Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

There is so much that the Bible has to say about the love of God that I doubt anyone has ever come close to fully comprehending it.

So we will simply begin with a quote by A.W. Tozer:

“I can no more do justice to this awesome and wonder-filled topic than a child can grasp a star. Still, by reaching toward the star the child may call attention to it and even indicate the direction one must look to see it. and so, I stretch my heart toward the high, shining love of God so that we may be encouraged to look up and have hope.”

John 3:16 (NKJV) 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.

It is only one sentence. Yet that one sentence is packed with so much truth that we literally will not have time to fully unpack its contents this morning.

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world...

The Greek word for world (kosmos) is defined as “the world system, the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ.”

• This is the world that God loved.
• It doesn’t say that God loved all the good guys.
• It doesn’t say that God only loved the Jews.
• It doesn’t say that God only loves all the saints.
• It says, “For God so loved the world.”

Max Lucado writes in his book "The 3:16 Promise"...

“Mark it down: God loves you with an unearthy love. You can’t win it by being winsome. You can’t lose it by being a loser. God will not let you go. He has handcuffed Himself to you in love and he owns the only key. You need not win His love—you already have it! And, since you can’t win it, you can’t lose it. Others demote you—God claims you. Let the definitive voice of the universe say, ‘You’re still a part of my plan.’”

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave...

How did God love us? Sacrificially! He loved us by giving, by serving, by sacrificing.

So here we learn something important about the nature of true love. Some people think they love others because of what those people do for them or how they make them feel. But God shows us that true love has nothing to do with what you can do for me, but everything to do with what I can do for you.

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only...

Not only was He willing to give, but we see here that He was willing to give the only one He had. When you give to someone out of your abundance that is one thing, but when you give out of your poverty that is quite another.

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...

God’s love is not merely some abstract concept. God’s love was made manifest in this world through the person of Jesus Christ the only Son of the Father. Jesus Christ came into this world to reveal to us the love of God in human form.

Max Lucado writes: There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to Himself, to appease His justice, to demonstrate His sovereignty. But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because He is fond of you. He likes having you around. He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while.

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you! 

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him...

The really good news about God’s love is that it is not limited to a select few. It is not available only to those who were born with right color of skin or on the correct continent. Nor is it difficult to obtain. It is not reserved for only the intellectual elite or the power brokers or financial wizards. No, the love of God is accessible to “whoever believes in” Jesus – the only Son of God.

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish...

God’s goal in sending his Son from heaven to earth was not to condemn, not to show you how bad you are, how unworthy you are, or how hopeless you are. God’s only desire in sending his Son was to show you His love, and draw you into a love relationship with Himself.

John 3:16 (NKJV) 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.

As a result of God’s love, each of us can have an eternal life.