Five Eternal Gifts from God - Christ 4

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, ESV)

What then follows is the identity of the gift. What exactly has God given? “That He gave his only begotten son.” The phrase “that He” refers to God the father. He chose to give something, or rather someone, to the fallen world. That would be His only begotten Son. The statement “only begotten” means one of a kind. It refers to someone in a unique class. That individual would be Jesus Christ.

In continuing this thought, Jesus goes on to say “that whosoever.” The word “whosoever” has to be understood within the context of the previous fifteen verses. Often it is not. The identity of these individuals God chooses to love and who receive that love are those Jesus previously explained as being born again by the Holy Spirit (vs. 3-8).

These individual sinners are sovereignly and monergistically regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who enables them to exercise belief or saving faith. Those individuals who are so graciously blessed by God and who commit to, trust in, depend upon and worship Him through Jesus Christ are those who “should not perish but have everlasting life.”

To not perish means to not face ruination and destruction in hell. They will not face the judgment of God for their sins because God enabled them to trust in the only one who could save them from this judgment: Jesus Christ.

Those who so trust, commit, depend and worship God through Christ not only will not perish but they will have eternal life. They will receive from god essential and ethical life which belongs to and emanates from God.  

God the Son, Jesus Christ, became a human being in order to righteously live 33 years on earth and then make atonement for God’s people on the cross.

God’s justice had to be satisfied in order for sinful man to be declared righteous; externally and internally. Now, sinful man can pay the penalty for his sin. This is hell.

Why can’t God just overlook the sin? He can’t if He wants to remain perfectly just and righteous. If man is to be made just, God’s justice must be satisfied.  “Someone must be able to pay the infinite penalty for man’s sin. It must be a member of the offending party, the human race, but it must be one who has never fallen into the inescapable imperfection of sin.