John 3:17 –  So that the wórld may be saved

For God does not dispatch His Son into the world that He should be judging the world, but that the world may be saved through Him.

John 3:16 is probably the best known verse in all of the Bible. “For God so loves the world …”. But is it not striking that the subsequent verse 17, which is an explanation of verse 16, is so unknown? Verse 16 speaks of the one who believes today and has eonian life. That is the life of the eon to come.

But GOD also has a plan for the world. After all, he loves the world. Because it’s His world – He doesn’t abandon her. GOD sent his Son so that the world would be saved. The world is lost but will be saved. Because something must be lost for it to be saved.

God’s purpose for the mission of his Son was to save the world. Should his Son fail to do so, the God would be a ‘mark-misser’. Or in Biblical terms: a sinner. That is of course unworthy of GOD. Because “what his love wants to accomplish does not deny Him his ability.” That is why God’s Son is rightly “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). What a great message!

Delen: