[^That he gave his only hegotten Sonl The gift of Christ, be it here noted, is the result of God's love to the world, and not the cause. To say that Go. I loves us because Christ died for us, is wretched theology indeed. But to say that Christ came into the world in consequence of the love of God, is scriptural truth.
The expression " he gave," is a remarkable one. Christ is God the Father's gift to a lost and sinful world. He was given gene- rally to be the Saviour, the Redeemer, tl^e Friend of sinners, — to make an atonement sufficient for all, — and to provide a re- demption large enough for all. To e£fect this, the Father freely gave Him up to be despised, rejected, mocked, crucified, and counted guilty and accursed for our sakes. It is written that He was " delivered for our offences," and that '' God spared Him not, but delivered him up for us all." (Rom. iv. 25 ; viii. 32.) Christ is the " gift of God," spoken of to the Samaritan woman, (John iv. 10,) and the " unspeakable gift" spoken of by St. Paul. (2 Cor. ix. 15.) He Himself says to the wicked Jews, "My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." (John vi. 32.) This last text, be it noted, was one with which Erskine silenced the General Assembly in Scotland, when he was accused of offering Christ too freely to sinners.
It should be observed that our Lord calls Himself " the only begotten Son of God" in this verse. In the verse but one before this. He called Himself " the Son of man." Both the names were used in order to impress upon the mind of Nicodemus the two natures of Messiah. He was not only the Son of man but the Son of God. But it is striking to remark that precisely the same words are used in both places about faith in Christ. If we would be saved, we must beheve in Him both as the Son of man and the Son of God.
[That whosoever believefh, (S)C.,..Jife.] These words are exactly the same as those in the preceding verse. Why our translators should have rendered the same Greek word by "everlasting" in one place, and '* eternal " in the other, it is hard to say. In Matt. XXV. 46, they did just the same.
The repetition of this glorious saying, "whosoever believeth," is very instructive. For one thing it serves to show that mighty and broad as is the love of God, it will prove useless to every one who does not believe in Christ. God loves all the world, but God will save none in the world who refuse to believe in His only begotten Son, — For another thing it shows us the great point to which every Christian should direct his attention. He must tee to it that he beheves on Christ. It is mere wasfe of time to be constantly asking ourselves whether God loves us, and whether Christ died for us ; and it argues gross ignorance of Scripture to trouble ourselves with such questions. The Bible