The Greatest Text in the Bible - By Dr. Harry IronsideThe Greatest Text in the
Bible
By Dr. Harry Ironside
"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 do so many people think this is the greatest text in the Bible? There are
other wonderful texts that • dwell on the love of God, that show how men are
delivered from judgment, that tell us how we may obtain everlasting life, but
no other one verse, as far as I can see, gives us all these precious truths so
clearly and so distinctly. So true is this that when the gospel is carried
into heathen lands, and missionaries want to give a synopsis of the gospel to
a pagan people, all they find it necessary to do, if they are going to a
people that have a written language, is to translate and print this verse, and
it tells out the story that they are so anxious for the people to hear. If
they do not have a written language, invariably one of the first scriptures
that they are taught to memorize is John 3:16.
I have a slip of paper sent to me by my friend, Allan Cameron of China. In
those odd characters this same message is written, and that message put into
the hands of the Chinese has often been used to lead a soul to Christ. Not
immediately, of course, for he does not understand it all at once, but it has
led him to ask upon what authority is this statement based, and so eventually
he is led to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many Truths in One Verse
How many truths are wrapped up in that one verse! In the first place, there is
the personality of God--"God so loved." A God who can love is a person. We had
a woman in the United States who invented a religion a few years ago, and she
said it was all love, and yet she said that God is impersonal. But that is not
possible. Just imagine falling in love...