God’s love as proclaimed in John 3:16 also part of the Christmas story

John 3:16 is, perhaps, the most recognizable Scripture notation in America: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (NASB)

When Florida won college football’s National Championship in 2009, John 3:16 was loudly readable on quarterback Tim Tebow’s eye black. A newspaper report said this generated over 92 million internet searches for the verse.

Jesus said these words to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who recognized Jesus as God’s emissary and wanted to know more about him. Among other things, Jesus told Nicodemus he must be “born again” by believing Jesus had come into the world to redeem those facing judgment. But when Jesus speaks these words of hope, he’s also describing our part in the Christmas story.

The words grab our attention: God loved the world by giving it his only begotten Son. The word for loved is “agapao.” This is God’s deep, deep love, His unconditional love for the world.

The word “world,” cosmos, can refer to the Earth, the universe or the human race. Here, it means all persons on Earth. In other words, the message of John 3:16 is for you and me.

The phrase “only begotten Son” describes the eternal, co-equal relationship of the Father and the Son. Jesus was indeed born a human baby of the Virgin Mary in that stable in Bethlehem, but he was already the unique Son of God, of the same being and essence as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, himself, announced his deity repeatedly throughout John’s Gospel.

To understand how God fits us into John 3:16’s Christmas story, let’s go to the verse’s conclusion: “… whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” To perish refers to eternal separation from God and his family — those who’ve believed the Gospel. Here’s one more word, even though it’s not in our verse: gospel, euangelion, means “good news.” The shepherds on those hills above Bethlehem heard the good news of the incarnation of God the Son from the angelic host.

In the New Testament, “good news” means salvation is available to all who will receive God’s gracious gift of eternal life through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. Jesus Christ is indeed a man born in time, but first and forever he’s God the Son, the only Savior who lived a sinless life in order to take the burden of all our sins upon himself, dying in our place on the cross and then rising from death.

Turning the pages to John 3:16, we read a verse that warms the heart with hope. In 2017 at a West Palm Beach, Florida, church, Tim Tebow said this special verse “is the essence of our Christianity. It’s the essence of our hope.” John 3:16 is the heart of the Christmas story. And our part in that story is to believe and thus receive God’s great, enduring gift of salvation wrapped up in his only begotten Son.