Introduction:
A. One day, the children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch.
1. At the end of the cafeteria line was a large pile of apples.
2. The nun had made a note, and posted it above the pile of apples, “Take only one. God is watching.”
3. Out in the cafeteria on a table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
4. One child whispered to another, “Take all you want. God is watching the apples.”
B. Is that your view of God – A big eye in the sky always watching?
1. If not, then what is your view of God?
2. A distant deity on vacation?
3. An old man with a long gray beard who has lost his strength?
4. An angry policeman just looking for ways to issue tickets?
C. While growing up, one of my favorite movies was the Wizard of Oz.
1. Several parts of it used to scare me – including the flying monkeys and the wicked witch.
2. Perhaps the scariest scene to me as a boy was the part where Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion were going down that long, dimly lit hallway that led them to the Wizard.
3. As they entered the large inner sanctum they were greeted by explosions and billows of green smoke, and a giant, menacing, bodiless head with a booming voice who said, “I am Oz, the great and terrible! Who are you?”
4. As Dorothy attempted a response, the Wizard boomed, “Silence! The great and powerful Oz knows why you are here! Step forward Tin Man.”
5. As the Tin Man stepped forward, shaking with great trepidation, the Wizard boomed, “You dare come to me for a heart, you clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk?”
D. Is that your image of the God of heaven and earth and how He treats us?
1. What is the image of God that Jesus conveyed here in John 3:16.
2. Let’s return today to what is perhaps the greatest verse in all the Bible – John 3:16.
3. Jesus declared, “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.”
4. Twenty-six words of hope.
E. You might have recognized that I have borrowed the title for this short series from a book by Max Lucado named “3:16 – The Numbers of Hope.”
1. What Lucado covers in 12 chapters, I hope to address in 5 sermons.
2. Last week, we introduced the context of John 3:16 and talked about the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.
3. Today, we want to work with the first part of John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…”
4. Let’s examine the three parts of this simple sentence – For God – so loved – the world.
I. For God
A. Most of us here this morning have flown in a commercial airplane, right? Raise your hand if you have flown on a commercial airplane.
1. I find flying to be a thrilling experience, but I know that many people think otherwise about flying.
2. There are many great parallels between flying and life.
3. For one, when we get onto an airplane, we entrust our lives to a pilot.
a. Most of the time we don’t get to meet them or ask them about their credentials and experience, but we know they are up there in front, behind that security door.
b. We trust that he or she knows what they are doing and where they are going.
c. No matter what turbulence or mechanical difficulty we face, we trust the pilot to carry us through.
4. God is the pilot of the universe and of our lives.
a. If we are smart, we will fasten our seat belt, lean back in our seat and enjoy the ride, while God does the driving.
B. As Jesus began John 3:16, he began by introducing us to the pilot, to God himself.
1. Jesus assumes what Scripture declares – God is.
2. John 3:16 begins as the Bible begins with the existence of God being taken for granted.
3. The Bible begins in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
4. The Bible says that only a fool would think otherwise – “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” (Ps. 14:1)
5. Do you struggle believing that there is a God? Let’s consider some proofs of God’s existence.
C. First of all, look above.
1. Look at the world around us.
2. On a clear night, venture away from the city lights and look up at the sky.
a. The fuzzy band of white light is our galaxy, the Milky Way – One hundred billion stars!
b. And our galaxy is one of billions of others – Wow! Let that sink in!
c. Who can conceive of such a universe, let alone infinite numbers of universes?
3. Our universe is God’s preeminent missionary.
a. Psalm 19 says: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. (Ps. 19:1-3)
b. A house implies a builder; a painting suggests a painter; a watch necessitates a watchmaker.
c. Don’t stars suggest a star maker? Doesn’t creation imply a creator?
4. When in doubt, look above, “The heavens declare His righteousness.” (Ps. 97:6)
D. Second, look within.
1. Look within you at your sense of right and wrong, your code of ethics.
a. Somehow even as a child, you knew it was wrong to hurt people and right to help them.
b. Who told you so? Who says so?
c. What is this magnetic pole that pulls the needles on the compass of our conscience, if not God?
2. And consider the fact that we are not alone with our principles.
a. Common virtues connect us all.
b. Every culture has frowned upon selfishness and celebrated courage.
c. Every culture has punished dishonesty and rewarded nobility.
d. A universal standard or code exists.
e. We may violate or ignore the code, but we can’t deny it.
3. The conscience is God’s fingerprint. It is a proof of His existence.
E. So the heavens above and the moral code within indicate the presence of an occupied cockpit.
1. Someone got this plane airborne and it wasn’t any of us.
2. There is a pilot, and he is unlike anyone we’ve ever seen or met.
F. The prophet Isaiah asks, “To whom, then, will you compare God?” (Isa. 40:18).
1. The apostle Paul said: “Human hands can’t serve his needs - for he has no needs” (Acts 17:25 NLT).
2. You and I start our days needy. Basic needs prompt us to climb out of bed everyday.
3. Not God. He is uncreated and is self-sustaining. He depends on nothing and no one.
4. Jesus declared, “The Father has life in himself.” (Jn. 5:26)
a. God is not just alive, but He is life itself and He gives life.
