“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.”
- John 3:16

Ever received a gift and thought “Whoa...this is too much”? What did you do with that? How easy/hard was it for you to receive?

“...he gave his one and only son...”

That would have been a stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of statement for the first century audience.

Sons carried the family legacy and inherited the family’s wealth. If there was no son to carry on the legacy, eventually it would be as if that family had never existed. It was like the family disappeared from history.

God’s existence doesn’t depend on our belief. However, the weightiness of God’s gift would not have been lost on John’s audience.

God has given a big gift and, in some ways, taken a big risk, in the hope that we will believe and, in that belief, enter into his family and receive life.

Spend some time expressing thanks and/or praise to God for his great gift.