Jesus, the Son of God

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should

not perish but have eternal life.

John 3.16 has been described as the gospel in a nutshell, and rightly so because it succinctly

summarizes the core claim of Christianity.

And for that reason, it's perhaps the most frequently cited Bible verse ever.

And you see it referenced a lot in our culture.

I remember when Tim Tebow was a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback with the Florida Gators.

In 2009, he had John 3.16 on his eye black.

If you guys are from California or around the area, you guys know the In-N-Out Prince John

3.16 reference on their soda cups.

Or Forever 21, their bags has John 3.16 on there as well.

So due to this widespread usage, even many people who have never opened the Bible for themselves

have at least a passing familiarity with John 3.16.

But this passing familiarity actually presents a danger because it can make us gloss over it,

assume that we know it.

And this is not a small danger because as J. Max Stiles, who's a missionary and an author,

writes in his book, Marks of the Messenger, losing the gospel doesn't happen all at once,

but it happens in what is usually a four-step process.

First, the gospel is accepted.

Second, the gospel is assumed.

And then third, the gospel is confused.

And then fourth, the gospel is lost.

We are in a historical and cultural moment in the U.S.

where the gospel is certainly assumed and confused and in many places even lost.

And so it's, and because, and even for believers and for Christians, we can take this truth easily for granted.

For God still loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Well, of course, God loves the world, we think, right?

Well, of course, God gave his son.

Of course, whoever believes in him will be saved.

But these truths are not obvious, right?

As I'm going to demonstrate to you.

And I'm going to use this morning John 3, 16 as the outline for this entire passage to talk about God's reason, his action, and his purpose.

The reason, the action, and the purpose.

And the three things namely are the reason for his action is that God so loved the world.

For God so loved the world.

That's his reason.

His action is that he gave his only son.

And his purpose is this, that whoever believes should not perish but have eternal life.

Whoever believes in him.

So that's going to be the outline that I'll follow.

So first, let's talk about the reason.

For God so loved the world.

The way the sentence is structured, it intentionally highlights the intensity of God's love.

So if you were to translate that a little bit more literally to bring the force of that structure out,

you might say something like,

God loved the world in such a way that he indeed gave his only son.

That's kind of what it says.

God loved the world in such a way that he indeed gave his only son.

But this love is often assumed and confused in our culture.

And we think that this is obvious and not remarkable.

But of course, God loves the world.

We say the world is so big and full of many people.

How can he not love the world?

In fact, even I love the world.

In fact, I think most people in the world love the world.

Right?

So what do you mean?

Why is it remarkable that God loves the world?

But the word love frequently rolls off our tongues,

not because people think highly of love,

but because people think lightly of love.

And we see this very, I mean,

pervasively in popular bumper stickers that you see when cars are driving around.

Right?

For example, one bumper sticker says,

Make love, not war.

And you guys have, I'm sure, seen that.

Right?

As if a simple commitment to love will erase all, you know,

occasions for conflict in the world.

Right?

Or another one says, Believe in love.

And the letters of that phrase, believe in love,

are spelled with symbols of the world's various religions and philosophies.

As if there's no significant or real theological differences.

And all those things should be set aside and simply uphold and to love one another.

And when we hold these cultural assumptions,

the statement, God so loved the world, doesn't amaze us.

Because we think the world is a wonderful place.

We think that it's just grumps and warmongers and religious extremists that don't love the world.

Other reasonable and high-minded folks all love the world.

So why is it remarkable at all that God loves the world?

But if we think this way, then our estimation of the world is too high.

And our understanding of God's love is naive and simplistic.

Just think about the headlines of newspapers this week.

There are people who perpetrate heinous crimes in this world.

There are narcissistic and seemingly psychopathic dictators and terrorists who oppress people.

And to go up to these people who are suffering at the hands of these people,

who face moral threats from these people and tell them,

make love, not war.

I mean, that's hippie nonsense, right?

Likewise, telling all sincere adherents of world religions

that they just need to set aside their genuine theological differences

and simply come together and try to love each other

as if there's no substantial disagreements among them

and about the most important things in life,

as if their disagreements don't affect the way they ought to love.

That's arrogant and hypocritical.

It's really the slogan, believe in love,

understood in that sense is not much more than make believe.

But the Bible's assessment of this world,

on the other hand, is not naive and simplistic.

It's honest and realistic.

Because God's love is not a vague sentimentality,

but it's a raw and real love.

