John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish… If we could but hear the words for the first time, and without prepossessions either of Pharisaic error or logical orthodoxy, hear them with nothing but consciousness of sin and thirst for life, before the love of God had been hardened into doctrine, and the only begotten Son has become a quarrel for the schools. "Do your gods love you?" asked a missionary of some Indians. "The gods never think of loving," was the cheerless answer. The text before us was read. "Read it again," asked the arrested pagan. "That is large light, read it again." A third time the blessed words were repeated; and with this emphatic response, "That is true, I feel it." On one occasion a missionary was dictating to a native amanuensis the translation of the First Epistle, and when he reached the passage, "Now are we the sons of God," the poor child of heathenism burst into tears, and exclaimed, " It is too much, it is too much; let me put it, Now are we permitted to kiss His feet." (A. J. Morris.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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