"For God so Loved the World that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

"God so loved the world..."  describes Divine love, not as a feeling or a passion, but as an act, an event in time and space, an occurrence in History.
When did God Love the world ? He loved it once (and for all) at Calvary, when he gave His Son as an offering for our sins.

At Calvary, God loved a world that has always hated and rejected Him. This is a world that is inveterate in its hatred for God. This is a world that murmurs, complains, and calls God's righteousness, and love into question continually.

Yet God loved the world, in a specific and focused way. Not in a general way, did He love the world, but specifically and on His own terms. God didn't love the world "unconditionally"in the sense of God "seeing good" in the world in spite of its flaws. In fact He has judged the world already, the sentence is passed, the Lord will execute His wrath upon this world.

There can be no profitable experience of God's love, outside of the full acceptance of Jesus' offering at Calvary, with all of its ramifications.
God cannot be known outside of the cross of Jesus Christ.

by Pastor Bill Randles