And you see this throughout the context of John

because the word love occurs very frequently in the Gospel of John.

He's known as the Apostle of Love.

But apart from John 3.16,

the world is never the object of God's love.

It's never the object of love, period, in the Gospel of John.

In numerous places, John talks about how God the Father loves God the Son.

In numerous places, he talks about how Christians ought to love God.

In a lot of places, he talks about how Christians ought to love one another

and about how God loves his people, his believers.

But in stark contrast, the world and those who belong to it

are described in the Gospel of John consistently as those devoid of love,

those lacking love.

For example, chapter 5.42,

Jesus accuses unbelieving Jews, saying,

I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

In 8.42, Jesus argues that they don't love him

because they do not belong to the Father but to the devil.

And in our present passage, in verse 19, it says,

The light has come into the world,

and people love the darkness rather than the light

because their works were evil.

The world, in John's understanding,

is a dark and evil place.

The world is...

That's why in the epistle of John, in 1 John,

that is written by the same author, chapter 2.15-16,

he tells believers,

Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

I mean, that's this.

And so if you look at that context of all of John's writings,

consistently the world is never the object.

If you know that, then you know this is remarkable.

You know that this is atypical.

The fact that God is telling us,

teaching us that God loves the world.

And of course, there's no contradiction here

between God loving the world

and then commanding us not to love the world

because the love that God forbids

is a fawning love that participates in sin

opposed to God's love,

which is a redeeming love

that rescues people from sin.

So that's two different things.

So there's no contradiction there.

And we are to love the world in the same way

God loves the world as well.

But how can it be that the holy God

loves the sinful world?

The focus of the statement is not

how big and beautiful the world is,

how deserving of God's love the world is,

oh, God so loved the world.

No, but the focus of the sentence is on God's love,

how radical and unpredictable,

surprising even it is,

that God loves the world.

And if we honestly examine ourselves

and our history,

I think we would all admit this

because 5,000 years of recorded human history

have borne out the reality

that we are sinful people,

that we live in a broken world.

As a theologian,

Raynald Niebuhr was fond of saying,

he said that men are sinful

is one of the best attested

and empirically verified facts

of human existence.

Yet God loves this world.

The very world that stands under his wrath.

And that's the magnanimity of God.

That's the graciousness of God.

That's the immeasurable depth

and extent of God's love

that even this world is its object.

And this love is the reason

for his saving action.

He loved us first.

His love is prior to his saving action.

It's not as though we have to meet

a certain set of criteria.

We have to clean ourselves up a little bit

before God starts to love us.

No, God loves us first.

He loves the world.

This sinful world.

The world that tears itself apart

and daily defies him.

He loves this world.

As verse 17 elaborates,

For God did not send his son into the world

to condemn the world,

but in order that the world

might be saved through him.

If you're a believer with us this morning,

do we understand that Christ's mission

was a rescue operation?

Right?

Our job is not to point the finger

at the sinful world in judgment,

in prideful judgment,

but rather to point our finger toward Christ.

Say that that's where your redemption lies.

That's where your rescue from sin lies.

We expose the darkness of this world

with the light of Christ,

not to judge and to condemn,

but to save in the way that Christ came to save.

And we have to remember

that we all also have been saved

out of this world.

We all once belonged to this world.

But God so loved the world.

This is a marvelous truth.

It's not obvious.

It's something that we can't gloss over.

But then how can we be sure

that God does in fact love the world?

We can be certain of God's love

because God gave his only son

in order to save the world.

This is God's action.

Right?

This is what he did.

He gave his only son.

God so loved the world

that he gave his only son.

Right?

The phrase only son

stresses the greatness of the gift.

And I've been,

as some of you guys know,

as part of launching a church plant,

at the beginning of the life of the church plant,

you don't have as many people giving towards it.

So you need to fundraise from external sources.

And as I've been doing that,

there's been few people

who have been giving really faithfully

even though they don't have much to give.

And that's really meaningful

because they haven't given sparingly

out of their access,

but they have given sacrificially

out of their own need.

And that's more meaningful a gift.

Right?

Because they're giving in that way.

And they're not giving

what is expendable to them,

but what is precious to them

in order to support this ministry and mission.

So in a similar way,

the word son,

the only son,

conveys that kind of preciousness of Christ.

Someone that God cannot spare.

Right?

And only son also implies

a unique irreplaceable relationship.

It's almost like a unique son.

For example,

in the Old Testament,

in the Greek translation

of the Old Testament,

Isaac,

Abraham's son Isaac,

is referred to as an only son.

