For God So Loved the World — sacred illustration
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Faith & Doubt

For God So Loved the World

John 3:16-17

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It comes in John 3, after a Pharisee named Nicodemus visits Jesus at night.

Father, You so loved the world that You gave Your one and only Son, and that love reaches all the way to me. I believe in Jesus. Thank You that You did not send Him to condemn me, but to save me. When I doubt Your love, bring me back to these words. Thank You for the eternal life You give, and help me share this good news with someone who needs it. Amen.

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It comes in John 3, after a Pharisee named Nicodemus visits Jesus at night.

The Scripture

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

— John 3:16-17

Prayer points from John 3:16-17

  1. Thank God that He so loved the world, and you in it.
  2. Thank Him for giving His one and only Son.
  3. Tell Him plainly that you believe in Jesus, or ask Him to help you believe.
  4. Receive His word that Jesus came to save you, not to condemn you.
  5. Thank Him for the promise of eternal life.
  6. Pray by name for someone you long to know this love.

About this verse

John 3 begins with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews, coming to Jesus at night. Jesus tells him that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, and Nicodemus asks how this can be. Jesus answers by pointing back to the wilderness: just as Moses lifted up the snake, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. Then come perhaps the best-known words in the Bible: God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Verse 17 adds something easy to miss. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. The BSB prints these verses as part of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus; some readers take them as John’s own comment. Either way, they hold the whole gospel in two sentences. It is a prayer for anyone who wants to believe, or believe again, that God’s love is for them.

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