Probably the most familiar verse in the Bible is John 3:16. Anyone who has watched sports in the past probably saw John 3:16 displayed in stadiums and many other places. We see it nailed on trees and on signs stuck up on the side of our roadways. This would be a great time to test our self!
We know that two of the rules for extracting correct counsel from the Word of God are:
#5. Who is doing the speaking?
#4. Who is being spoken to?
So who is doing the speaking in John 3:16 and who is being spoken to?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God so loved the world. What a wonderful statement of love found in the Word of God! Surely we all agree on that! Most all believers and many non-believers are able to quote this verse from memory and that is great.
The number one rule for extracting counsel from the Word of God is:
#1. No verse out of context.
Let’s be honest with our self for a minute here. How many of us can quote the verse that precedes John 3:16? Test our self now. With the same honesty, how many of us can quote the verse that follows John 3:16? Test our self now. How did we do on those two? Hopefully yeah and not yikes!
How many of us have given mediation to the total image or passage of the scriptures, from the beginning of the topic to the ending of the topic, in which we find John 3:16 imbedded?
The proper method of meditation is to allow the Spirit of Truth to guide us to the beginning of the topic and also guide us to the end of the topic. Then we should read that whole passage over and over several times in order to load our mind for night and day meditation according to Psalms 1:1-2.
This particular masterpiece or image of scripture is developed by the conservation between Nicodemus and Jesus. John 3:16 is just a stroke of the brush within the masterpiece. In verse 16 Jesus is doing the speaking. Nicodemus is being spoken to. So here is this masterpiece of scripture for us to view from beginning to ending of the masterpiece.
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (Jesus rebuked him for not knowing the scripture)
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (Yikes)!
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light (the light is the life of Jesus), neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds (of the unbeliever) should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Now following the Spirit of Truth, we will see that verse 22 begins with “After these things”. So this starts a new masterpiece being painted with words. Words generate images in our mind!
A few phrases are bolded above for emphasis. Just for the sake of time here, the next image begins in verse 22 and ends in chapter 4 and verse 3. However the same theme has carried on to some degree with conservation with the disciples of John the Baptist, when they showed up. We should take serious note of chapter 3 and verse 36. Jesus is also speaking here.
John 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Yikes!
It is easy to see from these passages that we have been taught a lopsided gospel. We so embrace the great love verse of John 3:16 and certainly we should, Hallelujah! However, there are some “yikes” verses in John chapter 3 and we should not just act like Jesus never proclaimed the other side of the gospel truth.
Let’s meditate again on John 3:16, which are the words that Jesus spoke.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
world is #2889 kosmos (kos'-mos); orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]):
This word “world” refers to the completion of the restoration of the earth as recorded in Genesis. In the end of the sixth day of restoration, when all was perfectly completed, the Lord created man and placed him in the pristine restored orderly arrangement of everything that was good on the earth and gave the dominion of the pristine restored earth into the hands of man’s control. Man’s decisions would be legal and binding on the earth. That was the decision by the Godhead as recorded in Genesis 1:26.
Of course we know that through the sin of Eve and then Adam, the pristine earth was corrupted.
Man gave Satan a legal right to operate on the earth through the dominion of mankind as given to them by God. Also man ended up in a slave to sin or “sin debt” to Satan. Mankind did not have the ability to pay that debt. Man was a slave to sin and death. The wages of sin is death.
This scenario is the reason why God sent His only begotten Son into the world as a man, born of a woman, born under the time of the Law of Moses, to deliver mankind from that Law of sin and “the debt slave position”, in which man and his descendants found them self. Here is the “yikes”! Each man and woman is responsible for making the choice to believe in the name of the only begotten of the Father and accept that deliverance! Mankind also has the right or reject God’s offer. God is not the one making that choice for any man!