Which, of course,

literally is not true

because Abraham had another son

named Ishmael.

But Ishmael was a son

of his wife's servant,

Hagar.

And Sarah was so desperate

for any kind of offspring,

she gave her servant,

Hagar,

to Abraham

and they had a son

named Ishmael.

But Isaac

was the son

that God gave him

in his old age

through his own wife,

Sarah.

And so in Genesis 22-2,

Isaac is called

Abraham's only son.

And it says that Abraham

loved him

in a special way.

He was the apple of his eye.

The same language

is used to describe

God's only son,

Jesus Christ.

Right?

Of course,

he's the father

of all creation.

In that sense,

he's all of our father.

Right?

But Jesus is unique

because he actually shares

the nature of the father.

Right?

As Colossians says,

it's in chapter 1,

he's the firstborn

of all creation

but not a part of creation

for by Jesus,

by him,

all things were created.

He's the image

of the invisible God.

The fullness of God

dwells in Christ.

In Philippians 2-6,

that he is in the very form

of God.

Right?

And the early Christians

described this unique relationship

between God the Father

and God the Son

by using the word begotten.

Right?

And so some of you guys

who have memorized

John 3-16

in older translations

may remember that,

for example,

KJV,

the old NIV,

as well as NASB,

they all say,

God so loved the world

that he gave

his only begotten son.

Right?

And this idea of begotten

highlights this unique relationship

because to beget something

is to become

the father of something.

Right?

Which is different

from creating something

or making something.

Right?

Because what you beget

shares your own nature

while what you make

does not share

your own nature.

Right?

So humans beget humans.

Right?

Dogs beget dogs.

Right?

But humans,

right,

we,

but making things

is different.

So civil engineers

can make bridges.

Right?

Chefs make pumpkin pies.

Right?

Artists make

very realistic looking statues

of notable figures

and they could even draw

really realistic

self-portraits

of themselves

but they're still not people.

They're not humans.

Right?

It's because they're created.

They're made.

But Jesus is not made.

He's a begotten son.

He's,

and that highlights

his uniqueness

and because he's begotten

of the father,

he's of the father.

He shares the same nature

as the father

and he's God.

He's a son of God

unlike us

who are created.

We're creatures.

We're made by him.

We are not God.

Right?

So then in all of history,

indeed all eternity,

there has ever only been

one begotten son

and that's Jesus Christ.

He's God's only son,

a unique son,

a beloved son,

a precious son,

a perfect son,

an irreplaceable son

and God gave him

for us.

Mere creatures,

mean,

despicable,

profane,

selfish,

arrogant,

greedy creatures

at that.

Do you feel that disparity?

There never was there

in history

a more unequal exchange.

I think about this sometimes

and my daughter

is only two years old

and the day is far out

but sometimes I think

about the day

when she will get married

and giving her away

to another man,

however exceptional he is

and he would have to be

quite exceptional,

and that's going

to be very difficult.

I think that might be

one of the most difficult

things I do for her,

right?

I mean,

because this little daddy's girl

will from that point on

will belong to him

and be his helper

and her well-being

will depend largely

on that relationship,

right?

That's painful,

that's difficult

but then can you imagine

then this,

if that's after,

you know,

it's only been two years

but imagine that'd be

difficult after 20 years

but if that's difficult,

can you imagine

the difficulty

of the heavenly father

who has had an eternal,

unbroken fellowship

with his son,

a perfect union

and communion

and you might as well

tear his heart out,

right,

to have him do that

and not to enjoy

a good,

you know,

marriageable partner

either,

right?

He comes to die,

right?

He comes to die

a sinner's death

to bear the judgment

wrath of the father,

to be separated

and alienated from him

so that he can redeem

a sinful,

broken people

as a bride

for himself.

Yet God the father

knowing this fully

sends his only son

into the world.

He gave

his only son.

As Romans 8.32

says,

he who did not spare

his own son

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not also

with him graciously

give us all things?

Do you ever doubt

the father's love

for you?

Do you ever,

because of your struggles

and sufferings

in your life,

do they cast doubt

on God's good will

toward you?

If that's the case,

look at the price

he paid for you.

Look at the gift

he sent to you

and look at the lengths

he went to save you.

Look at the only son

he gave for you.

And what was the purpose?

So that was the reason

and that was God's action.

He gave his only son.

What was the purpose

for which God

gave his only son?

