3:16: The Numbers of Hope (Paperback)

by Max Lucado (Author)
Key Phrases: John Newton, Rick Hoyt, The Greek (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Lucado (When Christ Comes; Facing Your Giants ) digs deeply into one of the most famous and oft-quoted passages of the Bible-John 3:16. First situating it in its biblical context as part of Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus, Lucado then dissects the 26-word promise phrase by phrase, picking out key theological ideas that provide hope to Christians. What does it mean that God "so loved the world"- What must we do to gain everlasting life- Using his trademark folksy style, Lucado employs great stories and real-life illustrations to drive home points about God's love, justice and determination to save. The chapter on hell (pinging off the phrase "shall not perish") is alone worth the price of admission; it's uncharacteristically hard-hitting for Lucado, with the beloved pastor drawing a line in the sand for evangelicals who might be tempted to believe in universal salvation or who imagine hell as a mere metaphor. That chapter, in fact, could and should be further developed in a book of its own. Some of Lucado's points in this book are devastatingly insightful, others only gimmicky or superficial; still, the book is an excellent entry into the popular Texas writer's body of work. It's short, marvelously accessible and followed by a 40-day Bible study on the life of Jesus (excerpted from Lucado's prior books).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

If 9/11 are the numbers of terror and despair, then 3:16 are the numbers of hope. Best-selling author Max Lucado leads readers through a word-by-word study of John 3:16, the passage that he calls the "Hope Diamond" of Scripture.

3:16 will have a large, multi-faceted campaign, including:

• Multiple licensed products to further extend 3:16 at retail. Partners thus far include Hallmark, Dayspring, Kerusso, and Bob Siemon Designs
• 3:16 curriculum and church musical in development
• 3:16 consumer music CD featuring top Christian music artists
• 3:16 as the centerpiece of a global ministry initiative launched worldwide via simulcast on Palm Sunday, 3/16/08
• Unprecedented release in several languages, including Spanish, German, Swedish, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese
• Multiple ancillary publishing products to include evangelism booklet, DVD priced for giveaway, children's product, and gift book

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc (J) (January 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400312949
• ISBN-13: 978-1400312948
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #699,753 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Match Made in Heaven, September 10, 2007

By	Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 3:16: The Numbers of Hope (Hardcover)

It's a match made in heaven (or that's what Thomas Nelson Publishers must believe). In 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, one of the world's best-known and best-loved Christian authors takes on the world's best-known and best-loved Bible verse. Max Lucado has authored over 50 book with sales exceeding an incredible 50 million copies in print. His books are regularly on the New York Times list of bestsellers and continually dominate the Christian charts (where he has had up to eleven books present at one time). 3:16 is as close as we could expect for a sure-thing bestseller. An unparalleled marketing campaign will all but guarantee it. It is no coincidence that the book will release on 9/11, allowing people to contrast numbers of despair with numbers of hope. The book will also stand as the centerpiece of a major global ministry initiative launching on Palm Sunday, 3/16/08. This book is going to make a splash.

In 3:16 Lucado unpacks ("exposits" would probably not be quite the right word) what he calls the "hope diamond of the Bible," the verse that is known and cherished by more believers than any other: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Of this passage he says, "If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here." Good advice, and advice that immediately shows that this book is written for a dual audience, both those who know the Bible and those who do not; those who love God and those who do not. It is written to show the reader the value of understanding and living in light of the words of John 3:16.

Through twelve logically structured chapters Lucado interacts with this verse, moving easily through each of the major words or word pairings in the text. Lucado is a good writer and one who communicates well, often through story and example. It is little wonder that he has gained such popularity as he does an excellent job of communicating in a way that is bound to appeal to just about any reader. The book concludes with 40 brief readings (adapted from selections from Lucado's previous books) that are intended as supplementary devotional reading over a 40 day period.

While I rarely employ such a format, I am going to divide this review into two parts, pointing out first what I perceived to be the book's strengths (beyond those already offered) and then a few of its weaknesses.

Strengths

I was glad to see that Lucado largely gets the gospel right, aptly expressing the work of Jesus and its tragic necessity. He expresses the hopelessness of man without God and the fact that rebirth, like birth, is a passive act to which we contribute nothing. He emphasizes the exclusivity of Christ against all other religious claimants, unashamedly declaring that Christ is the only way to the Father. He is clear that some people are saved and some are not and in consequence he writes about the joys of heaven and the horrors of hell, never attempting to apologize for the existence or utter hopelessness of hell. He is refreshingly old fashioned in much of his theology.

This leads to a related point, that Lucado is not afraid to discuss theology that is too often regarded as outmoded today. As already mentioned, he writes about the reality of hell and about Jesus' claim to be the only Savior. He writes also about the substitutionary nature of Jesus' work--that He took our sin upon Himself and received in Himself the punishment due to sinners--and of the reality of those who are sinners. "Bad news..." he writes after looking at a few of the Ten Commandments, "Your test score indicts you as a thieving, lying, adulterous murderer."

Lucado often turns to good and trusted sources in his footnotes. Perusing the footnotes I noted references to James Boice, Donald Barnhouse, James White, John Blanchard, Randy Alcorn and other sources of sound theological wisdom. Though he often refers to these authors more for stories and anecdotes than theology, it is heartening to see him seeking to learn from such trusted, biblically-minded authors.

