GraceLife Thoughts: Love and Wrath (Part 2)

Grace Thoughts

GraceLife Thoughts: Love and Wrath (Part 2)

The most popular Bible verse in the world is John 3:16 –

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.

Just 25 words in English and 26 in Greek –

ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

John 3:16 is in the last part of a discussion Jesus Christ had with a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. They probably spoke together in either Hebrew or Aramaic, which may have looked like this –

כִּי כֹּה אָהַב אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָעוֹלָם עַד כִּי נָתַן אֶת בְּנוֹ יְחִידוֹ לְמַעַן לֹא יֹאבַד כָּל הַמַּאֲמִין בּוֹ, אֶלָּא יִנְחַל חַיֵּי עוֹלָם. יוחנן 3:16

ܗܟܢܐ ܓܝܪ ܐܚܒ ܐܠܗܐ ܠܥܠܡܐ ܐܝܟܢܐ ܕܠܒܪܗ ܝܚܝܕܝܐ ܢܬܠ ܕܟܠ ܡܢ ܕܡܗܝܡܢ ܒܗ ܠܐ ܢܐܒܕ ܐܠܐ ܢܗܘܘܢ ܠܗ ܚܝܐ ܕܠܥܠܡ (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic)

Perish or Live

I’d like to focus for a few moments on two words that Jesus used in John 3:16 –

perish
everlasting life

Jesus said that God “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We see in the same statement that God “loved the world,” but sent His One and Only Son from Heaven to earth on a rescue mission. Why? Because people on earth would perish if Jesus did not come. The word ‘perish’ is ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi)and means ‘to destroy, destroy utterly.’ The word carries the idea of ‘permanent, absolute’ destruction. If Jesus had not come, everyone would have died and ‘perished’ forever.

On the other side we have the promise of ‘everlasting life’ for anyone who ‘ believes in Him.’ The word ‘believes’ is πιστεύω (pisteuó) and carries the idea of ‘trust’ based on ‘persuasion.’ People who were persuaded to trust in Jesus had the promise from Jesus that they would have ‘everlasting life.’ ζωή αἰώνιος (zóé aiónios), means ‘life eternal.’ Eternal life, everlasting life, is quite the opposite to ‘permanent, absolute destruction.’

Why would Jesus say those words to a ruler of the Jews? Simple. That’s not how Jews viewed their relationship with God. They believed they were God’s ‘chosen people’ and would be ‘raised up on the final day’ because of that relationship. We see this in many of the dialogues that Jesus had with Jews of His time. John 8:31-59 is one example.

Christians and John 3:16 Today

I say this with great sorrow in my heart. Many Christians today do not understand the meaning of the world’s favorite Bible verse. They believe in a God of love, but not in a God of judgment. Many young Christians believe it is wrong to tell people from other worldviews (religious and non-religious) that they must believe in Jesus Christ to escape God’s wrath. Yet, we cannot escape the clear words of Jesus to Nicodemus – “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Another way of saying that is – “whoever does not believe in Him will perish and not have everlasting life.” Is that the message Jesus shared with Nicodemus? It is not.

‘Well,’ you may say, ‘John 3:16 is just one verse out of many. Certainly Jesus didn’t speak of God’s wrath when He spoke with Nicodemus. Jesus spoke of God’s love.’ Yes, Jesus did speak of God’s love for the world. However, He spoke of God’s love for the world in the context of God’s wrath upon the world. More about that in Part Three.