GOOD FRIDAY: A STRANGE WAY TO SAVE THE WORLD!
JOHN 3:16-17
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A 6th grade S.S. class discussed how old Isaac was when he was sacrificed.
2. One boy confidently affirmed that he couldn’t have been more than 12 years old.
3. The teacher said, “What in the world or the Bible would give you an idea like that?”
4. The boy replied, “I have a brother and a sister who are both teenagers. If Isaac had been older than 12, it wouldn’t have been much of a sacrifice for Abraham!”
B. IF WE WERE GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD…
1. When the world needs to be saved, who do you call on? You call on a superhero. Superheroes are in the business of saving the world.
2. When we think of superheroes we think those characters that are larger than life. They leap tall buildings in a single bound.
3. They can be invisible. They can fly. Criminals are terrorized by their presence. They seem to be indestructible.
4. When we think of superheroes, words like humble, gentle, and loving don’t come to mind. We want someone who is powerful and dynamic.
5. But God didn’t choose to work that way. Rather than sending a powerful hero into the world, he sent a defenseless baby. A baby that would grow up and be the atoning sacrifice for all the sins in the world.
6. Jesus Christ was God’s plan for saving the world. The title of this morning’s message is “Good Friday: A Strange Way to Save the World.”
I. Superheroes are larger than life…JESUS IS HUMBLE
A. BEING IMPRESSIVE IS REQUIRED?
1. When we think of a superhero we think of someone who is larger than life. They fill the room with their presence.
2. When Batman shows up, you know he’s there. The cool suit, the Bat-mobile roaring down the street, windows breaking, bad guys getting tossed all over the place, and then there’s the Bat Signal; let’s face it, Batman is larger than life. You can’t miss him.
3. You’d think that when the world needed saving, God would’ve sent someone who was larger than life, who couldn’t be ignored.
B. BUT GOD CHOOSES HUMILITY
1. But when God wanted to save the world, He sent a baby. And not only a baby, but a baby so poor his parents couldn’t even get a room in a local motel for the baby to be born as Luke writes, “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” Luke 2:7.
2. God’s way of saving the world didn’t involve pride or power, it involved humility and surrender! Jesus was humble in nature. Jesus entered the world through humble circumstances and he lived his life in humility.
3. Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Mt. 11:29. Jesus was humble.
4. Paul said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Phip. 2:3-8.
5. Jesus was God, yet He was willing to become human and submit himself to Father God and die a humiliating death by crucifixion so that we might be made right with God.
6. The world needed saving from sin and only the death of God’s innocent Son could get the job done. That’s a strange way to save the world!
7. God’s method for saving the world was strange in another way…
II. Superheroes are overpowering…Jesus is GENTLE
A. WHAT SUPERHEROES DO
1. If you shoot at Superman the bullets just bounce off. Then he takes the gun and wads it up like a little piece of
paper.
2. Superman can bend the rails of a railroad track to save the train or to detain the bad guys.
3. Superman has the power to weld steel with his eyes or to see through the side of a building. Let’s be honest; Superman is overpowering.
4. So, You’d think that when God decided to save the world he’d send a hero who was overpowering.
5. Why?
a. Because Sin is a powerful thing. It has destroyed so many lives. We’re powerless against sin.
b. We don’t have the power it takes to defeat sin, so you’d think that God would send a hero that was overpowering.
B. WHAT GOD CHOSE TO DO:
But God chose to send a hero who was is humble and gentle.
1. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry – he was identified as Israel’s Messiah, ’See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ Mt. 21:5.
2. Jesus was the perfect example of gentleness. Think of how He treated the Woman who was caught in adultery. He was gentle. When the rulers told a disfigured man he couldn’t be healed on the Sabbath, Jesus took up for him & healed him.
3. We often believe that if someone is gentle, then they are weak. Christ was gentle, but he wasn’t weak.
4. The miracles he performed were powerful. His ability to endure the cross, His resurrection and His triumph over death clearly reveal his power.
