The nature of eternal life (John 3:14-21)
I memorized John 3:16 as a child—along with a specific interpretation of it.
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John 3:16 was one of the first verses I memorized as a child, in English and Korean. There was an easy melody to go with the Korean version, which I can still sing automatically as if no time has passed. Early on, it was impressed on me that this verse is the crux of the gospel, and while many would easily argue for its ability to summarize the Christian faith, I remember only one interpretation of the verse. It wasn’t about God’s love for the world. It was that only those who believed in God would make it to eternal life.