Let’s revisit the “yikes” of John chapter three and a bit further.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
condemned is #2919 krino (kree'-no); properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish:
already is #2235 ede (ay'-day); even now:
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
wrath is #3709 orge (or-gay'); properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy,) violent passion (ire, or [justifiable] abhorrence); by implication punishment:
abideth is #3306 meno (men'-o); a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):
Now that is a lot of “yikes” when we discern the Truth of the words of Jesus in John chapter 3.
The Love of God has been extended toward all mankind!!! “Whosoever believes on the son of man shall be saved. However, when any “whosoever” or any person will not chose to believe on the name of the Son of God, only “yikes” remains in place on that “person”, according to the scriptures.
Now let’s progress to the later chapters of the gospel of John. Over half of the gospel of John deals with the last few days of Jesus on the earth. Either after the preparation meal or on the walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a prayer to His Father. This is really the Lord’s Prayer.
We consider John 3:16 to be the love of God displayed toward the world and recorded in the scripture and rightly so. However, in John 17, we hear Jesus pray a prayer to His Father in heaven. There is more love, care, devotion, admiration, glory and tender kindness displayed in this prayer of Jesus, perhaps more than any other place in the scriptures. Amazingly this is just hours before He is taken by the soldiers and led to His crucifixion.
This chapter 17 is worthy of much meditation by Jesus followers! For sake of time, however, we should examine a statement of this prayer of Jesus to the Father concerning those who are to be the beneficiaries from this prayer that Jesus prayed to His Father. It almost seems like a contradiction to John 3:16.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Whoa Nelly! What the Hey? Didn’t John 3:16 say that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that the world might be saved? Let’s look again.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world (#2889 kosmos), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
In John 17, the word “world” is used 19 times and all are #2889 the same as here in John 3:16. If that don’t jerk a knot in our mind, we probably are not thinking. Remember meditation rule
#6. Think when we read.
Jesus proceeds with this prayer to His Father in heaven and He then goes on to include another group of people and it is not the world. Jesus already declared to the Father, I pray not for the world!
John 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Does this seem strange that Jesus would tell Nicodemus that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that the world #2889 through Him might be saved and then later on pray to His Father all these wonderful prayers of oneness and unity of Me in You and You in Me and Us in them etc., but then boldly declare to God the Father in His prayer, “I pray not for the world?”
Jesus was declaring in His prayer to God the Father that the world is excluded from being counted as beneficiary of His prayer here in John 17!!!
Where do we go from here? What is the explanation? Can this be resolved?
Let’s see if we can shuck this down to the cob. The lack of understanding in this simple realm of Truth has given rise to many churchy sayings. These sayings have dampened any serious discussions among believers concerning the Truth. This also keeps leaders from having to dig into Word of Truth, so as to know how to answer such difficult questions.
One prominent Pastor being interviewed by Larry King answered one of Larry’s question with, “At our church we have a “question box” and any question that we don’t know the answer to, we stick it into that box and when we see Jesus we will ask Him to explain to us the answer to that question.” Doesn’t the Word say to be ready to give an answer to every as to what you believe?
Listed below are just a few of the churchy and worldly sayings that cause us to not understand the simple topics of the scriptures.
We are all God’s children.
We are all brothers and sisters in God.
God loves all human beings the same.
God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
We are all part of the family of God.
As long as our heart is right, we are all on the same path to God etc.
These sayings sound good and religious but they do not line up with the scriptures. So why would Jesus pray to His Father and include the disciples who had received the words which Jesus had given them and then totally exclude the world but then go on to include all those who would believe on Jesus through the words, which the disciples would declare unto the people later through the spoken word and the written word?
It is simply because God appointed His only begotten Son, Jesus, to be heir of all things.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Jesus as a faithful Son to the Father has been appointed as the Heir of all things by the Father. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples became born again and become sons of God through the Spirit of Christ. At that point in time the disciples became joint-heirs with Christ and heirs of God. This began the building of the family of God as Jesus had said back in Matt 16:18. They went out of the upper room and preached and 3,000 individuals believed their word and were saved. At this point in time there were approximately 3,120 heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. The rest who heard that day but did not believe, they continued to belong to the fallen world system and remained in their already condemned state and did not become heirs of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Jesus wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding with God the Father but especially with the believers of mankind, that the inheritance, which Jesus has provided to “whosoever” will receive His words and believe on Him, shall not be dealt out to the unbelievers of the world. The “whosoevers,” who will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, are not heirs according to the covenants of promise! Apostle Paul expounds on the prayer of Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: yikes!
