If God loved His Son so little as to allow such a death, how can he love regular people more than that in order to give them life?

on Jun 13, 2024

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: “For God so loved the world,” has become a rather accepted phrase – even in pop culture. Football players stamp it on shoes and faces, rock singers quote it, and branding companies use the reference (John 3:16) to sell products. I’ve found that most people aren’t really offended by God’s love. What’s often offensive is people who credit God with allowing His own Son to die on a cross at the hands of man. If God loved His Son so little as to allow such a death, how can he love regular people more than that in order to give them life? Seems complex. – G.L.

A: It was God’s love that enabled Jesus to become poor so that we might be made rich. It was divine love that enabled Christ to endure the cross. It was this same love that restrained Jesus when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and was led to Golgotha to die with common thieves, never raising a hand against His enemies.

It was love that kept Him from calling 12,000 angels to come to His rescue. It was that same love which made Him, in times of agonizing pain, pause and give life and hope to a repentant sinner dying beside Him who cried, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42, NKJV).

After terrible torture had been inflicted upon Him by degenerate man, it was love that caused Him to lift His voice and pray, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34, NKJV).

From Genesis to Revelation, from Earth’s greatest tragedy to Earth’s greatest triumph, the dramatic story of man’s lowest depths and God’s most sublime heights can be expressed in 25 tremendous words: “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” (John 3:16, KJV).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)