By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.

1 John 4:9

John 3:16 is probably the most famous book chapter and verse in the entire Bible, and with good reason; it illuminates the core of the Gospel in a simple phrase. There’s a trick there though. That verse is in the middle of Jesus explaining the Gospel to Nicodemus, a leader in the Jewish religious community, and Nicodemus doesn’t get it!

I think I need to tell Christians a hard truth that is hidden from those of us who are accustomed to the language of our religion. “God sent Jesus to die for you” doesn’t make sense to people who lack your knowledge and experience.

Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

John 4:7-14

The companion passage to John 3:16 in 1 John 4 is a commentary on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Where he had come to Jesus to find a teacher from God, John’s letter admonishes readers on avoiding false teachers and continuing steadfastly in love for one another.

John is drawing out love as central to our way of life as a Christian community; love is our testimony that we offer to those around us.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

1 John 4:15

If you want someone to believe that God “so loved the world”, help them first believe that God’s people “so love” their neighbors.

Ethan Kirl