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Early in the 1800s, Hans Egede, a Danish missionary, left his native land to preach the gospel to the Eskimos of Greenland. He labored for years, teaching them the truths of Christianity, and yet he saw no apparent results from his long and self-denying efforts. Eventually he became so discouraged and depressed by the indifference of the people that he decided to leave the country. The Bible verse he selected from which to preach his farewell sermon was, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain” (Isaiah 49:4).
Egede was succeeded in the work by Mr. Beck, a Moravian missionary. On his arrival, Mr. Beck began to tell the Eskimos of God’s wonderful love to guilty sinners as revealed at Calvary’s cross. When Kajarnak, the old Eskimo chief who was a brutal murderer, heard the missionary reading the blessed and marvelous words of John 3:16, he exclaimed, “Read it again!” Beck read the wonderful words of life again and again, and the old chief burst into tears and wept like a child. God’s holiness and righteousness had not moved him; the coming terrors of hell had made no impression on him. But the unmatched love and grace of God in giving His beloved Son to die that a sinner might be eternally saved completely broke the hardened heart of the murderous Eskimo chief.
Thousands on earth today praise and thank God for John 3:16, and tens of millions will do so in heaven. And yet no person still in his sins understands the saving truth of the words of this “miniature gospel,” as Martin Luther delighted to call it. Every word in the verse is full of the deepest significance.
“God so loved the world.” That means God loves you, regardless of how careless and indifferent you are to your eternal future. He hates your sin with a righteous hatred, but He loves you with an unmeasurable depth of love.
Your response might be, “Prove it.”
“He gave His only begotten Son.” Loving and giving are inseparable. Here then is love that is beyond human understanding.
You may ask, “Why did God give Christ to die?”
“That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Sinners are perishing every day in their sins, yet it is not God’s will that any should perish. “The Lord. . . is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
It is God’s desire that “all men” should be saved from their sins: “God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-6). At an infinite cost, He has provided salvation for all who will come to Him in repentance. Everlasting life is a free gift and can become yours as you read these lines, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).
“Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” How wonderful! Could anything be simpler and more free? No works of merit are necessary; no tears need to be shed; no repetitive prayers need to be made in order to possess the pardoning mercy of God. Salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9). Whosoever believes in Him who made atonement for sin and paid the ransom for our deliverance shall not perish but have everlasting life. We are not saved from our sins by anything that we may do or feel. Through believing on Christ who gave Himself a ransom for us and “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26), we gain eternal life.
“Whosoever” takes in every race and class of sinners—none are excluded. God is anxious to save you now. Regardless of what you have or have not, what you are or are not, “whosoever” includes you. You are invited and commanded to believe on Christ, without any qualification whatsoever. YOUR NEED OF A SAVIOUR IS YOUR CLAIM ON HIM.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Don’t delay. Time is short. Eternity is drawing near. The Lord Jesus is coming, and you may be left behind for judgment. Come to the Saviour with your need right now. Then you may joyfully say, “God loved—God gave—I believe—and I have everlasting life.”