5. God always is and has always been.
a. The Bible says: Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Ps. 90:2)
6. So God never began and will never cease.
a. The Bible says: How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. (Job 36:26)
b. God is the eternal God (Rom. 16:26)
7. Most staggering of all, God has never messed up. Not once.
a. God is holy and God is perfect.
b. Every decision, exact. Each word, appropriate. Never out-of-bounds or out of place.
c. God is not even tempted to make a mistake.
d. God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 Jn. 1:5).
e. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13).
8. When we tally all this up – No needs, no age, no sin…No wonder God said, “I am God, and there is none like me.”
G. But is God’s greatness good news?
1. When Isaiah saw it, he came unraveled, he said: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)
2. When Peter saw the power of Jesus he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord,; I am a sinful man.” (Lk. 5:8)
3. Shouldn’t the immensity and the power and the perfection of God intimidate us?
4. Yes it should, and it would overwhelm us if it were not for the next two words of John 3:16.
II. So Loved – “For God so loved…”
A. God not only loves, God is love. (1 Jn. 4:8)
1. Our Scripture reading from Psalm 103 included this verse: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (vs. 8)
2. Later, in verse 17, we read: But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children.
B. Isn’t it amazing that the thing that characterizes God more than anything else is His love?
1. He is abounding in love.
2. When Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus, one of the things he prayed that they would be able to grasp was God’s love. He prayed: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:17-19)
3. This is my prayer for all of us – that we might grasp how much God loves us. How much God loves you!
C. So God is the subject, love is the verb, and the object of God’s love is the world.
III. The World – “For God so loved the world.”
A. Certainly God loves all his creation, which includes the universe and the physical world, but the “world” Jesus is talking about here is the world of people.
1. God is certainly so much bigger and better than us because as Walter Wilson said, “No one in all the world could possibly love everyone in the world. In fact most people find it difficult to love all their relatives.”
2. But the truth of the matter is that God does love everyone.
a. God loves the Jews, but he also loves the Russians, Chinese, Arabs and Americans.
b. God loves people of all colors – “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”
c. God loves the saints, and God loves the sinners.
d. God loves the sinner not the sin.
3. God loves the world – people of all nationalities, colors, education, and character.
B. And God’s love is unconditional.
1. God loves because of who and what God is, not because who and what we are.
2. So God’s love cannot be won or lost – it just is and it does not change.
3. Our goodness cannot win God’s love and our badness cannot cause us to lose it.
4. Certainly we can resist or reject God’s love, but God loves us none-the-less.
C. God used a living story in the Old Testament to illustrate the steadfast love that God has for his fickle people.
1. It is the wonderful story of the prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer.
a. Contrary to the name, Gomer was a female.
b. She was an unfaithful woman, married to a remarkable man.
2. Gomer hopped from one lover to another and in the process she ruined her life and shattered Hosea’s heart.
a. She became destitute, and was placed for sale in a slave market.
b. Can you guess who stepped forward to buy her? It was Hosea.
3. The Bible says: The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” (Hosea 3:1)
4. God’s love is patient and forgiving and is inexhaustible.
Conclusion:
A. So what is the most important thing that Jesus wants us to know today – John 3:16 – For God so loved the world...
1. Karl Barth, the famed theologian, was once asked, “What is the greatest thought you ever had?” His answer: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
B. When a man named Steve Henning of Huntley, Illinois, was 2 years old, he contracted spinal meningitis.
1. It was the winter of 1943, and because of WWII, there was a shortage of penicillin.
2. Without proper treatment, Steve lost his hearing.
3. For 57 years, Steve could not hear music, laughter, or human speech.
4. Even though he lived a full life, Steve still longed to hear the voices of those he loved.
5. In 2001, Steve underwent a surgical procedure that implanted a cochlear implant that would allow sound waves to bypass the non-functioning part of his ear.
a. Because the implanted device could not be activated until the swelling decreased, they had to wait for six weeks to know if the surgery was successful.
b. When that day finally arrived, the audiologist programmed and activated the implant, and invited Steve’s wife to say something to him.
c. Steve’s wife, Pat, leaned toward her husband and gently said, “I love you.”
d. For the first time in six decades, Steve could hear.
e. And the first words he ever heard his wife utter, were words of love for him.
C. If there is one thing I could wish for each one of us here today is to be able to clearly hear the voice of God saying what God so very much wants us to hear – “I love you.”
1. For God so loved the world – He really, really loves us! He really, really loves you!
2. Here’s a famous quote from another of Max Lucado’s books: “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary. Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.”
D. Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the next phrase of John 3:16, but for today, I hope we can simply glory in the simple truth that there is a God and He loves us.
1. There is no one like our God.
2. There is no love like God’s love.
Resources:
“3:16 – The Numbers of Hope” by Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2007
“What’s Love God To Do With It?” Sermon by David Ward, SermonCentral.com
“John 3:16 – The Greatest Story Ever Told” Sermon by Joseph Wallis
