God’s Love For The World
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
~ John 3:16-17 NRSV
This is how much God loved the world. He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.
~ John 3:16-17 The Message by Eugene Peterson.
“God so loved the world” – not Christians in particular, or the elect, or the church, but the world. God’s passion is the world…”that he gave his only Son.” This phrase does not refer to Jesus’ death on the cross as substitutionary atonement for sin, but to the incarnation as a whole. God loves the world so much that God incarnate in Jesus became part of it, vulnerable to it, partaking of it…”Everyone who believes in him” – here believing does not mean believing in doctrines about Jesus, but “beloving,” the beloving that is a combination of commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, allegiance to the beloved, and trust in the beloved. The result? That they “may not perish but may have eternal life.” In John’s gospel this does not mean an afterlife, but the life of the age to come which may be experienced by centering in God.
~ Marcus Borg
O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
it fills the heart with ecstasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortals’ sake!
~ Latin, trans. by Benjamin Webb
“God so loved the world… “The familiar words hold a driving passion for this creation, a love at odds with the contempt suggested by too much evangelical apocalyptic. Where that love drives, however, is the urgency: “that whoever believes in him should not perish.” We misunderstand the text if we think it’s only about otherworldly damnation or salvation when we die. Look, people are sinking under the waters…Throw out the lifeline to the drowning. Lift up the cross…Let them know that there is a rescue, that there is life, abiding and abundant life, and that they can lay hold of it.
~ John Stendahl
Lord, save the world; in bitter need
Thy children lift their cry to thee;
We wait thy liberating deed
To signal hope and set us free.
Lord, save thy world; but thou hast sent
The Savior whom we sorely need;
For us his tears and blood were spent,
That from our bonds we might be freed.
~ Albert Frederick Bayly
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
~ Psalm 107:1
These reflections are for use during the week of March 14-20, 2021 and based on the lectionary for March 14.
Joyce D. Sohl
Joyce D. Sohl has been Laywoman-in-Residence since 2009 as a full-time volunteer. She retired as CEO of United Methodist Women in 2004. She is the author of 4 books, a teacher, retreat leader, writer and non-professional musician. Here at the Center her work is in the area of Spirituality & the Arts with such programs as Tuesdays in the Chapel, Vespers & All That Jazz, Poet’s Corner, quarterly retreats, and art exhibits.