and died on the cross. The result of

the Father’s love was the giving of the His Son Jesus Christ to the world.

The other hina conjunction here forms the latter part of the sentence, “that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life.” This “that” conjunction refers to the purpose of the giving of the Son, the “why” of

why He came. God’s love is best shown in His Son, whom He sent, but He didn’t send Him for an undisclosed

purpose. No, Christ came for the sake of saving any and all who would place their faith upon Him in order that they

would not perish but have life forevermore. Perish means that we all by nature were heading to Hell, and life means

that we are promised a blessed existence in Heaven with God not for a day or a season, but forever.

John 3:16 is a beautiful verse, but not just for us. It’s also a message of hope that we ought to be well-acquainted

with to offer to others because whether people accept Him or reject Him, the truth of His coming and the beauty of

God the Father’s love are seen in the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. How often we are given to sorrowing

over lesser desires when we have the greatest need taken care of if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior?

We must preach the Gospel to our hearts daily, not just at the beginning of our faith. The Christian walk can never

go beyond the core of our beliefs: Jesus Christ came and died and rose again to offer us life by placing our faith in

His redemptive, wrath-removing work on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Be braver than lions.

Sam Stringer

A Beautiful Gospel

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse out there, though it does seem that any biblical literacy

whatsoever is sadly fading. Nevertheless, this verse, which many Christians have recited so much that it may have

become nearly cliché to them, is still full of great meaning and depth. We ought not do it the disservice of

mindlessly rehearsing it but instead should take a moment, even today, to dwell on its truths.

God’s love for the world was so great that He gave His only begotten Son. There is nothing more that He could

have done or can do to convince us of His love. If the giving of Jesus Christ is not enough to convince you or me

that God loves us, there’s absolutely nothing that ever will. The most significant indicator of the love of God is the

giving of His Son, not just to the world in His birth, but also in His death. His death is the channel by which any of us

can come to have a justified relationship with God the Father. There is nothing, nothing, nothing else that can

evidence God’s love to us today more than the fact that Jesus Christ came, and died, and rose again on our behalf.

God could have kept the Son from ever coming; He didn’t come simply to be here, but to save. When we begin

doubting God’s love, we must look to the Lord Jesus Christ and remind ourselves that the greatest mark of God’s

love has been established in the incarnate Christ.

Secondly, let’s consider two very small words in this passage full of power and beauty, and the word I am referring

to is “that.” God so loved the world that He did something. Now, I have already spoken into what He did in giving

His Son as a sign of His love, but also consider this concept linked to the Greek words. The first “that” is here

referring to result, it’s what we call a hina conjunction. If you’re old enough, you might remember, “Conjunction

junction, what’s your function?” Alright, now snap out of that 70’s and 80’s kid’s show funk. The result of God’s love

is that He gave His only begotten Son; this is, in a sense, what His love produced. The eternal Son of God came

and took on flesh and lived amongst humanity, being fully God and fully human, and died on the cross. The result of

the Father’s love was the giving of the His Son Jesus Christ to the world.

The other hina conjunction here forms the latter part of the sentence, “that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life.” This “that” conjunction refers to the purpose of the giving of the Son, the “why” of

why He came. God’s love is best shown in His Son, whom He sent, but He didn’t send Him for an undisclosed

purpose. No, Christ came for the sake of saving any and all who would place their faith upon Him in order that they

would not perish but have life forevermore. Perish means that we all by nature were heading to Hell, and life means

that we are promised a blessed existence in Heaven with God not for a day or a season, but forever.

John 3:16 is a beautiful verse, but not just for us. It’s also a message of hope that we ought to be well-acquainted

with to offer to others because whether people accept Him or reject Him, the truth of His coming and the beauty of

God the Father’s love are seen in the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. How often we are given to sorrowing

over lesser desires when we have the greatest need taken care of if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior?

We must preach the Gospel to our hearts daily, not just at the beginning of our faith. The Christian walk can never

go beyond the core of our beliefs: Jesus Christ came and died and rose again to offer us life by placing our faith in

His redemptive, wrath-removing work on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Be braver than lions.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.