Who Is “Whosoever” in John 3:16?

John 3:16 and the Word “Whosoever”

You have a Bible — turn with me, please, to John’s Gospel, chapter three. That grand word, whosoever, was ringing in my soul as we traveled up from Vermont this afternoon. John chapter 3 and verse 16 is a very well-known text of Scripture, spoken by the Lord Jesus on a man’s first night. This was the first night of a gospel series, and it was a man’s first night in contact with the Lord Jesus. This was the message he heard on that first night. John 3:16 — we read these 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.”

Let me read that to you — or with you — one more time.

“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.”

We trust that God will indeed add his blessing to the reading of his precious word.

These twenty-five golden words spoken by the Lord Jesus are likely a text known to every person in this gospel hall tonight. I don’t know your background. I don’t know where you come from, but you have likely, at one time or another, come across these twenty-five words.

In fact, I remember back in ninth grade, I was in a classroom with my cousin, and she had a pencil she was using, and on that pencil was John 3:16 — the text was right there: “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.”

There was a girl sitting across from her, and her pencil broke — or she’d forgotten her pencil, I can’t quite remember what happened — and Debbie Anne reached over and said, “Here, you can use this pencil.” Charmaine took that pencil into her hand, and the first thing she did was look at it and read the text printed on it: “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.”

I don’t know what background Charmaine Allen had — not altogether sure — but as she looked at that pencil, she said, “That’s my favorite Bible verse.” It was a verse that she knew.

Knowing the Verse Is Not the Same as Knowing Christ

What about you tonight? Do you know this text? Could I go beyond that — do you know the Son in the text? Because he makes all the difference between heaven and hell for eternity. It’s the Son in this text: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” That Son is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the man whom Nicodemus came to.

Nicodemus was a very religious man. He knew much of the Old Testament Scriptures. He knew much about God. In fact, they tell me a rabbi such as Nicodemus would have had the first five books of the Bible memorized — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He could quote any part of the Pentateuch. Beyond that, Nicodemus had a working knowledge of the whole Old Testament. He was a man who knew about God.

Yet he didn’t know God.

He knew a lot of things about God, but he never had a relationship with God. What about you tonight? You might know an awful lot about the Lord Jesus. You might know an awful lot about God. But could I ask you tonight — do you know him? Do you have everlasting life? That, by the way, is what everlasting life is: knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent. That is what everlasting life is.

Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus, and I suppose he was interested in an intellectual knowledge — maybe even a philosophical conversation with the Lord Jesus, one rabbi speaking to another. But the very first thing the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus was this: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” Do you know what it is to be born again? It’s to have new life from God.

There are a lot of people in the world today looking for a new start in life. They want to hit the reset button. I see a lot of young people here, and one of the great things they do nowadays is play video games. What happens after the video game is over? You have so many lives, and once those lives run out, it comes across the screen: Game over. What do you do? You just reset. You start over.

There’s a lot of people in life who want to do exactly that — forget the life they once lived and get a new start. But do you know what people need in Ottawa? It’s not a new start in life. It’s new life to start with. And that new life comes from God, through Christ.

Nicodemus heard about this being born again, and he wanted to know more. His heart was touched. His conscience was pricked. He understood he was a sinner. “How can a man be born again? How can these things be?” And the Lord Jesus began to tell Nicodemus how he could be born again.

But let me ask you tonight, friend — are you born again? Do you have life with God? Are you in a relationship with the God of heaven? Do you know Christ as your Savior? Nicodemus was lacking that. And while Nicodemus was lacking that, these twenty-five words came to him: “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.”

God’s Love for a Sinful World

The first thing I want you to think about with me is the divine love. Where does this love come from? It comes from God — that God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, righteous, the God who cannot allow sin into his presence. It’s a God who loved this world so much that he gave his Son to die for it.

I think about that word “world.” It’s not really speaking about the geographical world — we were driving up from Vermont, appreciating the beauty of that state, then coming into Canada and moving through the province of Ontario. I live in PEI, a beautiful place; I come from Newfoundland, an even more beautiful place. I’d encourage you to go see the beauty there. But that’s not what’s meant here. The Lord Jesus is talking about the habitable world — the people of the world.

This world was created by God. We can go right back to the beginning. Our Bible opens with those words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” On the seventh day, God rested. Everything was perfect. Everything was good.

