John 3:16  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.

Occasionally, we see someone in the bleachers at a baseball or football game holding up a sign bearing the Bible reference John 3:16. What is the significance of this verse? Why do we remember it and proclaim it to the world?

It is one of the best remembered and loved verses in the Bible, frequently referred to as the Gospel in a nutshell, because in it we learn of God's entire plan of salvation: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,...." We were helpless to save ourselves and doomed to perish in eternal damnation. But out of God's great love for us, He sent "His one and only Son" to suffer our punishment on the cruel cross. Now, "whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Redemption was completed at Calvary. By God's grace we are saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). In Baptism we are received into fellowship with God.

John 3:16 sums up God's plan for our salvation, and we in turn can use it to witness to a dying world.
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