The gospel gives us a biography of Jesus and it emphasizes a few different aspects of his person, his life and of his works. When you read the book of Matthew you will discover that Matthew directs his gospel primarily to the Jews. Also, Matthew presents Jesus as the king and the messiah. When we search through Mark, Mark presents his gospel with the Roman impact in mind, he suggests that Jesus is the suffering servant of Jehovah and the accomplisher of mighty acts. Then once you look at Luke, Luke primarily emphasis with the Greek influences and he suggests that Christ is the perfect man. But I love John, because when John writes, John didn’t have any primary race, groups, or nationalities in mind, when John wrote he included the whole world. John present Christ as the Son of God whom gave himself for the sins of mankind. And that’s why this verse in St. John 3:16 is so important in its writing when it says that God so loved the world.
Matthew was concerned with the promise of a coming messiah. Mark talks about the life of a powerful savior. Luke says that we have the grace of a personal savior. But John sums it up by talking about the possessions of a personal savior. Matthew says that Christ came to save, Luke says that he came to minister, but John says that he came to give his life.
So, in this framework, this back work or in this setting of John, John says for God so loved the world. John 3:16 is the golden text of the bible. It could also be called the memory verse of both saint and sinners, because if people don’t know any other bible verse, they know John 3:16.
The theme of John 3:16 is God’s love and when we really look at love, we really must look at love on a few levels. You can see love as Infatuation-Romantic Love- Companion Love- Conditional Love- UnConditional Love- Puppy Love- Maternal Love-Paternal Love-Soulmate Love- Spiritual/Divine Love- Love of your country or patriotism-Self-Love Tough Love- but then you have three loves that I think that are vitally important to the case that I’m trying to build.
First, we see Eros which refers to sexual, erotic love or desire.
Phileo means "'to have ardent affection and feeling'—This is the natural, human type of love and affection that we have for a friend and is often defined as "brotherly love."
But then there is the highest form of love which is Agape which is a special word representing the divine love of God toward His Son, human beings in general and believers.
It is also used to depict the outwardly focused that God expects every believer to have for one another. This special type of Christian love as used in John15:13 that says, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man will lay down his life for his friends.
And what I have discover is that the modern theologians have tried to captivate, and understand this type of love down through the centuries and have failed so many times, because what they don’t understand is that this is much more than an act of God but it is his nature. How do I know Spies? Because God can love us and expects absolutely nothing in return.
Now understand this that God does not love us because we love him. God does not love us because Jesus died for us. However, Jesus the Son of God died to redeem us because the father had already loved us. So, the only security, and the only safety that we have is in God’s love.
We got to understand that God’s love alone is enough to save us. God’s love is the formula for the family, his love is the formula for our homes, it is the formula for our community, our job, the streets and even the church.
Now there are four important aspects to this verse that I want to deal with; the first one is the supreme fact of love. And the supreme fact is that, God so loved the world.
Then the second is the supreme proof of love; and the proof is that he gave. The third is the supreme gift of love, which is that he gave his only begotten. The fourth is the supreme goal of love and that is whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Now watch this, for God so loved the world, shows us that God loved us when we were loveless. When no one else wanted to be around us God loved us. When no one else wanted to have anything to do with us God loved us. What I love about God is that, his love was not influenced by anything or anybody and there was no hidden agenda he just loved us, in other words he don’t love us because somebody else loves us and he don’t hate us because somebody else hate us.
In these words of John 3:16, we have the entire gospel in a nutshell. We have the maximal of saving truth in a minimal of 25 words. And I think that I need to tell you all that Jesus was not sent on this mission because he was God’s son. In other words, he did not become the son by being sent. But being sent does prove that he was the Son of God. So, my brother and sister the coming of the eternal son was a manifestation of God’s love toward a sinning world.
When Adam fell, he fell because he failed to adhere to God’s initial warning, while putting his faith in the hands of a snake he fell.
Now watch this, when Adam fell from the essence level of God love, to a level of corruption something happen. Don’t miss this, his head became sick when he fell, his eyes became evil when he fell, his mouth became deceitful when he fell, his tongue because like deadly poison when he fell, his heart became desperate and wicked when he fell, his hands became stained with blood when he fell, his feet started running swift to mischief when he fell. Yes, when Adam fell, he found himself caught up in a most unusual paradox. He found himself living in the sunshine yet abiding in darkness.
So, in the words of John 3:16 we find a few things, we find God, love, mankind, Christ, sin, death, atonement and life everlasting and it’s all held together in one mighty uttering when it says that God so loved the world. In this verse we have a heaven superb message, we have God’s love, God gives and God’s saves. What we must understand is that love is the vital being of God, and that love began with God. And think that I think that I ought to tell you that if God would cease that love would cease, and I believe that God is who he is because of his love.
Watch what he says to Israel in Jeremiah 31:3, he says “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee”, and one thing that I love about God is that there is no selfishness in his divine love. And then God loves us in spite of us, he loves us in spite of our condition, in spite of our hatefulness, in spite of our meanness, in spite of our under handed activities, God still loves us.
This is what I love about the love of God. I don’t have to look a certain way for him to love me. I don’t have to dress us, live in a certain house, drive a certain car, carry a certain weight, he doesn’t care if your dark or light, rich or poor, fat or skinny, ugly or cute, he still loves us.
The first phrase is For God, which sets forth the greatest intention of love. What follows that is so loved which set forth the greatest degree.
