God so loved the World

I had the opportunity to hear Shane Claiborne speak at Bethel Fellowship today; and while I probably wouldn’t hold to all his views, I thought he was a very provocative speaker for Christ. From his message, the most profound image I walked away with was that God loves the world. What I mean is; there are no exceptions to the statement of John 3:16.

"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.” - John 3:16

Why did God omit the portion of that statement that would be in agreement with our human nature, “except for the bad people” or “except for all evildoers?” It is so easy for us to say, “God loves the world except for… people like”:

Adolf Hitler
Osama bin laden
Muslims
The Unsaved
Abortionists
Homo sexuals
Divorced individuals
People in other churches
Druggies and Alcoholics
People who surf the Internet for porn
People who hate their neighbors
Anyone who has ever stolen
Anyone who has ever lied
A brawler
An argumentative person
A Sinner

Rather, what I find in scripture is:

(1) Christ is a friend of Sinners (meaning brining salvation to all) - Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34

(2) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we (no exceptions) were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Including you & me)” - Romans 5:8

I know that the point is; all of us deserve condemnation, but God loves us all enough to give us the Lamb (Jesus) as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

(3)Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.- 1 John 3:4

(4) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:23-3:26

(5) For the wages of sin (all and every sin) is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 6:23

The more amazing thing to see here is that salvation through Jesus is offered to everyone, including you and me. No matter who we are, if we turn to God for forgivness we will not be refused. “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” No one is beyond salvation, being saved, or being pleasing before our God. God loves us! God loves you!!!