Does God Love Everyone? # 2

Does God Love Everyone? # 2

John 3:16

Turning now to John 3:16, it should be evident from the passages just quoted that this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it. "God so loved the world." Many suppose that this means the entire human race. But "the entire human race" includes all mankind from Adam until the close of earth's history; it reaches backward as well as forward! Consider, then, the history of mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the Saviour came to the earth, lived here "having no hope and without God in the world," and therefore passed out into an eternity of woe. if God "loved" them, where is the slightest proof thereof? Scripture declares "Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel until after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own ways" (Acts 14:16). Scripture declares: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Rom. 1:28). It Israel God said, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In view of these plain passages, who will be so foolish as to insist that God in the past loved all mankind! The same applies with equal force to the future. Read through the book of Revelation, noting especially chapters 8 to 19, where we have described the judgments which will be poured out from Heaven on this earth.

Read of the fearful woes, the frightful plagues, the vials of God's wrath, which shall be emptied on the wicked. Finally, read the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, the Great White Throne judgment, and see if you can discover there the slightest trace of love. But the objection comes back to John 3:16 and says, "World means world." True, but we have shown that "the world" does not mean the whole human family. The fact is that "the world" is used in a general way. When the brethren of Christ said, "Show Yourself to the world" (John 7:4), did they mean "Show Yourself to all mankind"? When the Pharisees said, "Behold, the world is gone after him" (John 12:19), did they mean that all the human family were flocking after Him? When the apostle wrote, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (Romans 1:8), did he mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child on earth? When Revelation 13:3 informs us that "all the world wondered after the beast," are we to understand that there will be no exceptions? These, and other passages which might be quoted, show that the term "the world" often has a relative, rather than an absolute, force. Now the first thing to note in connection with John 3:16 is that our Lord was there speaking to Nicodemus, a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in giving His Son had a larger object in view - that it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine, reaching out to "regions beyond." In other words, this was Christ's announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews. "God so loved the world," then, signifies God's love is international in its scope. But does this mean that God loves every individual among the Gentiles?

Not necessarily, for as we have seen, the term"world" is general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term "world" in itself is not conclusive. To ascertain who the objects of God's love are, other passages where His love is mentioned must be consulted. in 2 Peter 2:5, we read of "the world of the ungodly." If then, there is a world of the ungodly; there must also be a world of the godly. It is the latter who are in view in the passages we shall now briefly consider. "For the bread of God is he which comes down from Heaven, and gives life unto the world" (John 6:33). Now mark it well, Christ did not say, "offers life unto the world," but "gives." What is the difference between the two terms? This: a thing which if "offered" may be refused, but a thing "given" necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is not accepted, it is not "given"; it is simply offered. Here, then is a Scripture that positively states Christ gives life (spiritual, eternal life) "unto the world." Now He does not give eternal life to the "world of the ungodly" for they will not have it; they do not want it. Hence, we are obliged to understand the reference in John 6:33 as being to "the world of the godly," that is, God's own people.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)