The Letters in Red

In this episode we continue our examination of John 3:16. We highlight the fact that these verses are written in red and what that means. We read the verse in several different translations to see the richness and depth of the Father's love toward us. 

Transcript

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Welcome to Learn to Be Loved Podcast. My name is Shannon. Thanks for joining with us today. So this is episode two, and I called this one Letters in Red. We are in John 3, 16. I I'm gonna continue studying this verse for the next several episodes. This is what's gonna begin our journey on learning how to be loved. We're gonna start with one of the most famous verses about God's love, one that we have learned in Sunday school and in church, and have quoted, you see on the sides of vans and semi-trucks going down the freeway, it's always John 316. I called this letters in red because in some Bibles, these letters are indeed red. They're different from the black letters on the paper. So the reason for this is because these words are the ones that traditionally and historically have been attributed to Jesus. Words that Jesus said. And these are important words. So Bible... publishers began printing these words that were attributed to Jesus in red letters. So here we have Jesus speaking about the Father's love. And this is an amazing love gift to the world. And what's so awesome about this, what's so special, is Jesus is speaking about himself. Jesus himself is this gift that the father gave to the world now i wanted to start this off by reading john 3 16 in several different translations i want to do this because not one translation fully conveys the heart and the richness of this love so here's the first one that many of us that are a little older may be very familiar with. The King James was a standard translation in America until the 60s. And so it says, 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. Here's the Lexington Bible in English. For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. Here's the NLT. It says, 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. The NET says, for this is the way 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. The Amplified says, but have eternal everlasting life. The Passion Translation says, for this is how much God loved the world. He gave his one and only unique son as a gift so that now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life. The New Testament by Jonathan Paul Mitchell reads this way, For thus God loves, fully gives himself to, and urges towards reunion with, the aggregate of humanity, the universe, the ordered arrangement, the organized system of life and society, the world, so that he gives his uniquely born creation only begotten son you see in this manner god loves the sum total of created beings as being the son he gives the only begotten one for you see it is in this way that god loves the aggregate of humanity even as it were his son he gives the uniquely born one to the end that all humanity or everyone the one habitually believing putting confidence and trusting in to him would not lose or destroy itself or cause itself to fall into ruin, but rather can continuously have or would habitually possess and hold Ionian life, age-durative life, with qualities derived from the age, the Messiah, living existence, or and for the ages. Now that was a mouthful. This translation, the Jonathan Paul Mitchell translation of the New Testament, is a super expanded version. He basically gives you several different scenarios how this verse could be translated in the Greek. Because translating the Bible from an ancient language into a modern language is a very hard, difficult task. and tricky process. That's why we have so many different translations today. But what we do see is the depth and the richness of God's love. It was God, or Theos in the Greek, that loved. It was Theos that gave. And this God is the Father that Jesus speaks about repeatedly in the new testament this is his father when jesus came from heaven he came from the father he was in a unique relationship with the father the son and the holy spirit which is called the trinity and when jesus came to be born of a virgin mary he left that relationship to be a human he was fully god and fully man so here we have the truth of this verse that god gave himself to us so when you read this verse this week last week i wanted you to replace the word world with your name So this week, I want you to read this verse this way. For God so loved, and put your name here, that he gave himself to me. See, Jesus was not sent by the Father. Jesus was given to by the father that's so important to understand because if we say he sent him that's a separation but if he gave him that means god is sacrificing something god fully gives himself to and urges towards reunion with you The Father has made the sacrifice. in letting his son freely come into our world of sin and disobedience and disease and brokenness and hurt and he comes into our world and he gives us and offers us this life this zoe life this eternal life that only god can give This is the power of this gift. It's so important for us to understand that Jesus didn't have to come, but Jesus wanted to come. Jesus longed to come so that he could redeem and bring us back into relationship with himself and with the Father. So these are the letters in red. These are letters that Jesus is speaking about a sacrifice that he is making at the moment. He left heaven to come to dwell on earth and he's about to pay the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. So this week, I want you to reread this verse. keep putting your name in there let this truth heal you let it bring inner peace and reconciliation in your heart with your father that loves you so much god i pray right now god that you would heal our hearts god use your word and your free gift of your son God, to heal us. God, to help us to learn how to be loved by you. God, we pray right now, if there is anyone that's broken, if there's anyone that's hurting, anyone that doesn't know what it's like to be loved, God, that you would reach into their hearts and let them know that they are loved by you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.