God So Loved
Those three words are more important than all the rest of the words in Webster’s Dictionary. If it weren’t for the love that God has for His creation, we would have no hope. Our future is determined by those three words. "God So Loved". I thank God every day for His love, because without it I am dead.
I want to paint a picture for you this morning. Picture yourself arguing with a friend and you really lose it. You pull out a gun and kill your friend. You are caught and arrested. You receive your day in court and found guilty of your sin of murder. You are sentenced to die by lethal injection. With all of your appeals exhausted you are lead to the execution chamber, where they lay you on a table. A heart monitor and an "I V" are hooked up to your body. You watch as the attendant makes ready the poison that will be placed into your "I V". You glance at the clock and see that you only have 1 minute left for a stay of execution. The phone is silent. Is this the end? As the attendant readies the lethal poison, the door swings opens. In walks a young man of about 33 years old. He says "Stop, set this man free." He then looks at you with love and compassion and says, "My father loves you so much that I have come to take your place. I will take on not only your sin of murder, but also all of your sins. I will die in your place. You are set free if you choose to be." You say "yes" and you watch as this young man lies on the table in your place. The "I V" is inserted into his arm. You watch as the lethal poison is injected into the "I V". You listen as the young man says "Forgive them Father". You then watch as the man with his last breath says, "It is finished". Then he dies.
If this would actually happen to you, would your life be changed? Would you live a different life? Would you be indebted to this man and his father forever?
This has happen to you. It has happened to each and every person here today. It has happen to every person that lives. We are all guilty of sin and we all have a choice that we must make.
John 3:16
16 "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.
(NIV)
God so loved the world. He loves you, He loves me and He loves those that reject Him. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only son to take our place. Because of the sins in our lives, the law has convicted us and found us guilty. We are so guilty that we deserve the death penalty. This death penalty is spending eternality in hell. Christ loves us so much that He willfully allowed himself to be crucified on that old rugged cross. He took on Himself all the sins of the world. It was my sins and your sins that nailed Jesus to that cross. He didn’t deserve to suffer and die. He lived a life here on earth without sin, something that we cannot do. Because of our sins, we are condemned. Because of Jesus Christ we have a second chance. All we have to do is to believe, and we will have eternal life. Who wouldn’t accept this offer? Well, there are many, who refuse and will perish.
Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(NIV)
Many people believe that if they live a good life, then they will go to heaven. Others believe that if they confess their sins to a priest, then they will be saved. Others believe that since they were baptized as an infant they will be saved. Other religions believe that they can get to heaven by worshipping Mohammed or Buddha. With world events today, many believe that all religions worship the same god. None of these are true.
John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(NIV)
There is only one way to receive eternal life. We must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We must make Him the Lord of our lives. This means we must repent from our sins and let Christ lead us wherever He takes us. I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of 12, but it took me 40 years to accept God’s calling into His ministry. How many people could I have told about Christ in those 40 years? But because I didn’t accept God’s call at the age of sixteen, I missed many opportunities to witness to others. I missed the peace that I could have had over those 40 years if I had allowed Christ to be the Lord of my life. Since I have given total control of my life over to Christ, I now have a peace that I never had before. Don’t make Christ a back seat driver. Give Him the keys and let Him take control of your life. Let Him take you where He wants you to be.
Why are there still so many that haven’t accepted Christ as their Savior? Maybe it is our fault.
One day while Jesus was teaching, a Sadducee tested Jesus with this question.
Matt 22:36-40
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
(NIV)
What does it mean to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind? This means that we put nothing before God. God is the most important person in our lives. We must put God before our family, before our work and before our pleasures. We must allow Christ to live in our hearts, allow the Holy Spirit to indwell us to our innermost soul and to keep our thoughts pure and holy.
Secondly, we are to love our neighbors. People always ask, "Who are our neighbors?" Our neighbors are all those that we have ever came into contact with and those that we will come into contact with. Basically, our neighbors are everyone.
It seems easy to love God, but to love everyone that I have ever met or seen. How can we love someone who has hurt us? With us this is impossible, but with God in us, this is possible and required of us.
So why are there still so many unsaved people in the world and right here in this community? Is it that we don’t love them? Is it that we don’t have time to tell them of the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Is it that we are not concerned if they are condemned to hell? Is it that we think that it is someone else’s job like the preacher’s? What did Christ have to say about it?
Mark 16:15-16
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
(NIV)
I have had people tell me that this just pertained to the Apostles. This just didn’t apply to the Apostles. If this were so then after they died, no one would be telling others about Christ. The Great Commission applies to every Christian. We are to witness to others at every opportunity that we have. We need to go out in our neighborhoods to tell our neighbors about the love of Christ and invite them to Church with you. Pray for your neighbors. God has given you eternal life with Him in heaven when we deserved hell. We cannot sit back and let our neighbors die and go to hell, when we could lead them to Christ. We can’t save anyone, but we can plant the seed of salvation and pray that they would listen to God calling them to Him.
I have heard people say that before they can accept Christ, they must first change their lives. You can’t change your life without Christ. First confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead. Ask God to forgive you of your sins. Be specific; name the sins that are in your life. God knows them all ready, but He wants to make sure that you know what they are. Christ will then help you to change your life.
Rom 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(NIV)
Yes, God raised Jesus from the grave and He stayed with His disciples for 40 days, teaching them and doing many more miracles. He was seen by many. After 40 days He stretched out His hands to bless them and was then taken up to heaven where He lives and sit at the right hand of the Father still today. We wait for His promised return. Until that glorious day, we have a mission. It is the Great Commission. Satan always tries to distract us from this mission. Even today Satan is doing all within his power to distract us. Many Christians are more concerned about the rumors of war with Iraq and the falling economy, than serving God. Remember God is in control of all things.
Jesus said in:
Matt 24:6
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
(NIV)
No matter what is going on in our world today, we still must put our hope and trust in God, placing God first and following His will. We are to pray for our leaders, that they will follow God in governing our nation. We are to pray for our neighbors, the men and women in our military that are willing to lay down their lives for our protection. We should pray that the ones who do not know Christ will meet a fellow soldier that will explain the plan of salvation to them and they will make the choice to accept Christ as their Savior.
I never close a service without giving an invitation. No one knows your heart except for you and God. If there are any here today that doesn’t know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior; my prayer for you is that you will make that very important, life changing decision today. You may not have another opportunity. Come this morning and accept Christ as your Savior.
You may be here this morning saying that yes Christ is my savior, but I have not let Him be the Lord of my life. Come and recommit your life to Christ as your Lord. You will receive the adventure of your life, but also you will have peace and joy that you have never experienced before.
If you need someone to pray with you, come and we will pray together.
Come now as the music plays.
