Love’s Real, FEEL it!
John 3:16-21
Introduction
Ag: video illustration from Sermon Central: (http://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/this-is-love-4811-detail.asp)
This Is Love I can think of no greater love than the love of God demonstrated in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Truly twitter was right when it said, “Love’s eternal, FEEL it!”
TS: There are many verses about God’s love in the Bible.
Our text this morning, contains what is likely the best known verse not just about love, but its address pops up everywhere.
John 3:16 signs appear all the time. (PowerPoint display some). But what does it mean?
Many know the sign “John 3:16” but have never read the verse. Some have read the verse, yet still don’t know what it all means.
The Gideons related a testimony of one many who saw a sign during a football game and looked it up. Through this verse, He came to know the Savior. He understood and applied this passage to his life.
John 3 records an encounter with a Pharisee, Nicodemus, and Jesus.
Nidodemus came to Jesus by night and conferred with Him.
Jesus told Nicodemus that unless he was born again, he couldn’t enter the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus then asked how that could happen and Jesus explained it in our text.
Rs: We need to know the Love of God these verses describe. We need to not just see it and read it. We need to apply it to our lives as well.
Read John 3:14-21
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[b] have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Let us begin today by examining…
God’s Love
John 3:16 begins this way, “For God so loved the world….”
It all begins with God. God loved us.
God looked upon all mankind and said, “I love you.”
This love is an unconditional love based solely upon His nature and choice.
John is 1 John 4:8 says, “8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Love is part of His nature.
It is who He is. In Him, we find the ultimate example of love.
His love for us moved Him to an unprecedented action, “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….”
IL: “A grandfather found his grandson, jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, “Out, Gramp, out.”
It was only natural for Grandfather to reach down to lift the little fellow out of his predicament; but as he did, the mother of the child stepped up and said, “No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you must stay in.”
The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart, but the mother’s firmness in correcting her son for misbehavior must not be lightly taken. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found a way. The grandfather could not take the youngster out of the playpen, so he crawled in with him.—By Fred W. Parsons, These Times, March 1969.
That is what God did for us when He sent His Son to earth.
God the Son took on flesh, left heaven for earth, and became a man.
He grew through the normal stages of human development like us
helplessness of being an infant.
struggles of learning to walk and talk as a toddler.
joyous years of being a child.
navigated through the dangerous waters of being an adolescent.
grew to become an adult.
In love, He got in the playpen with us and went through what we go through. He faced every temptation just as we do, but chose not to sin.
Think about what it must have been like to be His sibling?
Jesus had brothers and sisters born to Joseph and Mary.
They had to live with a big brother who could do no wrong.
He never lied,
never threw a fit,
never violated any law of God.
Man, talk about pressure! I would hate to live in Jesus’ shadow!
But that isn’t all. Ultimately, His love is displayed in
God’s Sacrifice
IL: C. S. Lewis described God’s love like this: "God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creations in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing—or should we say ‘seeing’?—the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stakes of beams, the nails driven through the nerves of His hands, the repeated torture of the back and arms as it is time after time, for breath’s sake, hitched up… Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love. He gave Himself!"
In verse 14, Jesus refers to a story from the Old Testament. “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up”.
Jesus was referring to a time furry serpents in wilderness
Now in John 3, we find out why God used that particular method of deliverance.
It was a picture of what Jesus would do when He died on the cross. He was killed upon the cross at Calvary.
As He spilled out His life, He demonstrated God’s love for us.
He served the time for our sins.
His death was the atonement (payment) for our sins.
Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” HCSB
Through His sacrifice, He satisfied all the requirements to pay for our sins.
There is no need for any further sacrifice.
There is no need for us to perform acts of penance nor do we spend time in purgatory after we die to pay for sin.
Christ bore all the punishment for mankind and paid the debt in full.
All of God’s wrath for sin was poured out on Him.
