The Sons Mission Series

John 3:16 -21 : The Sons mission

Introduction: This section ventures away from the discourse of Jesus & Nicodemus and the quest to be born again . With Jesus pointing Nicodemus to Him being lifted up and those who look to Him by faith will be the ones who enter into this blessed estate of new birth and eternal life (14,15) .

Now John enters into his personal devotions under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he too, speaks of the lifting up of Jesus as a the climax of the Sons mission, whereby we receive eternal life, which is grounded in the love of God. (3:16). “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!”

It was the Beatles who wrote the song , “All we need is love” , I’m in full agreement with the sentiments of that song all we need is love, people are crying out to be loved, when we experience love it is then we find our true significance and worth as a child of God and are enabled to love God, love ourselves and others in the way God intended. The sad fact of the matter is that love today is so often distorted, diluted, defaced and damaged de it’s become self gratifying, shallow and fleeting, just mere words which trip of the tongue “Oh I love such and such ....” We can say, I really love this ice cream’ in the same manner as saying tour wives & husbands ‘I love You’ devoid of any depth; ,

There is a growing search for real Love! That why The black eyed peas who had a no1 hit in 2005 with the song, “ Where is the love?” It was in response to all the horror & suffering they saw in the world around them, and their sentiments are the cry of many still today , “ Where is the love?” Jhn3:16 The whole of the Bible in miniature.

1. The cause of the Sons mission: (3:16) For God so loved

The love of God is profound, & today if you’re a believer, I hope you will be uplifted to new sublime heights of Gods Divine Love for You (Eph 3:17-19.. And if as yet you have not encountered this love of God You too, can receive it, by grace through faith you can enter into the wonderful experience of knowing the Love of God.

The entire Gospel comes together in this verse, God so loved the world ( consider the state of this world - - bound in sin in rebellion against God) and yet God the Son Manifests the Love of God in the flesh to a world that is in rebellion towards God Himself. We see in the person and work of Jesus Christ that Gods love is not abstract and static or self centred it reaches out into a fallen world and draws others in. Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships. When you love someone dearly you are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice.

• I considered this thought, this week, how far would I go for my own children , would I be prepared to sacrifice myself for them, would I be willing to pay the highest price, in order that they may have life? What if these children had forsaken God, committed the most horrendous crimes against humanity, would we still be willing to accept them back. After all Hitler was someone’s son, Myra Hindley was someone’s daughter, would you be prepared to give your life in order to save a vile wretched sinner of a child? The answer from God is yes. Why?

It’s found in the heart of God who is Love (1Jhn 4:16) , this is the sublime truth of the Bible that God is Love , sadly our world has got it the wrong way round, ‘Love is God, if you love it then do it’ mindset. But here in this verse we see that the Love of God for this World is the cause of the Father sending the Son on a mission into this fallen world.

God’s love is a Divine Love: Agape love. expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect being towards entirely unworthy objects The cause of the Sons mission is expressed in the fantastic hymn of Charles Wesley; Love Divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down fix in us thy humble dwelling all thy faithful mercies crown Jesus thou art all compassion pure unbounded love Thou art; visit us with thy salvation , enter every trembling heart..

Fact: (1Jhn 4.8) .God is Love. It’s essential part of His character, Love is not just something He shows, it’s something He is LOVE it is very Character. As a result love is poured out from Him towards others through his covenantal promises (Deut 7; 7-8) as it was for Israel and through His Son for us today. But here we seen His love not just t o a special group but to the whole world who are in rebellion towards Him.