John 3:16 “I Love You”
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (KJV).
Jesus spoke these words directly to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who came to Him at night to inquire of Him what He could not or would not inquire during the public time of daytime. He wanted face-to-face conversation to understand better the message given by Jesus. This conversation must have lasted quite a while for it takes up over half of John, chapter three. We so often neglect the rest of John, chapter three, yet it deserves close study for the many truths that Jesus declares to Nicodemus. Even so, from this chapter of many basic truths of the Gospel, the one verse, John 3:16, has come to be the most Gospel that many people ever read or know. As such, it has great importance in spreading the Good News.
In each of the following translations of John 3:16, the full love of God is declared. Read the many versions given below, and let the truth of the message settle in your heart and mind partly because of the repetition, and partly because of the various ways in which man paraphrases the real words of God, “I Love You!
(NIV) ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
(MSG) “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why : so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
(Phillips) “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son that everyone who believes in him should not be lost, but should have eternal life.”
(NEB) “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life.”
(NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
(CEV) “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.”
(NLV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God’s Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever.”
(AMP) “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
(EASY) “God loved the people in the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save them. As a result, everyone who believes in the Son will not die. Instead, they will live for ever with God.”
(WE) “God loved the world so very, very much that he gave his only Son. Because he did that, everyone who believes in him will not lose his life, but will live for ever.
Yes, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”