John 3:16–18
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This week, we’ll be looking closely at one of the most familiar passages in the Bible: John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Familiarity with this passage can dull our response. God so loved, he gave! This isn’t just true when God sent Jesus into the world; God has always loved by giving. We saw two weeks ago from Genesis 1–2 that God loved Adam and Eve by creating a world filled with abundance and a garden for them to live in and enjoy God’s very- goodness.
Tragically, as we saw last week in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve were tempted by the Serpent to distrust God’s loving generosity on display for them and instead try to secure their own blessing through disobedience. Their disobedience had disastrous results. We left off with Adam and Eve cast out of the provision and presence of God in the garden with nothing but a promise that one day an offspring of the woman would crush the head of the Serpent. Going into Genesis 4 and beyond, we ask: “Whose story will they believe? The story of the God of the Gardens or the Story of the Serpent?” The outlook isn’t very hopeful.
This week, we’ll see that when hope seems lost, God does something surprising: he gives again. First to Noah, then to Abraham, then to Abraham’s descendants. All through the Old Testament, God so loved, he gave! God proves again and again and again the true story: He loves his image-bearers. He will care for them. He will bring them into a land filled with beauty and abundance again. He will one day give a Serpent-crushing Savior to his people.
How will his people respond to his loving generosity? Will they believe him or continue to believe the Serpent? That’s the story we’ll hear together this weekend. Join us at 10 am at the Skyline Plaza to worship together the God who gives!