Introduction

Good Morning everyone. Today we will have the privilege of looking at a verse that may have been the first verse many of us have ever learned. If you could turn your bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 3. We will be reading 5-18 verses. However, most of our discussion today will be on John 3:16.

This is a verse that has been incredibly popular for the last 2 thousand years. D.L. Moody that famous american evangelist is recorded to have come to faith in Christ through the teaching of this verse. Two Reasons I have chosen to preach from it today are:

Because of the amazing tool it is to share the Gospel in a clear and concise way

This is the verse that has brought many to see the greatness of the love of God, the best news that has ever been told

To clear up some errors that our culture has given it

I’m sure you have seen this out and about, but it is to often where our favorite Christian words these days are taken and twisted

Truth

Justice

Peace

Equality

Freedom

Reconciliation

Acceptance

And today, the word is love

My prayer for today is that we see love as God sees it, and we see the message of John 3:16 as God intended

John 3:5–18 ESV

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And 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. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

General Structure for John 3:1-21

Nicodemus conversation with Jesus

A Pharisee

Seems to be one of the good ones

How can one enter the kingdom

Important Topic to Discuss

Must be born again

The Son must be lifted Up

Eternal Life is Available through Belief in Christ

Judgment for those who love the Darkness and Do Not Believe

True Practice marking those in the Light

3 Life Changing Truths from John 3:16 so that you might have a clear explanation of the Gospel

Selfless love of God

Sacrifice of the Son

Salvation through belief

John 3:16

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Selfless Love of God

For

Pointing to what has been previously stated

John 3:5 (ESV)

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

You must be born again

We need to consider the wildness of this statement

Imagine going to a mechanic illustration:

A seemingly impressive and humble person is told that there is nothing salvagable about your life or your efforts

To enter the Kingdom of God, you have to be not you

Alluding to what is called regeneration meaning when at conversion, a Christian receives the Holy Spirit

Point being made is that entrance to a perfect heavenly kingdom requires perfect people, and this cannot happen without the work of the Holy Spirit

John 3:14–15 ESV

And 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.

To Summarize, no one can get into heaven without being born again of the Holy Spirit

The Son of Man must be lifted up (Double meaning of the cross and exaltation) for the purpose of eternal life

Allusion from Numbers 21

Begins a Section of Explanation possibly not from Jesus but John

In a sense doesn’t matter

We do not agree with the liberal Christians who say that the only valid words of scripture are the ones that Jesus himself spoke

Red-Letter Christianity

Doesn’t matter if Jesus spoke these words or this is John’s explanation, both are inspired by God and perfect

God

Fairly clearly pointing to God the Father

So

Decision

“In this way”

Often it can be translated “in this way”

I would be tempted to go with this because of the misuse of this verse

Intensity

There is fair evidence to show that this is highlighting not just how, but the wild nature of this love in its intensity

Galatians 2:13 ESV

And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

This verse explains a situation as abnormal that someone generally as wise as Barnabas would be let astray

Uses the same wording

Highlighting that the statement is extremely surprising

Loved

Past tense, one time event

God does love, but here specifically it is talking about a one time event that happened

This is agape love

Distinguishing from either romantic love or the love of friendship

“high regard”

Often in the bible used when speaking of the love of God towards humans

This word is defined by the bible, and not by culture

Emphasis of the surprising nature

Many people are confused by certain difficult biblical topics such as the Trinity, the problem of evil, etc.

The truly most confusing topic

the World

Does God love the whole world?

It depends on what you mean by love but in this sense yey

In this case, we must affirm that God loved the entire world specifically in how this verse states

Because of this we must believe two points that are must more important

God in a way has loved the whole world through Jesus in that when we preach the Gospel, we can rightly call every single person to believe. We can extend the offer of the Gospel to every person whether the most evil person who ever existed, or the most prideful.

As we will talk about later, the universal love does not actually become effective unless one believes

The offer is a wide offer, but the truly saved is limited

Ex. If a boat is given a life raft, it is a gift to the boat. But if someone in the boat stays with the sinking ship, it in not an effective gift.

You have to teach the Gospel with both of these truths in mind

You cannot exclude people from the Gospel message because they are to far gone

You must preach with a bit of urgency knowing that salvation is not at universal, and that most will reject

Sacrifice of Jesus

he gave

Again, one time past event

Practical Question: Is there any more confusing theme in the bible than this one? Why would God do that?

