John 3:16
The Unconquerable Love of God
Introduction - Listening Well Leads to Success
Erik Weihenmayer is blind, yet on May 25, 2001, he reached the peak of Mt. Everest. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didn’t stop him. On a mountain where 90 percent of climbers never make it to the top—and 165 have died trying since 1953—Erik succeeded, in large measure because he listened well.
He listened to the little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him, so he would know what direction to go.
He listened to the voice of teammates who would shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he would know what direction not to go.
He listened to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross.
When we take a perilous journey, listening well can make all the difference.
The greatest journey you will ever make is the eternal journey God has mapped out for you. Listening well from God will mean life or death, eternal life with God or eternal damnation from Him. Your journey’s success depends on your willingness to listen and follow the call of God.
As we examine the unconquerable love of God found in John 3:16, take note of the three aspects of God’s love.
First, we discover…
THE INTENSITY OF GOD’S LOVE 16a
For God so loved the world…
God has a great depth in his love. He “so” loved the world. Nothing compares to the love that God has for his creation. We see it first in…
His PASSION
God has a passion for you and me. He is a jealous God. He does not want any compromised or shared love. We belong to him. He had such a passion that he was willing to let his Son die for sinners like you and me. His passion reveals the intensity of his love. Then, we see it in…
His PURPOSE
The Father sent Jesus, the God-man, to redeem those who are sinners. Jesus believed in the mission the Father sent for him to do. He desired a relationship with us and “so” loved us that he died for us. His mission statement is found in Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. LK 19:10
Glory, what a Savior! The intensity of God’s love was so great that he then gave us…
His PROMISE
God’s Word can never be broken. He keeps his word and delivers those who come to him.
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no way cast out. John 6:37
It is amazing how much God loves us. He fought the greatest battle known to mankind with an intense love!
Ill – Intense Battle
On October 2, 1864, one of the worst battles of the American Civil War was fought. 2800 Confederate soldiers squared off against 4500 Union soldiers. The battle is forever recorded in American history as one of the worst atrocities that has ever occurred on US soil. After a day of intense fighting, shots continued throughout the night muffling the cries of wounded Union soldiers. Later an eyewitness to the carnage reported that a Confederate renegade walked up to a wounded Union cavalry soldier identified as Crawford Hazelwood and asked him if he wanted to be shot in the face or the back. As the soldier pleaded for his life, he was shot in the face. With the intense fighting and the great loss of life, you would think that the battle had been fought for a great cause, fought for some great strategic value to shorten the war; but, the truth is, the battle was fought over a mineral. It was a mineral so valuable that more wars have been fought over it than gold. The battle was waged for salt. One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought over Saltville, VA--the largest supplier of salt to the Confederate army.
As great and ferocious a battle the Civil War may have had, none was as great as the battle on Golgotha! Jesus accomplished what no one could ever do…secure our salvation through his death!
Not only do we see the intensity of God’s love but we also sense the…
THE INTEGRITY OF GOD’S LOVE 16b
That He gave His only begotten Son…
God not only had an intensity in his love but he actually did something about it! He would sacrifice his Son and fulfill the scriptures in accomplishing this act. In doing so we find it…
It’s UNBELIEVABLE
It’s what I call the WOW factor…he did it for me? For the Righteous to die for the unrighteous, the Holy for the unholy, the Perfect for the imperfect is inexplicable. Not only is it unbelievable but…
It’s INCOMPARABLE
How much is our soul worth. Enough for the Son of God to take up MY cross and give his life. Nothing can compare to the act Jesus did for you and me. Not only is it unbelievable and incomparable but…
It’s IMMEASURABLE
God has blessed us with an unimaginable and immeasurable gift…eternal life. It cannot be earned and cannot be lost. It cannot be purchased and yet is freely given to ALL who desire it. Romans 8 describes the measure of God’s love for us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. RM 8:38-39
What a great gift God has given to us!
Ill – Afterlife
An elderly couple passed away and found themselves at the pearly gates. Peter was there to welcome them. First he showed them their mansion. The man overwhelmed by the sheer luxury of it all asked, "How much does this place cost per night?" Peter replied, "Sir, this is Heaven, it doesn’t cost anything." Then Peter took them to the dining room where table upon table was piled high with the most delicious foods you could imagine. Again overwhelmed by the glory of it all the man asked, "How much for the meals?" Peter said, "You forget, this is Heaven, it’s free." Peter then took them out back where they saw a fantastically beautiful golf course. As the man stood there open-mouthed Peter said, "Now before you ask, there are no greens fees, this is Heaven, everything is free." The man looked at his wife and said, "You and your confounded bran muffins, I could have been here 10 years ago!"
Sometimes when people think of heaven they think of it as dull and boring. This joke captures the promise of eternal life - a place of unbelievable beauty and delight.
So not only do we see the intensity and integrity of God’s love but we also discover…
THE INGENUITY OF GOD’S LOVE 16c
That whosoever believes in Him…
God has completed the work. Religion is described as what we DO while a relationship with God through Jesus is what has been DONE. He completed the task. We discover the ingenuity of God’s love through…
God’s INVITATION
He has invited YOU to join the party! It is an open invitation that it is only withdrawn when rejected by you. Whether you are 20 or 60 years of age, he has given you an opportunity to join him. He never forces you to love or accept him. True love gives a choice. Even as he has given you an open invitation there will always be…
Man’s OBJECTIONS
Just as “Old Blue-eyes” Frank Sinatra sang “I did it my way”, many choose to do it their way. They want religion rather than regeneration. Some desire ease of labor more than “emptiness” of self. Man will ALWAYS have objections to God’s invitation. As God issues the invitation and man raises his objections there is…
A final REALIZATION
That final realization is that God sets the standard and requirements. We were not created to dabble with God’s Ten Commandments, yet man trivializes God’s holiness. God sets the rules. Our purpose is to simply respond, “Yes, Lord.”
Ill – Jesus’ Cross – Final week
The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son’s school.
"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son’s third grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately." The mother began to grow worried.
The teacher continued, "Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper:
"The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work.
"Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begins to beg, ’Please Mr. Ant, you have much food. Please let me eat, too.’" Then I said, "Boys and girls, your job is to write the ending to the story."
"Your son, Mark, raised his hand. ’Teacher, may I draw a picture?’
"’Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story.’
"As in all the years past, most of the students said the ant shared his food through the winter, and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ’No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now, I have just enough food for myself.’ So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.
"But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ’So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died.’
"And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses."
God has provided the way. Will you accept his invitation and say yes?
