Love's Ultimate Sacrifice

Credit:

I used a lot of Jeff Strites material

I used some from Chatgpt

I used Logos.

I didn't document what came from where, so I hesitate to share this but I think it's worth sharing.

“Love’s Ultimate Sacrifice”

John 3:16-17

In the Holy Land there is a cliff:

- outside Jerusalem that looks like the face of a skull:

? You can see indentions in the rock

? that look like the eye sockets of a skull.

Even after twenty centuries of erosion:

? the cliff still resembles a skull. And

? many believe it is the very place

? where Jesus was crucified

Dr. R. G. Lee was visiting Jerusalem for the first time and:

? his group entered the grounds of the Garden Tomb

? where skull hill can be seen.

Suddenly, Dr. Lee:

? broke away from his group and ran ahead

? to the place where you can see

? the face of a skull in the rock face.

When the guide and the rest of the group:

? caught up to Dr. Lee,

? he was on his knees in prayer.

The guide said:

? “Dr. Lee, have you been here before?”

? Dr. Lee looked up with tears in his eyes and said,

“Yes, I was here 2,000 years ago because I was on the heart and in the mind of Jesus when He died for me.”

The Message for you this morning:

- is that God loves you right now where you sit

- He cares for you and has gone to great lengths,

- for you to RECEIVE His love

This message of LOVE is for all the world to hear:

- loneliness & sadness are so common these days

- leaving many souls wondering does anyone care?

- Does anyone LOVE me?

The message for you today is that God cares, and He loves you!

Let us read John 3:16-17:

- in the light of the CROSS of Christ

- the one who paid our debt with His body and blood

- and all that is born out of HIS LOVE for YOU!

“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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

- John 3:16-17 (NIV)

That is the GOSPEL in a nutshell:

- simple enough a child can understand and

- so profound that it is the foundation of our salvation

Two weeks ago we left off with:

- Jesus visiting with the Pharisee Nicodemus.

- Nicodemus was searching for some answers

- about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught that a person must be born again.

This week we are going:

? to finish the conversation

? between Jesus and Nicodemus.

Nicodemus is a Pharisee:

- which means that he was an

- influential religious man

- in religious in Jesus’ time.

He was also a member of the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin:

In the text this morning… Nicodemus learns of God’s GREAT LOVE for the world…

1. The MAGNITUDE of God’s LOVE

"For God so loved the world," John 3:16

It is important to recognize:

- that salvation begins with God;

- it was God’s idea to save us

- He is the first to say to YOU

“I LOVE YOU” - God

God’s love for you has no limitations:

- He withheld nothing when

- He freely gave up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins

- God’s love is the foundation of our salvation

How God could possibly love the world???

- someone who has cheated on their spouse

- a person who in addiction or the adulterer

- struggles with same sex attraction

- how could God love the child abuser, prostitute, thief, alcoholic.

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

In 1944, C.E. Goodman of Hallmark Greeting Cards wrote a slogan:

"When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best."

Ever since:

? that motto has been used to sell greeting cards.

? When we look at Jesus Christ,

? we know that God cared enough to send the very best.

It takes a deep love to give up your best for another.

God loved us before we were His children:

- God loved us when we were at war with Him

- God loved us at our worst

- God loved while we were still dead in our sin