That world God created became a world corrupted by sin. You know what the Bible says — Romans chapter 5, verse 12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

Every single one of us has been marked by the great problem of sin — every one of us. In fact, David, in Psalm 51, says: “I was shapen in iniquity; in sin did my mother conceive me.” From the very moment of conception, David recognized: I was corrupted. I was contaminated with the great problem of sin.

A world that was created became a world that was corrupted, became a world that was condemned — condemned under the judgment of God.

Why God Warns Us About Sin

Listen, friend, tonight — don’t miss this: your sin is a great problem. I don’t know what things you struggle with in life — financial struggles, family struggles, all the difficulties found in life. But your greatest problem is the problem of your sin.

One of the things I find about the kindness and goodness of God is that in his word, we learn about our need. We learn that we are sinners — guilty sinners, sinners who deserve to be in hell. And God is kind enough to tell us about the danger we’re in.

I was reminded not long ago of a trip our family took — seven of us kids piled into the van with mom and dad, and we left Newfoundland and traveled all the way down to Florida, back in the early 2000s. One of the things we liked to do there was go to the beach. We were excited, heading to the beach on a certain day, and when we parked and jumped out — the red flag was flying. The beach was closed.

We all wondered, as kids, why is the beach closed? It’s a beautiful day, the surf looks nice — it would have been a great day to go in. But: danger, man-of-war. A very dangerous jellyfish was in the area. Lethal.

Did that red flag ruin our day? Maybe as kids we thought so. But more than that, it could have saved our lives. You see, when God tells us about our danger — when God tells us about our sin, that we are condemned, that we deserve divine judgment — he is warning us. Do you know why God is warning us? Not to ruin your day, but to save your soul. To save you from a lost eternity.

Maybe there’s a young man in this meeting tonight, a young woman, carelessly running from God. Maybe there’s an older one who needs to hear this message of warning: don’t continue on in your sin, friend, because there is wrath. Beware, friend.

The Sinner God Loves

And yet God looked down on that world — corrupted by sin, condemned because of sin — and God said, “I love that world.” I can hardly understand it. I can hardly take it in. I would expect the word of God to say that God so loved his Son. The Lord Jesus was lovable. He was God’s precious Son. I would expect it to say God so loved his Son. But it says, “For God so loved the world” — a world that was contaminated and corrupted by sin. That was the world God loved.

Can I tell you, friend — in all your sin tonight, you’re the sinner God loves. In all your rebellion, in all that you deserve, you’re the sinner God loves.

Let me tell you about this love — this divine love. It is a love that is incomparable; it cannot be equaled. It is a love that is incomprehensible; it cannot be understood. It is a love that is incalculable; it cannot be measured. We cannot put a measuring cap on the love of God. I almost gave out that hymn tonight:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

This love — the source of it comes from God. The subject of it: God loved the world. And what about the sacrifice of this love? You know what 1 John chapter 4 tells us: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins” — the place where God would meet and deal with the problem of sin. That’s what happened at the cross. That’s what happened when God gave his blessed Son.

God Gave His Only Begotten Son

I want you to think not just of this divine love, but of this delivered Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”

Albert G. Drecker and the Passaic River Drawbridge

It was back in the late 1800s, in a news article out of New York. Some may have heard this story. The Passaic River moves down through the states of New York and New Jersey, and a railroad line ran across it. A man named Albert Dreker was on post, watching the drawbridge where that railroad crossed the Passaic River. He had his son with him at work that afternoon — I can’t quite remember the boy’s age; the article didn’t say.

The drawbridge was up. The train was coming. Albert Dreker had to lower the drawbridge, manually holding the lever down as it came down. While that bridge was lowering and the train was approaching, he saw his boy playing down below by the river. The next thing Albert Dreker knew, his boy was in the river — drowning.

What did Albert Dreker do? He loved his son. He loved his boy. But he recognized the duty he had. A train was coming, and if he left his post, that train and all its passengers would go into the Passaic River — there would be great loss of life. So Albert Dreker stayed at his post until the train had safely crossed and all the passengers were saved. Then he went down to the river and found his boy — lifeless, drowned.

Could I tell you, friend — that was sacrifice. That was a father who gave his son for the safety and well-being of everyone on that train.

