John 3:14-21 “Our Life Verse”
1. John 3:16 Martin Luther said, “If there’s one Scripture that can heal my ailments, it is John 3:16.”
• John Newton, the great author of “Amazing Grace,” cherished John 3:16 and called it his “life verse”.
• Tyler Hunkabee said, from the book of Max Lucado ,”I’m an old drunk. I mean, I was rescued by the gospel. I’m not just stating that. I was rescued. I mean, I was a train going over the cliff and the gospel really rescued me. The question was not “Is there a God?” The question was, “Could God forgive a jerk like me?” And John 3:16 says, “Yes, for God so loved Tyler that He gave His one and only son.”That’s the reason John 3:16 has become such a cherished verse in my life and always has been.
•
2. Our Text today tells us Jesus is our direction for eternal life.
• God explains directions for eternal life as “In the beginning was the Word,” “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, (the Word of God that became flesh, would become the way of salvation.)
• Jesus talks to a man named Nicodemus. During their conversation, Jesus tells him that God had a history of providing directions to save his people.
3. One of the directions for eternal life as an example was the lifting up of a man.
• Jesus tells Nicodemus “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (3:14-15).
• In the book of Numbers, the people of Israel faced trouble in the wilderness. They were facing death from the bites of poisonous serpents.
• God offered Moses a way of help by saying, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So, Moses made a serpent out of bronze and put it upon a pole (21:8-9).
• The result whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
• Like the serpent on the pole, When we are in danger of perishing look up to Jesus the way for the salvation problem. Believe in him and have eternal life.
4. Another guide to eternal life is Trust (Those who believe in him shall not perish)
• We are invited to believe in Jesus to avoid perishing in the journey of life.
• We can trust Jesus to rescue us and guide us in good and bad times
• Trust Jesus with our soul Joseph was told of an angel and I believe it: . 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,C because he will save his people from their sins."
• Jesus desires to lead us away from danger of perishing Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. We don’t have to perish!
5. If we will follow Jesus we will land on the shores of Heaven the beautiful city of God
• Johns Gospel says, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned” (3:17-18).
• Jesus is our lighthouse He gives direction to keep us from crashing By believing in him, we will not perish but will have eternal life.
• Jesus is our navigation system He is the one who shows us how to walk in the light of God’s truth and God’s grace. “And this is the judgment,” says the gospel of John, “that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. … But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (3:19, 21).
• When we follow Jesus, we walk the path of the One who is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
• When we imitate his actions, we show goodness and generosity to others.
• When we receive his grace, we not only experience forgiveness for ourselves, but we become able to forgive those who have hurt us.
6. Finally, John 3:16 is our Life verse Jesus is the life verse according to John Newton
• Jesus is the one who heals my ailment Martin Luther
• Jesus is our direction to eternal life the one lifted up Moses in the desert
• Jesus is the one we can put our trust in, He will save the people from their sin
• Jesus is the one who leads us away from dangers of perishing
• Jesus is our lighthouse that keeps us from crashing
• Jesus is the One we consult when we need to find our way. Jesus is with us working for good in our lives, just as God had been with the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea to escape oppression in Egypt.
• He will keep you from perishing and guide you safely to eternal life with God
