““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭

We have heard John 3:16 so much we can take it for granted. I know I have. But God so loved the world. He so loved you and I that He sent Jesus to die for us. No longer are the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament required. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. He is our perfect lamb. Our rescuer. Forever.

For God so loved the world…

We’ve come a long way from Genesis and the flood, where God repented for even creating mankind. 

For God so love the world that he sent his only son…

I really can’t imagine sending my son out knowing the brutality that he was going to endure. Even if I knew in the end that he was going to be fine, I just can’t fathom putting him through that sort of torture.

Jesus knew he was going to have victory over the cross, but he was still asking God to make another way if there was one. “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.””Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭39‬ ‭

For God so loved the world.

If we think of this verse in light of all that Jesus endured. The abandonment, mockery, and absolute torture that he endured, it is so powerful. Jesus so loved you that he was obedient to God’s will, even unto death.

Here is the Passion Translation’s version of John 3:16-17.

“For here is the way God loved the world—he gave his only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life. “God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!”

This is the Easter story. A loving God sending his perfect Son into a corrupt world, not to point his finger at us, but to rescue us.