Introduction:
A. We all love to receive gifts, don’t we?
1. Christmas gifts, graduation gifts, wedding gifts, and birthday presents – we love to receive them all!
2. But what do you do when you receive a gift you don’t like or want?
B. Here are the Top Ten Things To Say About A Gift You Don't Like
#10. Hey! Now there's a gift!
#9. Well, well, well ...
#8. Boy, if I had not recently shot up 4 sizes that would've fit.
#7. This is perfect for wearing around the basement.
#6. I hope this never catches fire! It is fire season though. There are lots of unexplained fires.
#5. If the dog buries it, I'll be furious!
#4. I love it -- but I fear the jealousy it will inspire.
#3. Sadly, tomorrow I enter the Federal Witness Protection Program and I can bring nothing with me.
#2. To think - this the year I vowed to give all my gifts to charity.
#1. The Number One Thing to say about a gift you don't like: “I really, really don't deserve this.”
C. Today we are going to talk about a gift that all of us should be happy to receive.
1. It is one that we should not only like, but really love, because it is a gift that all of us desperately need.
D. Let’s return to one of the greatest verses in all the Bible – John 3:16 - 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.
1. Last week we examined the first phrase: “For God so loved the world.”
2. Today we want to focus on the next phrase: “that he gave his one and only son.”
3. There are two parts of that phrase that I want to zoom in on.
a. The first is the fact that Jesus is the one and only son.
b. The second is the fact that God gave us his one and only son.
I. Jesus is The One and Only Son
A. John 3:16 elevates Jesus to the highest of places and crowns him with the most regal of titles: “The One and Only Son.”
1. The Greek word for “one and only” is monogenes which is an adjective made up of two words a. Monos - which means “only.”
b. Genes - which means “species, race, family, offspring, or kind.”
2. When used in the Bible, “one and only” almost always describes a parent-child relationship.
a. Luke employs it to identify the widow’s son: “the only son of his mother” (Lk. 7:12).
b. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham was ready to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac. (Heb. 11:17)
3. John, the apostle and writer of one of the Gospels and several NT letters used the phrase – “one and only” 5 times, in each case he used it to highlight the unparalleled relationship between Jesus and God.
a. Look with me at the four other times (other than John 3:16) that John called Jesus the one and only Son of God.
b. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (1:14)
c. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. (1:18)
d. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (3:18)
e. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 Jn. 4:9)
4. In three of the cases, monogenes modifies the noun Son.
a. In the two other cases, the word Son doesn’t appear, but is assumed as the monogenes is “from the Father” and “at the Father’s side.” (John 1:14, 18)
5. Therefore, we understand that John uses this phrase to highlight the unique relationship between Jesus and God.
a. Although God is the father of all humanity, Jesus alone is the monogenetic Son of God.
6. Other translations translate monogenes as “the only begotten Son,” rather than “the one and only Son.”
a. Unlike most children who are begotten by their parents, Jesus wasn’t begotten in the sense that he was conceived and had a beginning.
b. Rather, Jesus is the only begotten in the sense that He and God the Father have the same essence, the same eternal life span, the same unending wisdom, and the same ulimited power.
B. Every quality we attribute to God, we can also attribute to Jesus.
1. Jesus claimed, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (Jn. 14:9)
2. The Hebrew writer agrees: The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Heb. 1:3)
3. Notice also what Paul wrote about Jesus in Colossians 1: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col. 1:15-20)
a. Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
b. Jesus is the creator.
c. Jesus is the supreme one.
d. Jesus is the sustainer of all things.
e. Jesus is the reconciler.
4. Let’s notice one other verse – Matthew 11:27 – Jesus said, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
a. In other words, Jesus has been given authority over all things.
b. And Jesus is in a position to reveal the Father, because He knows the Father better than anyone else.
c. Jesus enjoys an intimacy with God and a mutuality that God the Father shares with no one else.
C. Jesus is indeed “the one and only Son.”
1. But the good news about all of that is that this gives Jesus the unique opportunity to serve us.
2. Look again at Mt. 11:27 and the verses that follow: All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
3. Jesus continued in Verse 28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11:28-30)
a. Jesus wants to help us carry our burdens and give us rest.
b. Jesus wants to teach us what he knows – learn from me, he says.
4. Who here doesn’t need the rest that Jesus offers?
a. Who here doesn’t need to learn what Jesus wants to teach?