That is love. He loved us so much, that He gave His “only begotten Son” KJV. His only child born through a woman was Jesus. He sent Jesus who would live a perfect life and thus be an acceptable sacrifice for us. His love was so much that He did this for us!
Through that amazing act of love, we now can know…..
God’s Salvation
“whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Jesus’ mission was to save us.
From eternity past, that was His purpose.
He came to earth to rescue us from our sins and their consequences.
He paid the debt we owed so we can have eternal life.
He was the Great Physician who came to cure this disease known as sin.
Here is where Jesus answers the question about how to enter the Kingdom which prompted Nicodemus’ visit.
Jesus said “whoever believes in Him” would have eternal life.
Wait a minute. That isn’t a long list!
Where are all the other steps which must be necessary?
Where is all the suffering? Where is all the pain?
The suffering and pain was endured by Jesus.
All He asks of us is to believe.
1 We must believe who He is.
He is God’s Son
. He is God in the flesh.
The anointed Messiah sent from God.
2. We must believe what He has done.
Paul expressed it this way in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-8 “Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. 2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,
4 that He was buried,
that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared to Cephas,
then to the Twelve.
6 Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time;
most of them are still alive,
but some have fallen asleep.
7 Then He appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
He also appeared to me.” HCSB
3. We must believe what He promised.
He will save us and give us eternal life if we trust in Him
When we are born again, we become new creations in Christ.
This story illustrates that transformation in a dramatic way.
IL: once upon a time...in 1725 to be exact, a little boy was born and was named John. His sailor father was gone to sea for long periods of time leaving John’s mother to raise him. She was a kind, God-fearing woman who loved him dearly and endeavored to raise him in the love of the Lord, faithfully teaching him the Word of God. John had a wonderful childhood until age seven when his mother died.
John’s father soon remarried and, although his new wife was probably not quite of the Cinderella and Snow White evil stepmother variety, she had neither love nor time for this little boy. There were no more prayer times or Scripture readings before bed. There were no more tender hugs or words of encouragement. John was left to fend for himself and took to running the streets. By age 11, he was going to sea with his harsh and distant father. The immoral and salty-tongued sailors became his companions, and he soon became just like them.
In a few years, John had his own ship and was profiting greatly in the West African slave-trafficking business. He was a hardened unbeliever, profane in speech and utterly immoral.
Occasionally, his conscience would prick him as he would remember his mother’s love and prayers for him. At such times, John would diligently resolve to "live better," to read his Bible and pray. But, a sin-hardened and unrepentant heart finds no peace even in these things, and he would quickly give up.
Then, on a night of terror in 1748, John had to face his mortality squarely. A hellish tempest-tossed sea of 30-foot waves became his deadly enemy. For ten days a ferocious storm raged so mightily that he despaired of his very life. Before his eyes, a seaman was swept off the deck to his death. John lashed himself to the deck so he would not suffer a similar fate.
During this time, he remembered a Scripture his mother had taught him. In Proverbs 1: 24-31 God says, "But since you rejected me when I called... I, in turn, will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you -- when calamity overtakes you like a storm..." This is not the most comforting verse for a hardened sinner and God-hater to remember when he is facing death!
The storm did eventually pass, however, with the ship and John being spared. It was just a matter of time, too, before John, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repented of his sin-filled life, asked for forgiveness and received mercy and grace from the Lord Jesus Christ. He became a “new creature” in Christ.
Oh, did I tell you? You may sort of know John. His full name is John Newton, and later in life he wrote these familiar words,
“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see!”
NO sinner is too wicked for the love and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse and save his soul...not John Newton...not me...not you.
Conclusion:
Love’s eternal, FEEL it!
This love isn’t so much of a feeling is it? It is reality given to us by a gracious God. All of life is out of shape until we get this settled. Jesus said to Nicodemus and to us in John 3:3 “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” HCSB
Have you been born again? If not, don’t leave this place until you too come as Nicodemus did and ask how to see the Kingdom of God.
I don't often do this…
Lead a sinner’s prayer
If you trusted Christ, make it public.
