.
The love that God has for His own, is different than the love He has for the world; for
example:
● John 5:20 . . For the Father loves the Son
● John 16:27 . . The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have
believed that I came from God.
The Greek word for love in both those verses pertains to fondness and affection,
whereas the Greek word in John 3:16 speaks of benevolence but not necessarily
fondness or affection.
Benevolence includes things like Pity, Concern, Sympathy, Empathy, Kindness,
Generosity, Lenience, Tolerance, Deference, Sensitivity, and Understanding.
So we could paraphrase John 3:16 like this:
"God felt so sorry for the world that He gave His only begotten son."
Sometimes it's difficult to believe the Old Testament's fire and brimstone God is even
capable of sympathy, let alone be so strongly moved by it to sacrifice His next of kin for
people who hate His guts. (cf. 1John 4:10)
_
The love that God has for His own, is different than the love He has for the world; for
example:
● John 5:20 . . For the Father loves the Son
● John 16:27 . . The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have
believed that I came from God.
The Greek word for love in both those verses pertains to fondness and affection,
whereas the Greek word in John 3:16 speaks of benevolence but not necessarily
fondness or affection.
Benevolence includes things like Pity, Concern, Sympathy, Empathy, Kindness,
Generosity, Lenience, Tolerance, Deference, Sensitivity, and Understanding.
So we could paraphrase John 3:16 like this:
"God felt so sorry for the world that He gave His only begotten son."
Sometimes it's difficult to believe the Old Testament's fire and brimstone God is even
capable of sympathy, let alone be so strongly moved by it to sacrifice His next of kin for
people who hate His guts. (cf. 1John 4:10)
_