D. So John 3:16 declares that Jesus is the “one and only Son,” but also declares something else about that Son.
II. God Gave Jesus Up for Us
A. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”
1. Our Scripture reading from 1 John 4 declares: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 Jn 4:9-10)
2. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is the Lamb of God, offered as a sin offering on our behalf.
B. A person might respond: “I don’t need God to give anyone for me. I’ve led a good life. I’ve held a good job. People respect me. My wife and children love me. I don’t need God to give his son for me.”
1. But that’s where the person is so wrong.
2. Every person needs the gift of God’s one and only Son.
C. Our problem and our need all begins in the heart.
1. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (NKJV).
2. God, the Spiritual Cardiologist scans our hearts and finds that it is greatly diseased: For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean. (Mk. 7:21-22)
3. Scripture declares: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:23)
D. Do any of us deny our problem with sin?
1. If so, let’s try this little test.
2. Let’s measure ourselves against four of the basic standards of the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament – these principles are also found in the New Testament.
3. The Bible declares, “You must not steal” (Ex. 20:15)
a. Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip? A parking place? Thief!
4. The Bible declares, “You must not lie” (Ex. 20:16)
a. Those who say they haven’t just did, right?
b. There is all kinds of lying: big lies and little white lies, there are exaggerations, and leaving false impressions.
5. The Bible declares, “You must not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14)
a. Jesus said that if you look at a woman with lust, you’ve committed adultery in your heart (Mt. 5:28)
6. The Bible declares, “You must not murder” (Ex. 20:13)
a. Before we claim innocence, we should remember that Jesus equated murder with anger.
b. Some of us assassinate in our hearts a dozen drivers a day on the morning commute.
7. So how did you do on our little test? Not so good, right?
a. John set the record straight: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 Jn. 1:8)
8. So the bad news from our spiritual Cardiologist is that we have a serious heart problem.
E. Imagine going to the physical Cardiologist and being told that you have a heart problem and that you need a heart transplant.
1. That kind of thing happens often.
2. But then imagine if the Cardiologist were to say to you, “I have a healthy heart, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to trade hearts with you. I’ll give you my healthy heart, and I’ll take your diseased heart.”
3. I don’t think you will find anyone who will do that, but that’s exactly what Jesus did for us.
F. Jesus is the sinless, one and only, Son of God, who traded hearts and places with us.
1. Paul explained this in 2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2. Paul explained in Galatians 3:13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
3. 1 Corinthians 15:3 declares, “Christ died for our sins.”
4. Isaiah 53:5-6 clearly explains this exchange that Jesus made for us: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
G. Although Jesus was healthy, He took our disease upon himself.
1. Although we are diseased, we who accept his offer are pronounced healthy.
2. More than just being pardoned, we are declared innocent.
3. Let’s look back at that passage from Romans 3 that declared our guilt and see how we can be declared innocent: There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Rom. 3:23-25)
4. We are justified freely by his grace, and so in Christ it becomes just as if I had never sinned.
5. My slate is wiped clean, because of Jesus. My sins are forgiven and forgotten.
6. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)
H. That’s what Jesus, God the Son, did for us.
1. Like the good shepherd, he laid down his life for us. (Jn. 10:11)
2. There is no greater love than that. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).
3. But when Jesus died for us, we weren’t even his friends.
4. Romans 5 says: Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:7-8)
I. This is what God the Father allowed His Son to do for us.
1. As a husband and father, I can relate to being willing to give up myself for my wife and children.
a. I’ll step in front and take a bullet for them. I’ll gladly give my life for my wife and three daughters.
b. I might do the same for some of you.
c. But I can’t imagine giving up one of my children for anyone!
2. That is what God did for us – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.
a. Someone has said that God is like Hallmark – He cared enough to give the very best.
b. God has given the most precious gift He could possibly give.
c. I can only imagine the pain the Father endured as his one and only Son was beaten, nailed to the cross, jeered by the crowd, and slowly died there on the cross.
d. And to think that God had the power to stop it at any point, but He didn’t because He loved us and wanted to save us.
Conclusion:
A. Next week, Lord willing, we will return to this text and examine in detail what our response should be to such a gift.
1. But for now, let’s briefly ask and answer this question: What is it that God asks us to do in response to His sacrifice?
2. The answer is: God wants us to offer our lives to Him in response to the life He offered for us.
3. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says it all: For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
4. We need to receive the gift of Jesus and then demonstrate how much He and His sacrifice mean to us by living our lives for Him.
5. Our life song and story must be: He died for me, so I live for Him.
6. He died for you, will you live for Him?
Resources:
“3:16 – The Numbers of Hope” by Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2007
