Love the World
John 3:16-21
John 3:16 rings out loud and clear, “God so loved the world…” As I have traveled to some of our Free Methodist mission work I have witnessed the suffering of different people. I asked myself, “If God loves the world, why does he allow innocent people to suffer?”
In Haiti we traveled back roads to visit Albert Schweitzer Hospital. There I saw little babies with bloated stomachs lying helplessly from malnutrition. The hospital was doing their best to show God’s love to these little babies, but why do they have to suffer?
In Port-A-Prince Haiti as we traveled along the back streets you could see family after family living in cardboard houses and out on the street begging for food to eat.
In China we traveled by boat to an island caring for men and women with no feet or hands caused by leprosy. The sight of these suffering people was sickening.
I did see the love of God at work in the lives of missionaries caring for the sick. Ruth Winslow was love in action as she washed away dead skin and put fresh dressings on leprous sores.
What is Jesus talking about when he told Nicodemus “God so loved the world…?” Jesus told Nicodemus that God sent his one and only son not to condemn the world but to save the world.
The world Jesus is talking about needs saving.
I. World – an Evil System
The world that Jesus came to save is a world system that is evil, under the control of the god of this world, Satan. Jesus taught that as long as we live in this evil world system there will be suffering and pain. Jesus said that in this world we would have “tribulation.” The same root word used for “tribulation” is used for pressing out grapes into juice.
The Apostle Paul speaks of this evil world system in II Corinthians 4:4, “Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shinning upon them. They don’t understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” NLT
Satan, the god of this evil world system, is your chief enemy. The Apostle Peter gives this warning, “Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a raring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that Christians all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” I Peter 5:8-9
I’m afraid that the average American easily becomes inoculated to the basic teachings of scripture. Fairly recent polls show that 84 % of Americans believe in God. If you asked person on the street if he is a Christian he would tell you, “Yes, I’m as good a Christian as the next person.” “Who’s lost, I know exactly where I’m going.” The term Christian has lost its true meaning as a Christ follower. Many follow Jesus as such a distance they need telephoto lens to see Jesus. True followers are so close in following the steps of Jesus they get dusty.
Rather than turn to God, people turn to science, education, politics, protests, self – help resources. God is mocked on television and in movies, God is preached like a chameleon in some places. You can form god to meet your needs. Hearts become hardened to the creator God, maker of heaven and earth.
People who turn to the god of their inner self become hardened to the person of Jesus Christ. Hard-hearted people are confused. Their minds are full of darkness and wander far from God because they have closed their minds to the true light of the Gospel. Look at Ephesians 4:17-19 and see how close it describes the morality in America today: “With the Lord’s authority let me say this: Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong; and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.”
Hard hearts result in dysfunctional families. Hard hearts smash good marriage relationships. Satan the god of this world not only blinds eyes, but also hardens hearts so people cannot experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ.
Scriptures warn us against compromising and conforming to the evil systems of this world. “Stop loving this evil world and all that is offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.” I John 2:15-17
The Apostle John repeats the same theme Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, “Whoever believes in me has eternal life and will not perish…” John 3:16 b John gave the promise that all who do the will of God will live forever.
The end result of conforming and living according to this evil world system is death, eternal death. Robert Jeffress did a study of the scriptures concerning the teachings of Jesus and found that Jesus spoke about Hell 13% of the time in his teachings. Jesus said that Hell was located outside the boundaries of heaven. Jesus clearly taught that separation from God was eternal. There is no graduation day from hell. “They will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46
Jesus came to our fallen world and provided salvation to all who believe. John 3:16-17 NLT “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
Jesus came into this evil world system on a mission: I John 3:7-8, “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this (people who claim to be Christians and keep on sinning): When people do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the Devil.” NLT
The good news is that in Jesus Christ we become overcomes of this world system. Jesus came to give us victory and in his power we conquer the Devil’s tricks and accusations. “For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” I John 5:4-5
There is only one way to have victory over the evil world system, and that is through the person of Jesus Christ.
II. World – Loved by God
The world that Jesus is talking about in John 3:16 is people. God loves people and desires that all believe and have eternal life and not perish. All people matter to God.
Exhibit A of God love is Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. No reason is given why he came at night. Maybe both he and Jesus were too busy during the day and at night was more convenient to meet. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and respected Jewish teacher. When Nicodemus approached Jesus, Jesus cut to the core of Nicodemus’s need and said: “Nicodemus, unless you are born again you will not see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
From the viewpoint of Nicodemus he was assured of being in God’s Kingdom because he was a Hebrew, descendant of Abraham. He was a monotheist and not only knew the Jewish law, but practiced the Jewish law.