I love what John says, he says and God so, that enough to stop right there. What I love about so is, is that you can’t measure so, even when you try to define so, you will find yourself coming up short trying to fit everything into so, and then you will find that you are inadequately equating the equivalent of so. You can’t calculate so. I don’t know how many miles there are, that covers the space in the sky and you know why because it’s so many. I don’t know how many stars are shining in their silvery sockets because there are so many. I don’t know how many hairs are on your head, no matter if you sowed it or grow it, because there are so many. I cannot count the grains of sands on the seashore because there are so many. I don’t know how many fish that swim in the waters, I don’t know how many different types of fish that there are, and the reason is because there are so many. I really don’t know how many times that the Lord has forgiving me for my sin and it’s the same reason as the formal statements because there are so many. You can search the world over, and you can’t get anyone to tell you how high is so, how low is so, how wide is so or what is so’s depth. How long is so?
The world gives us the greatest company, that he gave gives us the greatest honor. His only begotten son gives us the greatest gift. That whosoever, extends the greatest invitation. That whosoever believeth is the greatest simplicity. In him is the greatest attraction. Should not perish is the greatest promise. But is the greatest differences. Have is the greatest certainly. Everlasting is the greatest possession.
I think I heard something there let me see if I can break it down just a little more for God so loved the world this sets forth the breath of God’s love. That he gave His only begotten son that’s the length of God’s love. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish. That is the depth. But have Everlasting life that’s the height of God’s love.
Don’t miss this it says For God these two words establish the existent of God. So loved, shows us the magnitude of God’s love, which means that no one is left out if they believe.
For God so love the world, this is the scope of God’s love. For God so loved the world that he gave, this is the nature of God’s love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish this was the design of God’s love, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life this is the benevolent of God’s love.
Well when Jesus was about to be born, they were trying to decide what they were going to call Jesus. But his name was already predetermine in the mind of God. I heard somebody say that we shall call him Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins. Then the question was raised, well who is Jesus? Somebody said that he the stems from Jesse.
He’s the son of David, he is the seed of Abraham, he Jacob’s ladder and he also Jacob’s well. He is alpha and omega. He is the first fruit from the dead.
There are some metaphorically symbols to men that will describe Jesus to our carnal eye.
To the electrician he is the light of the world.
To the gardener he’s a white rose of Sharon.
To the lumberjack he is a battle-axe.
To the solider he is a weapon of war.
To the astronomer he a bright and morning star.
To the baker he’s bread in a starving land.
To the environmentalist he is water in dry places.
To the homeless he’s a shelter in a time of storm.
To the cardiologist he a heart fixer.
To the psychologist he’s a mind regulator.
To the geologist he’s a rock in a weary land.
To the prince he is the king of kings, and he’s the Lord of lords.
And when you add all these names up, they come equal too love.
God loves us and his love sanctifies us.
He loves satisfies us.
He loves justifies us.
His love mystifies us.
God’s love is a gateway to glory.
His love is a roadway to righteousness.
His love is the center piece of civilization.
His love breaks down the walls of confusion.
His love transcends all boundaries.
His love never changes.
His love is matchless.
This verse of St. John sets forth the love of God, it set forth the life of man
So, I believe that there are a few words that need to be highlighted in this verse. God, love, world, gave, son, whosoever, believeth, perish and everlasting life.
And then there are five pairs of words that need to be highlighted in this verse and I’m going home. The first is God and Son, Love and Gave, World and Whosoever, Believeth and Have, and Perish and Life. Now when you talk about the first pair God and Son you can’t separate God from his son.
Somebody said on the other day, show us the father and I’ll be satisfied. And Jesus said I’ve been with you all of this time and you still don’t know me; then he says I and my father are one. He said yall don’t know me because if you did you would remember that I was right there with my father when he beat up on the amble of his power. He said I was there when he reached down into the dust of the earth and formed mankind. He said I was there when he said let there be light.
The second pair was love and gave. If God did not love he never would have given. The death of Christ was a demonstration that the atonement was the effect of God’s love.
And then there is world and whosoever. And the way that I describe world and whosoever is like this.
There was a little boy who had no home and no family. While wondering in the streets one day, a police officer that notices that the boy was having some problems. So, the officer asked the boy why don’t you go home and the little boy said I don’t have a home to go to. He said that my mother is dead, my father is dead, and I don’t have any family.
I heard that the officer said go down the street about a mile and you will see a big cross that says Jesus saves. What I want you to do is knock on the door and someone will ask you for the password. The little boy said but I don’t know the password. The police officer said, when they ask you for the password you the password is John 3:16.
So, I heard that the little got to the door, and knock on the door and the owner asked him young man do you have the pass code and the young boy said yes it’s John 3:16 and the owner said come on in and warm yourself by the fire.
I heard that as the little boy was warming himself, he was thinking to himself saying, I don’t know what John 3:16 is. The owner asked him was he warm yet and the little boy says yes sir I’m warm.
Then the owner said come on in here and get you something to eat and while he was eating, he continue to think to himself that he still don’t know what John 3:16 is.
The man asked the little boy are you tired. The little boy says yes sir he come on in here and rest your weary soul. While the little boy was resting, he said I still don’t know what John 3:16 means.
But I heard that in the middle of the night while he was sleeping, he got a revelation about what John 3:16.
And he said that I might not know what John 3:16 means, but I do know that it will bring you to the door of a man that will show you loving-kindness.
I don’t know exactly what it means but I do know that it will lead to a fire that will warm you way down on the inside. He said, I just can’t quite put my finger on it but I do know that it will feed you when you are hunger and give rest to a weary soul.
And I’m here to tell somebody this morning that if you don’t know the man, I’m here to introduce you to him. The only difference is that you don’t have to knock at his door and you don’t have to figure out the password because I’m going to give it to you it John 3:16. But what I really love about him is that you don’t have to knock at his door because he will coming knocking at your door. How do you know Spies? I know because Revelation 3 and 20 say.
Behold I stand knocking at your door and if man would open up I will come in and sup with him and he with me.
Can I tell you all that God Loves Us? Somebody holler back at me.
