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So Loved – The Pity

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world…” — what a statement! John could have written, “For God loved the world,” and that would have been true. But the Spirit led him to add one little word that changes everything: so.

That word magnifies the greatness of God’s love. It shows us that His love is not ordinary, not common, not conditional — but eternal, immeasurable, and personal.

God’s Love Is Seen in Creation.
When God made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26–27), He stamped us with dignity and worth. Even though sin marred that image, God’s love never failed. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

God’s Love Is Strong.
It is not a passing feeling or a temporary affection. Jeremiah 31:3 reminds us, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Hebrews 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” His love is strong enough to reach down into the depths of sin and raise us up into glory.

God’s Love Is Wide, Long, Deep, and High.
Paul prayed that believers would know the fourfold dimensions of God’s love (Ephesians 3:17–19). Its breadth is wide enough to include everyone. Its length is long enough to last forever. Its depth is deep enough to reach the lowest sinner. Its height is high enough to lift us into Heaven.

God’s Love Is Beyond Words.
Hymns remind us of this great truth. “The Love of God” says:
“Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made… to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.”
And Charles Wesley’s “And Can It Be” asks the question that leaves us in awe: “Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

The love of God is personal, sacrificial, unchanging, and eternal. Nothing can separate us from it (Romans 8:39).

God’s love is wide enough to embrace the whole world, long enough to endure for all eternity, deep enough to reach the lowest sinner, and high enough to lift us to glory.