That's in the last part

of John 3.16

that whoever believes

in him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

God's purpose

is to save those

who are perishing

and bring them

to eternal life.

The world is a perishing place

and either we will be saved

by God

or we will perish

without him.

There's no third option.

Life is found in God

and therefore

in order to have life

we must come to him

and when we depart from him

when we're separated from him

the inevitable consequence

is that we perish

without him.

If you want the warmth

and the light

of the fire

you must draw near to it

and when you leave it

you experience

cold and darkness.

God is the consuming fire

and the light of glory

and to be with him

is to have eternal life

and to be separated from him

is to perish.

So if you do not yet

have a relationship

with Jesus Christ

if you do not

if you have not yet

entrusted your life

to Jesus

then I want to ask you

do you know

that you are perishing?

The world is perishing

and there is no exception

because it is under

God's judgment.

Yet there is hope

right

for you

in verse 16

it says

for God so loved

the world

that he gave

his only son

that whoever

believes in him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

Whoever believes in him

shall not perish

but have eternal life.

You see

this is a radical concept

because the Jews

in Jesus' day

at the time

this was written

right

they were familiar

with the idea

that God loved Israel.

They believed that

and heartily

agreed with that statement

God loves Israel

but there is no

extant writing

in all of Jewish literature

from this time

none of it

there is nowhere

does it say

that God loves the world

right

this was a crazy idea

that God loves

the world

this sinful world

and then promised

to save whoever believes

that is a distinctively

Christian idea

that God loves

and embraces

all people

right

and this is

you can really see this

borne out

throughout history

during my studies

at Gordon Commonwealth

Theological Seminary

I worked at the Center

for the Study of Global Christianity

which is a leading research

institution

on the world religions

and it chronicles

the shifts

in the gravitational center

of Christianity

over the history

of the church

and what it shows

is that

around 30 AD

predictably

the center of gravity

of Christianity

was in Jerusalem

right

that's where it began

but then by

you know

1000 AD

it had shifted north

to Constantinople

which is now

Istanbul

right

and then

by 1500 AD

it had shifted

further north

and west

to what is now

Budapest, Hungary

and Vienna, Austria

and then by 1900

it had shifted

further west

largely due to the rise

of the US

and the gravitational center

of Christianity

at that point

was Spain

Madrid, Spain

and then since then

it has been shifting

further south

and further east

and now it's in

Niger, Africa

and it's expected

to continue to shift

southeast

over the next 50 years

into Nigeria

right

so isn't that pretty

I mean that's pretty amazing

it's gone from

right

Middle East

to Eastern Europe

to Western Europe

to close to

the US area

Europe

and then now

to South America

and to South Africa

it's been all over

the different continents

and just 100 years ago

the countries with

the largest population

of Christians

were US

Russia

Germany

France

and Britain

in that order

but today

it is US

Brazil

Russia

China

and Mexico

the five largest

populations of Christians

in other words

Christianity has flourished

everywhere

and in stark contrast

if you look at

all the other

major world religions

the center of gravity

has never shifted

you look at Islam

the center of gravity

is now in the Middle East

and has always been

in the Middle East

if you look at Hinduism

the center of gravity

is now in Asia

it has always been

in Asia

if you look at

Buddhism

the center of gravity

it's now in Asia

and it has always been Asia

the ability to affect

and embrace

all peoples

and cultures

distinguishes Christianity

from all the other

religions in the world

all the other major

religions in the world

and that's because

the essential characteristics

of these other world religions

are encrusted

they're kind of confined

to their original

geographic

and cultural location

so for example

if you look at Islam

they said the Quran

can never be translated

because God spoke

originally in Arabic

so if it's translated

then it's no longer

no longer sacred

it's no longer

has that

has the power

right

unlike

our faith

in Christianity

where actually

the scriptures are written

originally written

in a language

other than the language

of our founder

right

and it's been translated

to hundreds and hundreds

of languages

to great effect

right

the history of Christianity

has been a series of advances

and retreats

in so many different cultures

and contexts

that you can rightly say

that there's no such thing

as a particular Christian culture

or a particular Christian civilization

because we've already had

