The Gospel (Gospel of John Part 10)
Text: John 3:14 – 16 (Plus other passages)
As you can tell from the table that’s set this morning, we’re going to be doing communion at the end of the service. But at the same time, we’ve been going through the Gospel of John. So what we’re going to do this morning, is look in John’s Gospel, because our passage today ties right in with the Lord’s Supper.
So let’s take our Bibles and open them up first of all, to 1st Corinthians 11:26 (READ). Now turn with me over to John’s Gospel and let’s read chapter 3:14 – 16 (READ).
So Paul; writing in Corinthians says that as often as we take communion, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes… and here in our passage from John, John writes that Jesus is going to be lifted up (that’s verse 14)… meaning that He will be put to death on the cross, so that (verse 15) whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. And then Jesus says it again in verse 16… “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” And verse 16 is where a lot of people take liberty with what Jesus is teaching, and they lose the point of the verse, because they put the emphasis on the word “whosoever”. But that’s not where the text puts the emphasis… It puts the emphasis on the word “believes”! It’s only the one who believes that has eternal life. So if we are going to have eternal life, we have to believe something. And when we go back up to verses 14 & 15, we get our context. Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man is going to be lifted up – so that – whoever BELIEVES will have eternal life.
Now… is that saying that you have to believe that around 2000 years ago; a historical figure named Jesus was crucified in order to have eternal life? Yes! But that’s not all its saying. Because even atheists believe that around 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was crucified by Roman soldiers just outside of Jerusalem. It’s a fact of history. What the atheist doesn’t believe however, is who Jesus actually was, and they don’t believe the reason that the Bible gives us for His crucifixion. So it’s a little more than just believing that a man named Jesus died on a cross.
That is part of it, but there’s so much more than that.
So what is it that we need to believe so that we can have eternal life?
Well we do have to believe that Jesus died on the cross… but we have to believe that Jesus was more than just a man. We have to believe that He was the Son of God, born of a virgin. We have to believe that He was sinless, and that He perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of God. And we have to believe that His death paid for all of our sin, and met every demand of God’s holiness, and that by dying as He did, Jesus justifies us before God, and reconciles us back to God.
So why does Jesus have to do that? Well… because the Lord God is holy and righteous. Because He is perfect in every way, He expects perfect holiness and righteousness. We might seem good in comparison to our friends, and family members, and neighbors… but next to Jesus we fall way short. Paul says that we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. And John; in 1st John 1:10 says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” There’s none righteous, no not even one.
Now some people will say, “Well, I’ll just keep the law, and that will make me right with God.” That’s what the Pharisee’s thought. But there’s a couple of problems with that. You see; the Bible tells us that we’re born sinners. We’re born with an “F” on our spiritual report card. And so we come into this world corrupt, sinners, and enemies of God. We come into this world with a heart that’s polluted with sin, and a mind that’s darkened by sin, and desires that set themselves on sin. Again the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans – “There are NONE who seek God.” Not only that; James 2:10 says that “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he’s guilty of breaking it all.”
So when you get right down to it, none of us can keep the Law.
Now people hear that, or they read it in Scripture and they say, “Well why in the heck did God give us the Law then?” And Paul answers that question for us in Romans 3 and in Romans 7. He tells us that the Law was given to show us God’s standard of righteousness. God knows we can’t keep it, but He still puts it out there, to show us what it requires for us to be right with Him. And as we try to keep it and fail, and try to keep it and fail, and try, and try, and tray… we eventually get to the point where we say, “God this is impossible. I can’t keep Your Law.” And we find ourselves in despair. Because we know we’re not righteous, and we know we’re rebellious, and we know that the Holy, Lord God, Almighty has every right to pour His wrath, and vengeance out on us, because we are wicked sinners. We deserve to be punished.
Now if we can’t keep the Law… and if our hearts are against God from birth. What are we supposed to do? Well this is where John 3:16 comes in. You see; the Bible teaches us that there is only one way we can become righteous before God… God has to provide the righteousness He demands – WE CAN’T DO IT. God’s requirement for obedience is so high, none of us can do it. And so what God does is – He sends His Son… He sends Jesus – Immanuel – God in the flesh. And Jesus comes, and He perfectly obeys the Law, and He perfectly meets all of God’s standards for holiness, and goodness, and righteousness. And Jesus does what none of us could ever do.
So it’s not by keeping the Law, because none of us can do that. It’s not by good works, because our works of righteousness aren’t really righteous – they’re like filthy rags. But listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:21 – 22, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”
So there we see it again. It’s by faith. It’s for those who believe. And what God does is He imputes all the obedience and righteousness of Jesus into the account of the one who believes. In other words, you remember, we just said that Jesus perfectly obeyed the Law, and He perfectly met all of God’s standards for holiness, goodness, and righteousness… and so when we believe; God takes all of Jesus’ righteousness and credits it to our account.
But that still doesn’t explain to us why Jesus has to die… Why couldn’t God just send Jesus, and have Jesus live in perfect obedience to His Law, and His standards, and then just impute His righteousness to us? And the reason for that is because God is a just God. He is just and holy, and being just and holy means that He has to punish sin. He can’t just let it slide by – there has to be a punishment for all the wrong we’ve done. And God cannot deny Himself. Or any part of Himself. He can’t deny His justice or holiness any more than He could deny His mercy and love. Justice is as much a part of God as love is… and so there has to be a punishment for our sin. And that’s why Jesus has to be lifted up.
And that’s what we are to believe Church… that Jesus; in going to the cross is dying in order to pay the price for our sin. That He’s taking the punishment that was due us. That He is satisfying the justice and holiness and wrath of God in our place. And that’s what we are called to believe. We are to believe that Christ’s sinless life, and death on the cross for our sake was all-sufficient, and that it satisfied God’s justice, as well as His mercy. It is believing that Christ, and Christ alone is what saves us, and justifies us, and reconciles us to our Holy God.
And it’s also what we are called to proclaim in this supper that we’re about to partake in.
When we take Communion, we are saying that all of this really did happen… and that Jesus really was who He said He was, and He really did what He said He was going to do. We are saying that He paid it all, and that His shed blood cleanses us from all sin – that His death on the cross satisfied the justice of God.
And so as the men come forward, and we prepare to take Communion, I want you to know that this is for all who believe that. It’s for all who believe what we’ve just talked about. And that by doing this we are saying that Jesus did die for our sin, and that He did die in order to redeem us, and justify us before God. Each one of us, is saying that His blood was shed for our sins. And even though we were undeserving sinners. He has paid the price for our sin.
And we’re reminding ourselves of this great and glorious truth.
The Apostle Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 11:23 – 26, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My Body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
TAKE COMMUNION
COME LORD JESUS
CLOSING
