Bible Dissection: John 3:16

For God - BECAUSE God ... FOR THIS REASON God ... basically He is going to let you know WHY He did this in the next phrase.

so loved - God's motive for sending Jesus was not just because He loved us, but SO loved us! He couldn't bear to be without us. He couldn't allow us to spend eternity apart from Him.

the world - Not just Christians. Not just people who go to church. God loves the world. He wants everyone to come to Him. He wants to have a relationship with each person on this earth.

that he gave - GAVE is the key word here. Gave implies a gift. Salvation is a gift. We did not/do not earn it. We can't pay for it. We can't be worthy of it. It's just a gift the He gave.

His - I think this is important because He gave something of HIS OWN. He didn't just create something new to give to us. Jesus was His. Jesus meant something to Him. Jesus was precious to Him.

one and only Son - It wasn't like He had 100 kids to pick from. He had ONE Son that He loved ... SO loved.

that - This implies a condition is coming up ...

whoever believes - Both words are imperative. First, WHOEVER wants to can believe in God. But it has to take believing. It isn't about service or sacrifice or emotion. It takes BELIEF.

in him - Not only belief, but belief IN HIM. It isn't enough to just believe there is "something out there" that saves us. Belief in Him involves a relationship with Him.

shall not perish but have eternal life - There are two roads available to us after death. We don't have a bunch of options. Without God our option is to perish ... with God, our option is to have eternal life WITH Him! I don't know about you ... but in any scenario, eternal life sounds better to me than perishing.