multiple Christian cultures

and multiple Christian civilizations

and what is the reason for that

is that from the beginning

Christians

beckoned the whole world

to come

and believe

because our God

is a God

for all people

and because the gospel

of Jesus Christ

is a good news

for all people

and because we have said

whoever would believe

whoever believes

may now come

and have eternal life

and that's the reason

why you and I

can be here this morning

to worship

black and white

richer and poorer

more highly educated

less educated

all of us

God saved

because he promised

whoever believes

in him

should not perish

but have eternal life

but if that's true

and whoever believes

is saved

the converse

also must be true

that whoever does not believe

is not saved

right

and verse 18

makes this explicit

read with me

whoever believes

in him

is not condemned

but whoever does not believe

faith is condemned

already

because he has not

believed in the name

of the only son

of God

faith

is a necessary

condition

for inheriting

eternal life

Jesus is the light

that has come

into the dark world

and we need to respond

by walking

into that light

right

in a campground

right

without electricity

fire is a source

of life

right

on the fire

you boil the water

to make sure

that it's clean

to drink

right

at night

when you can't see

you gather by the fire

so you can see

when it starts to get cold

you gather by the fire

for the warmth

and you cook the food

in the fire

right

that's your source

of life

the fire has come

the light

has come into the world

yet you must approach it

what good is it

if you stay out

in the dark

dank

you know

forest

and therefore

the fire doesn't

do you any good

and C.S. Lewis

writes about this

in his book

The Great Divorce

he says

there are only two kinds

of people in the end

those who say to God

your will be done

and those to whom

God says in the end

your will be done

all that are in hell

choose it

without that self choice

there could be no hell

now without denying

the sovereignty

and providence

of God

in salvation

the Bible

unequivocally affirms

human responsibility

whoever believes

in him

is not condemned

but whoever does not

believe

is condemned already

because

he has not believed

the name

of the only son

of God

unbelief

is a human

responsibility

I once heard

a story

about some

group of college

students

art students

who went

to the Louvre

in Paris

to look at some art

they had a professor

leading them

and they were examining

a famous masterpiece

I don't know

which one it was

exactly

maybe it was a Rembrandt

or a Da Vinci

they're looking at it

and one particularly

immature

and arrogant student

started ranting

and criticizing

the drawing

and the professor

that was leading

the group

grew impatient

and rebuked

the student

she said

this is an

undisputed

masterpiece

by one of the

greatest masters

in history

the artistic

superiority

of this painting

was established

400 years ago

and is no longer

open to judgment

it is not the painting

but your taste

that is open

to judgment

and has now

been found lacking

similarly

the supreme

worth

of the son

of God

was established

in eternity

past

and God

the father

and the spirit

of God

bear witness

about him

the worth

of the son

of God

is not open

to debate

it's not open

to our judgment

as a result

whoever does not

believe in him

is condemned

already

that's their judgment

because he has not

believed in the name

of the only son

of God

when we reject

Christ

it's not he

but we

who are condemned

verses 19

to 20

explain this

further

read along

with me

it says

and this

is the judgment

the light

has come

into the world

and people

love the darkness

rather than the light

because their works

were evil

for everyone

who does wicked

things

hates the light

and does not

come to the light

lest his works

should be exposed

the people

are judged

because even though

Christ has come

into the world

the light has come

into the world

they have loved

darkness

and hated the light

they refuse

to come to the light

and why did they

refuse to come

to the light

because the light

that enables us

to see

also makes us

seen

the light

that enables

our sight

is also the same

light that exposes

our sin

and I had a very

clear experience

of this

when I was leading

an investigative

bible study

for unbelievers

in college

one year

and I had one

friend

who was particularly

contentious

but we had a good

relationship

and after each

session

we'd debate

and talk

for hours

and debate

and I'd plead

with him

and I'd argue

with him

and then

one time

he stopped

me in my tracks

and said

Sean

I understand

what you're

saying

and I understand

all the arguments

but the crux

of the matter

is this

is that I like

girls

and I like

sleeping around

with them

and if I became

a Christian

I'd have to

stop doing that

I don't want

to become

a Christian

I mean

I was shocked

but he was

brutally honest

and that was

a strikingly

