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Depth of God’s grace highlighted in John 3:16, D.A. Carson says


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–The Apostle John’s use of the word “world” in John 3:16 points to the infinite depth of God’s love for His fallen creation, New Testament scholar D.A. Carson said July 17 during the Southern Baptist Founders Conference.

Typically “world” in the well-known passage is interpreted as “God’s love for a large place,” he said, adding that it actually speaks of God’s incredible grace.

Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., served as the keynote speaker for the 21st annual Founders Conference July 15-18 at Samford University. The conference theme was “The Love of God.”

Founders is an organization founded in 1982 for the perpetuation of historic Calvinistic doctrines within the Southern Baptist Convention often referred to as “the doctrines of grace.”

Preaching on “God Loves the World” from John 3, Carson pointed out that John used the noun “world” many times in his gospel, although it is rarely used to speak of the largeness of the earth. In most passages, including in 3:16, John uses “world” to speak of the created order that is in rebellion against its Creator, he said.

“[What usually happens] is that we think [that] God’s love must be wonderful because the world is so big,'” said Carson, who is author of numerous books, including a commentary on the Gospel of John. “John’s usage really is not primarily ‘a big place.’ Only in three or four passages is it a big place, as in the last two places it appears in the book where it is a big place that can hold a lot of books.

“But in the 70 or so other usages, ‘world’ in John’s gospel is a bad place. For the text to say, ‘For God so loved the world,’ is to say God is loving moral rebels. That should not shock us. That is a universal New Testament theme, is it not? After all, before we become Christians we are part of that world, and according to [John] 3:36, stand under His wrath.”

God’s love as depicted in 3:16 is in line with His call to all sinners to turn from the broad way that leads to death onto the narrow road that leads to life, Carson said. The verse makes clear that the Gospel is to be preached to all persons, but it spotlights the fact that God loves them despite their sinfulness and rebellion, he said.

“When God says, ‘World, I love you,’ what does He mean?” Carson said. “He does not mean something goofy like, ‘Heaven would be lonely without you,’ or something similar.

“On the one hand, this world stands under the judgment of God, and yet God loves us anyway. He loves us, not because we are so attractive, but it is profoundly our unattractiveness that must be overcome.”

The measure of God’s love for His radically sinful creation is Jesus, Carson said. John spends major portions of his gospel developing the theme of the love between God the Father and the Son. Therefore, God’s gift for the redemption of sinners is His unique and well-loved Son.

“We do not begin to explore the dimensions of God’s love until we explore the nature of the Godhead,” Carson said. “And we do not begin to explore the dimensions of God’s love until we explore the ugliness of our own odious rebellion. God thus loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.”
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  • Jeff Robinson

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