Let me tell you about a greater sacrifice. The Son that God loved — the Son of his love — the Lord Jesus, from eternity, was ever in fellowship with his Father. An eternal union. A Father who loved a Son; a Son who loved the Father. And yet we read in the word of God that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Why did he come? Why did the Savior leave the splendors of glory? Why did he come from heaven? He came to go to Calvary — to go to a cross, to suffer, to bleed, to die for guilty sinners. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”

Mind you — when God gave his Son, he was giving him into the hands of sinful men.

Christ Given Into the Hands of Sinful Men

We go back nearly two thousand years, to the Lord Jesus in a garden. Men came to that garden and bound his hands. The Lord Jesus willingly went. While he was bound, they took him to a place where the high priest was. Do you know what they did to him? They blindfolded him and began to strike him on the face, saying, “Prophesy unto us — who is it that smote thee?”

He was given into the hands of sinful men. The Lord Jesus was sinless — the Lord Jesus is sinless, impeccable. They stripped off his garments and lacerated his back with a Roman scourge. He was given into the hands of sinful men.

He was taken outside the city of Jerusalem, to that place called Golgotha — Skull Hill. He was nailed to the cross. He was given into the hands of sinful men.

And yet, could I tell you, friend — there is more. More that happened at Calvary than what man did to the Lord Jesus.

Christ Bore Our Sins at the Cross

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” What was the Lord Jesus given to? You know what the Bible says in Romans chapter 8: “God, who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.” He was a Son delivered up for us all.

Remember, the Lord Jesus is sinless. Remember, he is impeccable. Remember, he is the only one who can deal with the problem of sin — the only one who could deal with your sin, the only one who could deal with mine.

When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, you know what the Bible says? “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, he was made sin for us — “he who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Thank God for the finished work of Christ. Thank God for a sacrifice acceptable to God. We wouldn’t be here tonight preaching the gospel if God were not satisfied on account of sin. Listen, friend — God is just, because of Calvary. God is just, and the justifier of them that believe on Jesus.

If anyone turned from their sin tonight and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, they would find full forgiveness of their sins. They would find salvation, full and free, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

How Do We Know God Is Satisfied?

You say, “Hold on now — how do I know that God is satisfied? I know the verse says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son — but how do I know God is satisfied with the work of his Son?”

Do you know how I know? Do you know how you can know? The Bible tells us what God did: “But God raised him from the dead.” The Christ who died for our sins on the cross is the Christ whom God has raised from the dead.

There was an old gospel preacher who used to spend time in Newfoundland, possibly known to some here — Mr. Alex Dryburgh. He used to quote a poem to us when we were children:

If the Christ who had died had stayed on the cross, His work would have been incomplete. If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb, He would have only known defeat.

But you see, the way of the cross never stops at the cross, and the way of the tomb leads on to victorious grace, in that heavenly place where the risen Lord has gone. Thank God, tonight there is a risen Savior — a Savior who has the ability to save you from your sins.

Divine love: “For God so loved the world.” A delivered Son: “that he gave his only begotten son.” And what about a declared salvation?

“Whosoever Believes”: Salvation Is Found in Christ

Is anyone in this gospel meeting tonight wanting to be saved? Anyone here tonight wanting to know what it is to be saved from your sins — saved from a lost eternity, saved from hell, saved from the lake of fire, saved from perishing?

What does the verse say? “That whosoever believeth in him.” Do you know where salvation is found tonight? It’s not found in the Christians who meet here at the Gospel Hall in Ottawa. It’s not found in any gospel preacher. It’s not found in any church membership. It’s not found in a baptism tank. Salvation is found in a person. Salvation is found in him — in Christ, the Lord Jesus.

“Whosoever believeth in him” — that expression reminds me of the great scope of the sacrifice of Christ. He gave himself a ransom for all. Thank God, tonight we can look at every individual in this gospel meeting, from the front all the way to the back, on this side of the hall and that side — we can look at every single person. Thank God, salvation is for you. A declared salvation: “whosoever believeth in him.”

The Promise of Everlasting Life

As this text comes to its conclusion, it is indeed a delightful promise: “should not perish, but have everlasting life.” As this gospel meeting continues tonight, may God help you to receive this promise.

Nicodemus did, that night — the first night he came to hear the gospel. Maybe this is your first time ever hearing the gospel tonight. Nicodemus, the first time he came to the Savior, left that night with everlasting life. He left with life in Christ. And you could leave the same way.

Why? How?

“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.”