biblical statement

because that's

exactly what he

says

people are

afraid of the

light

they don't want

to come to

the light

lest their

sin be

exposed

and that's

of course

kind of

blatantly

immoral

example

kind of

an extreme

example

but at

the heart

of every

rejection

of Christ

is that

same

stubborn

refusal

to conform

to God's

ways

and to

insist

on our

own

way

people

hate

the

light

the world

hates

the light

so they

will not

come

to it

but

it says

in verse

21

whoever

does

what is

true

comes

to the

light

so they

may be

clearly

seen

that his

works

have been

carried

out

in God

now this

is a

very

interesting

sentence

because

it literally

says

whoever

does

the

truth

right

the

truth

in

the

biblical

perspective

is not

something

that you

just

believe

in

it's

not

just

the

mental

cognitive

thing

but it's

something

you do

right

and to

do the

truth

is to

live in

keeping

with the

truth

and who

is the

truth

in the

gospel

of

John

it says

in chapter

14

6

Jesus

says

I am

the way

I am

the truth

and the

life

no one

comes

to the

father

except

through

me

in order

to do

the truth

you must

come to

the

light

of

Christ

so

the

cross

of

Christ

where

Christ

died

for

our

sins

that's

God's

ultimatum

to the

world

it's

simultaneously

God's

greatest

his

gravest

indictment

of the

world

because

it

displays

the

fullness

of

God's

wrath

laid

on

Jesus

the

innocent

son

of

God

the

righteous

son

of

God

at

the

same

time

it's

God's

greatest

invitation

because

the

fullness

of

God's

love

is

displayed

on

the

cross

because

God

so

loves

the

world

that

he

gives

his

only

son

for

us

so

we

might

not

perish

but

have

eternal

life

like

a

lighthouse

that

shines

into

the

dark

void

of

the

treacherous

sea

the

cross

stands

to

show

for

God's

persevering

love

in

this

cold

desolate

sinful

world

and

you know

what's

amazing

when you

do

the

truth

it

says

when you

come to

Christ

verse

21

tells

us

that

your

works

have

been

carried

out

in

God

you

thought

that

you

had

come

to

believe

on

your

own

accord

but

when

you

come

to

believe

you

discover

that

God

had

carried

you

here

you

thought

you

were

searching

for

God

but

then

when

you

finally

find

him

you

discover

that

it

was

he

who

was

pursuing

you

searching

for

you

why

any

of us

as a

Christian

is due

not

ultimately

to

our

own

personal

soul

searching

but

the

sovereign

God

himself

that

he's

the

reason

his

pursuit

is

the

reason

why

we

are

Christians

at all

one of my

favorite

poems

is by

an

English

poet

named

Francis

Thompson

called

The Hound

of Heaven

and if

you guys

have read

that

anyone

and

there

he

talks

about

how

God

was

the

hound

of

heaven

with

the

tremendous

love

pursuing

him

and he

writes

this

I

fled

him

down

the

nights

and

down

the

days

I

fled

him

down

the

arches

of

the

years

I

fled

him

down

the

labyrinth

in

ways

of

my

own

mind

and in

the

midst

of

tears

I

hid

from

him

in

under

running

laughter

but

God

pursues

him

relentlessly

and after

tracking

him

down

he

tells

him

that

he

is

the

only

one

who

can

truly

love

him

God

tells

him

he

he

says

this

and

human

love

needs

human

meriting

how

hast

thou

merited

of

all

man's

clotted

clay

the

dingiest

clot

alack

thou

knowest

not

how

little

worthy

of

any

love

thou

art

whom

wilt

thou

find

to

love

ignoble

thee

save

me

save

only

me

and

at

the

end

of

the

poem

the

protagonist

finally

gives

in

to

this

hound

of

heaven

and

he

exclaims

our

fondest

fondest

means

in old

English

means

foolish

our

fondest

blindest

weakest

I

am

he

whom

thou

seekest

that's

all

of

us

God

pursued

us

who's

the

most

foolish

most

blind

most

weak

God

so

love

the

world

that

he

gave

his

only

son

that

whoever

believes

in him

should not

perish

but have

eternal

life

let's

pray

together

heavenly

father

your

persevering

sacrificial

initiating

love

is truly

too good

to be

true

when

someone

asks

why

did

God

love

you

why

did

God

choose

you

Lord

we

cannot

give

an

answer

the

answer

is

beyond

our

comprehension

yet

we

know

without

a doubt

that you

do

love

us

because

you

displayed

your

love

for us

in

sending

your

own

son

your

only

son

to die

on the

cross

and

Lord

we

thank

you

for

that

we

give

you

praise

for

that

we

pray

that

you

would

help

us

as

your

people

to

appreciate

to

appropriate

that

truth

anew

so

we

may

continue

to

do

the

truth

to

live

in

keeping

with

the

truth

with

Jesus

and

his

work

and

we

pray

that

you

would

continue

to

use

us

as

your

people

so

that

more

people

may

come

to

know

you

to

believe

in

you

so

that

they

too

may

be

saved

from

this

perishing

world

in

Jesus

name

we

pray

amen