13 But now in Christ Jesus (after being saved), you who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ
Well this brings us to the big ole question of SO WHAT? What does all this mean to us at this point in time? Well hang on to your hat!
Much of that which we believers have been taught and accepted as true has clouded our understanding of the inheritance purchased for us by the Lord Jesus. This is especially true in the area of just how exclusive the inheritance of God toward the body of Christ is in scope.
Because of our misunderstanding, we as members of the body of Christ, who have great intentions and great love for people; have wrongly prayed the blessings, inheritance and promises of God to be given to non-family members. We believers, loaded with good intentions, may actually be committing “spiritual treason” by praying the inheritance, which belong to Christ and His body, to be granted to non-family members or unbelievers! Again, Jesus did not pray in that manner! Jesus excluded the world of unbelievers in John 17.
When we pray a blessing of God over the wicked, the workers of iniquity, evildoers, bloody and violent men and the transgressors, whither man or woman, we are aiding and abetting the enemy!
We see, hear and read these types of prayers on a daily basis in the kingdom of heaven as prayed in Christian arenas on the earth today. This is in total contrast to the prayer of the Lord Jesus! Many believers are praying the blessings and inheritance of the family of God to be bestowed upon the unbelievers of the world, which are non-family members in the kingdom of God.
When we continue to examine the instructions of Jesus to the world, we see Jesus describe the exact ministry of the Holy Spirit to the unbelievers or the world. Jesus is preparing his disciples for His departure here.
John 16: Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the world is to reprove the world of sin, singular. That is expounded upon in verse 9. The reproof of the Holy Spirit to the world, or unbelievers, is to convince them that believing on the name of Jesus is the only way to become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
That one sin by our great grandfather Adam caused all his descendants to be in need of a savior. Until they understand that fact and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, they are not eligible to receive any part of the inheritance of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus, we should never pray for God to release His Family inheritance into the hands of the world, or unbelievers.
If we correctly pray for the world, or unbelievers, then we would first pray and bind the spirit of deception and lying spirits that are perverting their mind from seeing the light that they are in need of a savior. Then pray that the Holy Spirit would convince the wicked and all non-believers that they are in the sin debt system, held by Satan to the law of sin and death and they are of the seed of the serpent and are in serious need of a savior.
Then the Holy Spirit will attempt to convince them that the only way that they can be bought out of that slavery is to believe on the Lord Jesus and confess Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus has already paid the utmost price to retrieve them out of the kingdom of darkness and translate them into the kingdom of light. However, each person is responsible for making that decision for them self.
Each person must believe on the name of Jesus in order to have a seed linage change from the first Adam to the last Adam.
Until the unbelievers are convinced of sin, they are condemned already. They remain in the kingdom of darkness and the wrath of God abides on them.
In the church we have some wonderful believers, loving, kind and good friends but we also have some scoundrels. It is the same in the kingdom of darkness. We observe some wonderful unbelievers, loving, kind and good friends but there are also some wicked scoundrels.
In the natural, some unbelievers actually look as good as some believers! Sometimes this is very difficult for our emotions to sort out. This does not change the fact that salvation is not based on the good works of men or even the bad works of men. Salvation is based on whosoever will believe on the name of the son of God and become born again by the spirit.
Every person is faced with the choice to believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that fact with their mouth and be saved and then become heirs according to the promises.
However, they may choose not to believe in their heart and not confess with their mouth Jesus as their savior and then they remain strangers to the covenant of promises, because they are not heirs of God and they are not joint-heirs with Christ.
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus.
Compiled by Jerry Thomas 02/27/2021.
All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted.
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