Weaknesses

Lucado writes of God's promises and often does so without distinction between those who know God and those who do not. This is doubtlessly a consequence of writing for a dual audience. He uses Bible verses that are clearly written to Christians but does not make that distinction. This is true not only in the words of John 3:16 (does God love everybody in the world without exception or everybody in the world without distinction?) but in other passages as well. This kind of talk can be dangerous--it can have consequences. To assure readers that they qualify as beneficiaries of God's promises whether they know Him or not can cause a great deal of confusion. While Lucado is very clear that Jesus is clear that there are those who are saved and those who are not, it is strange that he does not better delineate who certain promises are for.

There are aspects of Lucado's theology that are a little bit suspect when I compare it to the Bible and to the broad stream of historic Protestant theology. In broad terms, his theology seems to downplay the sovereignty of God in favor of the free will of man. So while humans are sinful, they are not so sinful that without a prior work of God they will never turn to Him. As Lucado explains it, God waits for us to turn to Him, never infringing upon our free will, even saying "God, eternally gracious, never forces his will." Yet this introduces the complication that dead men, men who have perished spiritually, have no good desires and dead men can never be initiators. If we are dead, God must make the first move, even if this involves forcing His will.

I felt there were a few places in the text where it may have been wise to exercise just a little more precision or where the author was just plain inaccurate. For example, Lucado speaks of Jesus going to hell--a common belief but one that seems to owe more to the Apostle's Creed than to the Bible. He also states that, because of the fact that the Father and Son are both God, in God giving His Son God gave Himself. I know what Lucado is attempting to communicate, but it could definitely be said better and in a way that would not breed confusion, especially among those who have little prior theological background.

Lucado employs at least twelve translations of the Bible. I realize that in a format like this there may not be opportunity to explore the meaning of a text and thus it is sometimes most convenient to simply turn to a translation that says things in the way the author feels they can best be said. But often I found the translation used was not the most accurate one and this is especially true when Lucado turns to The Message. A couple of the passages he quoted from that paraphrase bore only a vague resemblance to a more accurate translation.

Conclusion

Those concerns aside, I feel that 3:16 is quite a strong effort and one God is sure to use despite its imperfections. While perhaps not a book I would choose to hand to a person interested in exploring Christianity, I can say with some confidence that it is also not a book that will lead people far astray. Lucado presents the good news of Jesus Christ's atoning death and does so in an attractive way. The millions who are sure to read this book will come face-to-face with one of Scripture's most powerful statements and through it will come face-to-face with the Savior. Though it does not present the whole story, 3:16 will certainly have a lot of value as a means of stirring hearts and beginning spiritual conversations. With marketing efforts focusing, at least in part, on airports, keep an eye out for people reading this one when you travel. The words of John 3:16 have brought many souls to the Savior; I trust this book will serve to help bring many more.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hope We are Invited to Consider, October 4, 2007

By	M. D. Kennedy (Tempe, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 3:16: The Numbers of Hope (Hardcover)

The author of 3:16 The Numbers of Hope, Max Lucado conveys the central message of the New Testament that is contained in John 3:16 in a poetic way. The verse reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." He summarizes the basic Christian faith in a way easy to grasp, but a way that deeply touches the heart: Jesus Christ, the son of God, came into the world to deliver people from sin through his crucifixion and resurrection. This was the holy plan of redemption from the beginning of time.

Max Lucado dedicates a chapter to each phrase that is contained in this verse and explains it with stories from the Bible and everyday life. He starts with the most famous conversation in the Bible, the one between Nicodemus and Jesus regarding "spiritual rebirthing." He then continues on to explain the love of God that moved him to give his one and only son as a sacrifice for all. The author explains how this gift is available to `whomever' and is not limited to only a select few.

While reading this book, I almost felt like I was listening to Max Lucado talk with me face to face. His style welcomes the reader into a heart to heart conversation, where truth is the mediator. He has the ability to transform any abstract idea into a tangible message that finds its way straight to the heart. An example of this is apparent in the following sentence: "...perish... a sobering word. We'd like to dilute, if not delete, the term. Not Jesus. He pounds Do Not Enter signs on every square inch of Satan's gate and tells those hell-bent on entering to do so over his dead body. Even so, some souls insist." (10)

I have read almost every book that this inspiring author has published. It is always a joy and encouragement for me to read his words that help make the message of the Bible as clear to me as the water of a lake on a calm crisp spring morning. Whenever I start reading one of his books, I cannot stop until I am done from cover to cover. It's almost like starting a bag of chips and not being able to stop until the whole bag is gone. His writing is addictive in a most positive way.

Lucado demystifies the Bible stories in his books. I would recommend anybody who would like to get a fresh look at well known stories and lessons of the Bible to read them. He will not disappoint any reader who hungers for the truth. I especially recommend 3:16 The Numbers of Hope for its crystal clear explanations of God's promise and redemptive plan.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope for the Weak in Spirit, October 29, 2007

By	cjsuper (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3:16: The Numbers of Hope (Hardcover)

This book was a pleasure to read both for me, as a Christian who was saved several years ago, and now by a family member, who is struggling with faith. I just know that hope will engulf her and His light will shine upon her and give her soul rest in the hope of eternity. I found answers to things that I thought I knew about the resurrection but was incorrect and I also found myself sharing this book as a bible study with a friend. We both had different views on the contents and what we shared were feelings that helped us both and just created MORE hope. There is nothing you can possess that is greater than God's promise of eternal life. The Kingdom Wins!!! Amen!