“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

My hope is that at the end of this series each of you will have memorized the verse (most already have) and, more importantly, that each of you will have a better understanding of the powerful truth that it carries. As Christians we have not just understood this verse – we have experienced it … we have realized the Danger of Perishing, we have seen the Design of Love to deliver us from that eternal horror, we’ve had the privilege of the Duty of Believing and, because of that gift of faith, we live each day in certain hope of the Destiny of Eternal Life.

Now let me turn your attention to another very familiar text. John 3:16 gives us the gospel; this text tells us what to do with the gospel. John 3:16 gives us hope. Matthew 28:18-20 gives us purpose. Here it is:

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

This is the believer’s Purpose Statement … each of us must feel the weight of its message: Go! Go into all the world and make disciples. Mark’s record of this same commission from our Lord says it this way:

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)

Allow me to say it this way …

“Go! Go into all the world. Go to your family. Go to your neighbor. Go to your fellow worker – your fellow student. Go to your friends. Go here, go there, go everywhere. Go and tell them that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life!

Go as one commissioned by the very King of all creation. Go, and carry with you the confidence of the authority of the One who sent you. Go, and warn them of the Danger of Perishing. Explain to them the Design of God’s love to deliver them from that eternal horror. Call them to surrender their trust; to exercise the Duty of Believing. And then, with a heart full of hope – tell them they too can have the Destiny of Eternal Life: secured by God in the giving of His only Son.