Some of the Most Popular Verses in the Bible Day 10, #1: John 3:16
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)
God’s plan for human beings
In eternity past, God created angel beings. Over time, the strongest one (Lucifer) got jealous of God’s power and authority. He rebelled against God and our Heavenly Father threw Lucifer and his rebellious fellow angels (about a third of the angels) out of heaven.
After God created the earth, God decided to create a second kind of being (human beings) after His own image (intellect, a conscience, and a will). Satan became jealous of God’s second creation of beings (human beings) and decided to tempt them to see if they would also rebel against God. Thus, the scene in the Garden of Eden with the temptation and disobedience of both Adam and Eve (Genesis 3).
God punished Adam and Eve and threw them out of the Garden of Eden. God now had 2 classes of created beings (angels and humans) and both were thrown out of their original dwelling place (heaven and Garden of Eden, respectively). God chose compassion for human beings and provided a redemptive plan for them. He chose not to provide a redemptive plan for angel beings. This made Lucifer and his fellow fallen angels angry.
Many years later, God chose a man named Abraham to initiate His redemptive plan through his lineage. God promised to make Abraham a father of a great people and said that Abraham and his descendants must obey God. In return, God would guide them and protect them and give them the land of Israel (Genesis 12 – 17). The ultimate purpose of this was to provide a redemptive plan for His fallen created human beings.
Eventually, God chose Moses to be the scribe to write down the Law of instructions for how the chosen people were to obey God. It provided rules for obeying God and provisions for covering up their sin if they disobeyed their instructions within the Law. The provisions for correction and covering up their sin always involved the sacrificing and shedding of animal blood as a substitute for punishment of their sin. The purpose of the Law was to reveal the sin in our lives and the constant atonement needed to cover our sins through the shedding of blood. This was showing a picture to the Israelites of the future sacrifice and shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ for all of our sins when He died on the cross.
God kept His promise of redemption by making a covenant with David. The future king of Israel and Messiah (Jesus) would come from the family line of David. Matthew Chapter 1 lists the family line of Jesus going back to David through David’s son Solomon. As a point of interest, Luke Chapter 3 lists the family line of Jesus going back to David through David’s son Nathan. Why the discrepancy? Matthew 1 is the genealogy of Jesus Christ through His earthly father (Joseph) and Luke 3 is the genealogy of Jesus Christ through His earthly mother (Mary). Yes, Jesus Christ is of the lineage of David through both Joseph and Mary but through 2 different sons of David. Only God could make that happen.
When Jesus went to the cross and shed his blood for our sins, He satisfied forever the payment for all of our sins. This gift of grace (God giving us something that we don’t deserve) eliminated the requirements of the Old Testament Law of shedding animal blood to cover our sin. The Law has been satisfied for those who receive Christ as their personal Savior. He is the propitiation of our sin payment (God is satisfied with our blood sacrifice payment through Jesus Christ).
This brings us back to the #1 most popular verse in the Bible: John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God has been satisfied by Christ’s blood as the payment of sin. But we have an offer that is given to us. The offer is: Will you accept Christ’s blood for the payment of your sins? If not, ask God to forgive you of your sins. Receive Christ’s blood sacrifice as the payment of your sins. Receive Christ as your personal Savior. Read the end of the verse again! If do this, you will not perish but have eternal life. If you just did this, congratulations! You are now in the family of God and sealed in His family forever!
Blessings from Carlton Ringer