MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
FOR GOD SO LOVED. . .
Text: John 3:13-18; Ephesians 2:1-5; Luke 18:9-14; 1 Cor. 6:19-20
The printing press has been considered one of the greatest inventions ever in the history of mankind. Up until its invention, all books were painstakingly lettered by hand - which made books very rare. But the Printing press changed all of that. Information was suddenly made available to 1000s of people.
And one of the most significant accomplishments of the printing press was that it allowed people to have their own copies of Scripture.
That was a major focus of Martin Luther’s life. He worked with a number of print shops in Germany to create Bibles in the language of the common man so that people could read God’s Word for themselves.
ILL. The story is told of one of the print shops that Luther used for that purpose. During one of the printings, one of the Bibles had been ripped & a scrap of paper from that Bible ended up on the shop floor where it was found by the daughter of the owner. On that scrap of paper were these words, “For God so loved the world that He gave...”
The rest of the verse was missing, but that simple phrase touched her. The rest of the day she went around with a smile on her face. Her mother noticed it & asked what had made her so happy. The girl pulled the crumpled paper from her pocket & showed it to her mother. The mother read it & asked, "What did God give?" The girl replied, “I don’t know, but if God loves us enough to give us anything He must love us very much.”
John 3:16 is one of the most beloved verses of the Bible. You’ll see it displayed on billboards, on bumper stickers, on paintings & statues. And even at sporting events.
It tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Preachers love that verse. In fact, on sermoncentral.com there are thousands of sermons based on that one verse alone. Now what’s so special about that verse? Why should so many people recognize & love that one verse in Scripture?
Well, there are several reasons. 1st – it’s simple. Even small children can understand the idea that God loves them.
There’s a Christian chorus that’s been translated into many different languages. The 1st vs. begins with the words, “Jesus loves me, this I know…” Will you join with me in singing that 1st verse?
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.”
Thank you! That was good. But now I want EVERY-ONE to join in, including all of you back in the overflow area. Please sing with such enthusiasm & joy that our children in Children’s Church are able to hear it; & those listening to our service on the internet will hear it clearly, too.
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.”
That simple song illustrates the power of ONE simple idea: “Jesus loves me!” That’s what that young girl in the print shop understood when she said “If God loves us enough to give us anything He must love us very much.”
It’s such a simple message that it speaks to everyone in every language: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” And it’s the message that gives us our UNITY as believers.
It doesn’t matter where we were born, what language we speak, or what we look like, or whether we’re male or female. WE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST.
And it doesn’t matter what we’ve done with our lives before we became Christians. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
There are people who struggle with that “whosoever.” There are people who believe only “righteous” people, only “good” people are going to make it into heaven. Jesus told a parable about a man like that in Luke 18:9-14.
There were 2 men that came to the temple to pray. One man was a sinner (tax collector). The other was a Pharisee. And the Pharisee listed in h[s prayer why HE was righteous - a good man: “I fast twice a week; I give You a 10th of all that I get. And I’m not like THAT MAN over there.”
But THAT MAN (the tax collector) stood before God; beat on his breast & said “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And Jesus said “I tell you, that sinful man went home justified.” God had mercy on the tax collector who realized his need for forgiveness.
Paul wrote a letter to a church like that. This is what he told the Christians in Ephesus, “You were dead in trespasses & sins… You lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of the body & the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Eph. 2:1 & 3.
In other words… THEY (just like you & me) didn’t deserve God’s love. We don’t deserve His love because we’ve all been children of wrath – God had a right to be angry with us. We were controlled by sinful desires. We didn’t deserve for God even to look our way. BUT HE DID!
And Paul continues: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)
GOD SAVED US… not because we were righteous; not because we deserved it. No, He saved us because He loves us. He loves us with a GREAT LOVE. He sent His Son to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins. Jesus was mocked, beaten, whipped. He had nails driven through His hands & feet. His cross was lifted up, then it was dropped into place.
For 6 long miserable hours Jesus hung between heaven & hell; sufferlng unimaginable pain & agony. WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
ILL. There’s an old poem that says it this way: "Jesus paid the debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay; I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song, "Amazing grace" because Jesus paid the debt I could not pay."
Someone once dreamed a dream, where he saw Jesus. And He asked Jesus if He loved him. And in the dream he saw Jesus stretch out His arms on the cross & say, “I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH.”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” But why would God do that for folks who were such losers?
We’ve been called “Children of wrath.” Why would God send His only begotten Son to die for people who basically didn’t deserve His love?
If others knew what you & I have said or done or thought - they’d know you & I were really kind of worthless. In fact, there are people who really think that way about themselves. They think they have NO WORTH AT ALL.
They know what kind of lives they’ve lived. They can hardly stand themselves. So how could God possibly care what happens to them? They see themselves as having no worth.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Something is worth whatever somebody else is willing to pay for it”? For example: how much would you pay for a used toothbrush?
Personally, I wouldn’t give you anything for a toothbrush like that! I want to buy toothbrushes brand new & still in a package. But would you believe that someone actually paid $21,000 for a used toothbrush?
Why on earth would anyone pay that much? Well, they paid that much because of who it belonged to. That particular toothbrush once belonged to a man named Napoleon Bonaparte. It was only a USED toothbrush but it was worth $21,000 because that’s how much someone was willing to pay for it.
ILL. Back in 2009, a TV Program called Pawn Stars began on the History Channel. It’s been so popular that it’s run now for 25 seasons. It’s a reality program filmed in a pawn shop in Las Vegas, NV.
Each program had someone bringing in rare coins or guns or books, etc. Many of these people would come wanting thousands of dollars for their items. The Pawn Shop owner would look the item over & usually admit that he had no clue what the item was worth. So he’d ask permission to bring in an expert who knew such things.
The expert would come & spend a few minutes explaining the history & background of the gun, or book or coin. When the expert was done, the shop owner would ask him: “So, what is it worth?” The expert might say $35,000.
Then the Pawn shop owner turns to the seller. “How much do YOU want for this?” The seller would sometimes reply, “Well, you heard the expert say it was worth $35,000… so that’s what I want - $35,000.” And the Pawn shop owner says, “It’s not worth $35,000 to me. I have to make a profit too. I can give you $28,000 for it… but that’s the highest I can go.”
What the Pawn shop owner was saying was this: the object was only worth so much to him. It might be worth more to someone else… but not to him. The object was only worth so much, because that was all HE was willing to pay for it.
Now, here’s my point: What are YOU worth? Are you worth SOMETHING… or are you worth NOTHING? Like I said before, there are folks who don’t think they’re worth much at all. They know what they’ve done & thought & said - & they often despise themselves. They hate who they are, & they think God hates them too! They don’t think they’re worth very much at all.
BUT I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU’RE WORTH! I don’t care what you THINK you’re worth - I KNOW how much you’re worth; because I know how much God was willing to pay for you. God so loved YOU that He gave His only begotten Son.
You were so valuable to God… that He gave the most valuable thing He could. He gave His only begotten Son so that He could “buy” you & me … we could then belong to Him.
INVITATION: Whether you know it or not – you’re worth what God was willing to pay for you. He was willing to pay with blood.
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). You have been redeemed. GOD paid for you with the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus (who was God in the flesh) suffered & died for you so that you could live with Him.
(While receiving treatments for cancer I took advantage of a sermon by Jeff Strite. This is my adaptation of that message. Thank you Jeff!)
