For God So…

For God So…

 

“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.” John 3.16

 

While the primary particle “for” shows the relationship between the previous statements of John 3.14 & 15 and the fact of “how” God loved the world, and the word “so” identifies the method of applying the offered salvation, the word “God” identifies who is the facilitator of it all. In other words, John identifies what God did and why He did it.

 

From the greatest religious minds to the meekest of spiritual seekers, people have been searching for ways to identify God. The idolaters believe that He can be relegated to a physical object they have fashioned, before which they can bow and pay homage. The religious zealots have built shrines to Him – complete with icons of various sorts depicting their concepts of His personality and His actions in the affairs of humanity. Simple believers cling to His majesty and grandeur as they attempt to grasp His awesomeness as revealed in personal faith and the beauty of nature.

 

General revelation is available to everyone who has ever taken a breath. It consists of facts in evidence from the world around us. God’s Word declares that “The heavens declare the glory of God,” (Psalm 19.1) but that only opens a person’s mind to curiosity rather than salvation. Drawing us a bit closer to a theological reality is the statement entered into the discussion is a statement made by Jesus: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4.24) That statement takes us away from the religious icons and leads us to an unsullied approach to God Himself.

 

One doctoral candidate expressed his frustration with a question on his exit exam. The question asked for a definition identifying God – who He is and what are His attributes. The frustration came because the professor wanted it to be done in fifty words or fewer. Theologians have written volumes trying to define the Person of God and His attributes, and have not scratched the surface of His greatness.

 

Understanding our inability to perfectly understand and identify with the Person of God, the Holy Spirit inspired and preserved the writing of God’s Word in such a way that He offers to us a means of approach which is understandable and available to all.

 

Wrapped up in the Person of Jesus Christ is all that one needs in order to have a personal relationship with God. John explains: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared {declare thoroughly and particularly} him.” (John 1.18) Furthermore, the author of Hebrews declares that God, in our times, has revealed Himself to us in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1.1, 2) The expressed image of God is seen in and through Jesus Christ: “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.” (Hebrews 1.3)

 

This God, of whom John writes, is revealed to us in the Person of someone with whom we can identify – yet, a Person who is God and in whom is no defect. When we speak of God we speak of this Person. When we approach God, we must do so through Him. It is through this Person, Jesus Christ, that we have access to the Almighty and opportunity to obtain eternal life.