For God So Loved The World Series

Introduction

Every Easter, churches worldwide see a noticeable increase in attendance.

That is true for our church as well.

Why is that?

Why do so many people attend church on Easter Sunday and not on any other Sunday?

Perhaps it is because for some that is the religious thing to do. Family members expect them to attend at Easter and so they do.

Perhaps some people attend Easter services because they are hedging their bets. There may be something to the resurrection of Jesus and they want to be seen doing the right thing.

Perhaps some people attend Easter services out of guilt. They wish that by attending an Easter service their guilt may be assuaged.

Perhaps some people attend Easter services to find hope. They know they are struggling in life and they would love to have hope for today—and for the future.

Whatever the reason that brought you here today, on behalf of our church family, I want to say, “Welcome!” I am so glad that you have joined us today.

Today, I want to examine a verse in the Bible that you probably know by heart. It is the best-known verse in the entire Bible. I am, of course, referring to John 3:16.

The context for John 3:16 is when a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus came to see Jesus one night.

He had heard of Jesus’ teaching. He had also heard of Jesus’ miracles.

Perhaps Nicodemus had even heard Jesus in person and seen Jesus perform miracles.

Regardless, Nicodemus could not wrap his head around what God was doing through Jesus.

Almost certainly, Nicodemus was like the crowds in that he sensed that there was something unique about Jesus but he had an inadequate theological understanding that Jesus was the Savior of sinners whom God had sent to the world.

Nicodemus and Jesus engaged in a conversation about what God was doing through Jesus.

Then, in John 3:16, Jesus gave the most famous summary of the gospel in the entire Bible.

Scripture

Let’s read John 3:16:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Lesson

John 3:16 is the greatest summary of the gospel in the entire Bible.

I don’t know who first came up with the following outline, but I want to use it today:

1. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Lover

2. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Degree

3. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Number

4. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Act

5. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Gift

6. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Invitation

7. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Simplicity

8. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Person

9. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Deliverance

10. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Difference

11. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Certainty

12. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Possession

I. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Lover

First, John 3:16 tells us about the greatest lover: “For God.…”

The Bible begins with these words in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” We soon learn that God created the world and everything in it.

God created Adam and Eve as the pinnacle of his creation. They enjoyed a wonderful friendship with God who loved them.

Sometime after God created our first parents, Adam and Eve, they fell into sin.

Their fellowship with God was broken because of their sin and they were banished from his presence.

But, because God is a God of love, he purposed to have a relationship with men and women.

So he set into place a plan to send his very own Son to reconcile sinful men and women with himself.

Of course, that did not happen immediately.

It took thousands of years before God’s Son was born in Bethlehem to a teenage girl named Mary. She named the boy Jesus.

Jesus grew up in obscurity in a village called Nazareth in Galilee.

When he was thirty years old, Jesus began his public ministry.

Jesus quickly attracted a lot of attention because of his teaching and his miracles.

That is when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He wanted to know all about Jesus.

That brings us to where Jesus summarized who he was: It all began with the greatest lover, his Heavenly Father, God.

II. John 3:16 Tells Us About the Greatest Degree

Second, John 3:16 tells us about the greatest degree: “…so loved….”

The Greek verb “loved” (egapesen) is in a prominent position in the Greek text.

Jesus wanted Nicodemus to know that God’s motive for sending him was because God “so loved” the world.