The Numbers of Hope

John 3:16   “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Earlier this year, I ran across an email sale from ChristianBook.com for an “all church” Bible Study on a Max Lucado book titled John 3:16 – The Numbers of Hope, so I bought it and our church is currently going through the series on Sunday morning with discussion questions for all the mid-week small groups. I thought that I’d write down the notes that from the Sermons and share them with you.

We live in a world that desperately needs hope. Each of us has numbers of despair and knows them, but God wants to replace these numbers of ours with hope. What does it mean to be people that live out the words of John 3:16? Sure, life has its “let downs”, but don’t allow them to define you. Return to 3:16, a 26-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with Life, and urging us to do the same. These truths - He loves, He gave, we believe, & we life – are like a safety deposit box for us.

Reality is that through sin death entered the world and those that choose to go to hell and perish, He honors their desire and let’s them go, but “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Whoever (aka “Whom-so-ever”) is one of the greatest words on earth, as it excludes no one from the offer of God. You can replace the word “world” with your name because God includes us all, no matter who we are or what we've done before. And what does God offer us but forgiveness, redemption, salvation, life and life eternal! And this life that He offers now is the Greek word “zoe”, which means life, but more explicitly, the state of one who is possessed of vitality of life.

Find the hope that the world does not offer; a hope from God that comes only by knowing Him. Focus on what’s important in life. What God wants for us. The numbers of hope are 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave”. All we have to do is believe to receive.

In Christ, Brian