There are many people who believe that what they believe will save them. Many people believe that a living a good life will save them. The fact is that all a persons beliefs and good works fall short of the Kingdom of God.
Historic Judaism sees salvation as a Judgment Day decision based on morality. (You’ll be okay if your good deeds out-weigh your bad. Hindus anticipate multiple reincarnations in the soul’s journey through the Cosmos. Buddhism grades your life according to the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Muslims earn their way to Allah by performing the duties of the Five Pillars of Faith. Jesus stands amidst all the religious world leaders and declares: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Nicodemus believed his birthright as a Jew guaranteed his place in the Kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus he needed more than being born a Jew. He needed to be born again – a spiritual birth from above.
Nicodemus looked at being born again as something physical, but Jesus was talking about being born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus explained the new birth was by faith.
Jesus referred back to the wilderness wanderings in the desert when the children of Israel complained against God and Moses. They were tired of the wretched manna sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Lord sent poisonous snakes among them and all who were bitten died,
The people confessed their sin and God told Moses to make a brass replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. All who looked at the snake would live.
Jesus told Nicodemus that all who look to Jesus by faith and believe in him would live. All who turn to Jesus, Jew and Gentile, will receive eternal life. It is by faith that a person looks. It is possible to refuse to look. God has given everyone in his creation the gift of free will. Every individual can reject or choose to receive God’s love.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus he spoke with authority. Nicodemus though a good man, a religious man, a leader of the Jews, was a sinner and needed God’s saving grace. Jesus comes to all of us and says with authority, “I love you and my grace is sufficient for you. You can have the assurance of being part of my Kingdom.”
Have you seen the TV program, “Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?” Many times the fifth graders on the program are smarter and know more answers than college graduates.
Say you are the teacher of a fifth grade class. You are studying astronomy and discussing the first mission to the moon. The students ask the teacher various questions: “What does moon-dust feel like?” “Is it hard to swallow when there’s no gravity?” “How do you go to the bathroom?”
The teacher does the best she or he can do with answers: “I think…I would guess…or perhaps…”
The next day the teacher has a special guest, Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who said, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The teacher invites the children to ask Astronaut Armstrong their questions. Armstrong answers each with certainty. He knows the moon; he walked on it. No speculation or hesitation, he speaks with authority.
Jesus spoke with authority. Jesus was living out the truth, that “God gave His love for us even while we were yet sinners Jesus died for us.” Romans 5:8
The depth of God’s love is hard for us to grasp. When we do unlovely things He still loves us. God’s love goes beyond human understanding. God’s love sees us through the darkest valleys in our life. God loves us and will never let go until the end.
A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn’t want his mother to walk with him.
She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.
She asked a neighbor if she would please follow her son to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn’t notice her. The neighbor said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed. The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew.
She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy’ s little friend noticed the same lady was following them, as she seemed to do every day all week.
Finally she said to Timmy, ’Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?’
Timmy nonchalantly replied, ’Yeah, I know who she is.’
The little girl said, ’Well, who is she?’
’That’s just Shirley Goodnest,’ Timmy replied, ’and her daughter Marcy.’ ’Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?’ ’Well,’ Timmy explained, ’every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, ’cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, ’Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life’, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!’
George Matheson was told as a teenager that he was going blind. He didn’t let his lack of sight deter him from attending the University of Glasgow in 1861 at the age of nineteen. By the time he finished graduate seminary studies he was blind.
His fiancée returned his engagement ring with a note: “I cannot see my way clear to go through life bound by the chins of marriage to a blind man.”
Matheson never married. He adapted to his sightless world but never recovered from his broken heart. He became an effective pastor and led an inspiring life.
When he attended his sister’s wedding the ceremony brought back painful memories of the love he had lost. He turned to the Lord for strength and on June 6, 1882 he wrote:
O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in
Thee; I give thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean
depts. Is flow may richer, fuller be.”
If you miss out on God’s love it will be in spite of all that God does for you. The message Jesus gave to Nicodemus is the same message He gives to 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.” John 3:16
You can add your name to John 3:16, “For God so loved ___________that he gave his one and only Son, that if _____________ believes in him ____________ shall not perish but have eternal life.”
You have a choice – conform and compromise to this evil world system, or accept God’s love and experience a spiritual birth from above with the assurance that you have eternal life.
Invitation and prayer