5. Super heroes overpower their enemies, but Jesus saves the world through His weakness! God sent his Son, a gentle shepherd, to lead us and guide us into salvation. That’s a
strange way to save the world. Thirdly…
III. Superheroes display mighty acts…Jesus displays LOVE
A. WHAT SUPERHEROES DO
1. Spiderman can
a. shoot webs out of his hands;
b. swing over the city at breakneck speed;
c. scale a wall without the aid of ropes.
d. He’s strong enough to bend steel.
e. His spider sense tells him when something’s about to happen.
2. There’s no question Spiderman can do some awesome things.
3. You’d think that when the world needed saving, God would send a superhero who could display mighty acts. But God chose to send his son who, though he could display mighty acts, instead displayed love.
B. HOW DID JESUS SHOW GOD’S LOVE?
1. Moved by compassion, He often healed the sick. He gave money to the poor, and fed the hungry.
2. He reached out to the outcasts, to all the people who felt they weren’t good enough for God, and brought them into His kingdom. His mission was to rescue the lost sheep and bring them back into God’s fold.
3. Though He was rich, He became poor for us. He often slept outside in the weather, with no place to lay His head.
4. Lastly, the greatest demonstration of His love? “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” John 3:16.
5. The ultimate display of his love for us is his death upon the cross. That death is what saved the world, defeating sin and bridging the gap between God and man.
6. Superheroes display mighty acts but God did better. God sent his Son, who displayed for us genuine love. That’s a strange way to save the world.
7. God’s method for saving the world was strange in one more way…
IV. Superheroes offer punishment…Jesus offers FORGIVENESS
A. WHAT SUPERHEROES DO
1. The goal of superheroes is to punish the bad guys. They hunt them down, fight them, and ALWAYS capture them in the end and turn them over to the authorities for punishment.
2. You’d think that when God wanted to save the world he’d send a hero who would punish those who were doing wrong. But instead God offered forgiveness.
B. JESUS CAME TO OFFER FORGIVENESS
1. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” John 3:17.
2. Somewhere we developed the idea that Jesus came to punish the sinners of the world. Not true. Jesus didn’t come to offer punishment, he came to offer forgiveness.
3. God does punish, no question. Those who reject God’s atonement for sin will spend eternity separated from God, consigned in hell. But Jesus didn’t come to bring punishment, he came to offer forgiveness to each and every one of us.
4. His death upon the cross took the place of our punishment so we could experience the love, mercy and forgiveness of God.
5. The world needed saving, but rather than send a hero who would offer punishment, God sent his Son, who offers us forgiveness. That’s a strange way to save the world.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Love When We Need It The Most
1. A man visited a home where there were five children. He was supposed to be a kind of "godfather" to them and was trying to get involved with them on their level. He asked one of the little girls about her doll collection: "Which one is your favorite?" "Promise you won’t laugh if I tell you?" she answered. "No I won’t laugh," he said.
2. She went into the next room and brought back a doll that was the most tattered, dilapidated, worn-out doll he had ever seen — a real refugee from the trash heap. All the hair was missing, and the nose was broken off and an arm was cracked. He didn’t laugh, but he couldn’t cover his surprise. He said to her, "Why do you love this one the most?" The little girl replied, "Because she needs it most. If I didn’t love her, nobody would."
3. Jesus said that God is like that. He loves us most when we need it most. He came to love us sacrificially because we are broken, tattered and worn-out! He loved us when nobody else would…or could. Glory! What a Savior!
B. THE CALL
What is it that I want you to take away from this sermon?
1. God works in different ways than we would work. He sees the big picture. How He works may seem strange, but we must still trust him.
2. We should treat others with the same humility, gentleness, love, and forgiveness that Jesus showed us.
3. Lastly, trust Jesus Christ for your salvation. Jesus said, in Mark 1:15; “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
4. Let’s go to prayer and confess and repent of all know sin. Pray with me, “Thank You Jesus! I accept You as my Savior, and Your blood as the atonement for my sins. Make me Your child, now and forever, Amen!”
[This is a rewrite of Stephen Colaw’s Christmas message, “A Strange Way to Save the World.”]