Some would say “because you are worth it”

Not True

A continual sinner against God

A vicious enemy of God

Deserving the worst punishment

Completely incapable of anything good

What is so shocking about that statement?

The sacrifice was so great

The world was so evil

Romans 5:7–10 ESV

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

His Only Son

Translation Decision: “one and only” “unique” “only-begotten”

Only is fine

I do appreciate that it simply communicates who Christ was

He was the only Son of God and only one who could pay such a cost

Only-Begotten is preferred and there is strong evidence that has come out in the past few years that support it

This translation seems to have been held to be the majority of the church for the last 2000 years

Only in the late 1800s was it really challenged, with the argument that the text is pointing to Jesus was one of a kind and not born of God

We as Christians have often tended towards this translation to combat certain false religions in our culture that claim that Jesus was created by the Father

Although this is not important for your basic Gospel explanation, one and only robs the depth of the word here

It robs the concept of the eternal begotten Son

Psalm 2:7 ESV

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Begotten can also be speaking of coronation and not just being born

How can someone enter the kingdom of God, because of the Kingship of the Son

It carries a theme of John 3 answering the question with depth

In order words, why can someone be born again? Because of the only-begotten Son

Let’s reclaim the depth of this verse, although I do admit that only or unique is a helpful explanation for the new or unbeliever

Salvation through belief in Jesus

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Whoever believes in Him

Reminder: This is available to any person

Application: When we preach the Gospel, we preach universally

To those you would never expect to be saved

Believes

This is talking about how we can receive the benefit of this work of Christ

We believe that the Gospel can include all, but is limited to those who actually believe

What type of belief is this?

Free Grace View (A very large percentage of Christians is the US would agree, who are honestly very nice people, but I feel have a dangerous view of conversion):

Intellectual agreement with the facts of the Gospel

Question: Do you believe that George Washington was the President of the US?

Yes awesome. In a similar way, do you believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again?

Yes awesome, you are saved!!

Biblical View: Repentant Belief

Sincere commitment to forsake sin and walk in obedience to Christ

Will result in a changed life

Mark 1:15 ESV

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Acts 2:38 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

When the bible says we are saved by faith, this is specific to repentant faith. This is why when I preach the Gospel, to avoid the confusion of our culture today, I will say repent and believe.

Often in scripture, repentance and belief are used almost interchangably, and it is because they are both talking about being saved

We turn away from sin in the same process as we turn away from Christ

You leaving your house, and going to church is the same process

Helpful Explanation

Believing that

Deals with Facts

Involves the Mind

Involves recognition of the truth

Can be momentary

Alters Nothing

Is a natural experience

Is a prerequisite

Believing In

Deals with a person

Involves the heart

Involves allegiance to Jesus, the Truth

Must be continuous

Alters everything

Is a “rebirth from above”

Is the proper outcome

“John 3:16 What’s It All About?” - Murray J. Harris

This is why I would never even consider going to a church that doesn’t have this view. How could you tell someone they are saved when they are not?

Not Perish

What does it mean to perish

Clearly contrasting with eternal life, and therefore referring to eternal death

General Talk on Hell

Do you think that John is overstating or understating when he says “perishing”

Certain bible teachers that I really respect make interesting points about this:

Have you ever heard people say that the Old Testament is mean, but the New Testament is loving.

If you do a study on hell in the bible

Barely discussed in the Old Testament

Jesus is the main New Testament teacher of hell

Revelation is by far the most gruesome judgment in the entire bible

What is the truth: In the New Testament, just as the love of God is intensified so is the judgment.

But have eternal life

Interesting point is the start of the eternal life

There is a fair argument that this is talking about life that starts at conversion

There is almost a double meaning of eternal life here

Fair point to make that the start of eternal life begins at conversion

Now what does this mean

In some senses, if you are saved, you are beginning to live true quality of life

I truly do believe this, being a Christian, being forgiven, having joy in Christ is that beginning of eternal life

Make no mistake, when you become a Christian, often things in your life initially get more difficult (Putting off sin, loss of relationships for example)

I do think it is an interesting point to make

Eternal: Destined to Last forever/ Quantity

Simple explanation: Now please pause for me and think about that for a few seconds

Life: Word talking about quality and not just simply continuous

Talking about the life that God naturally has and humans do not

Conclusion

Today, we covered

The Selfless Love of God

Sacrifice of Jesus

Salvation through Belief

Wrapping Up Gospel Presentation

John presents the Gospel in an unusual way to what we are used to compared to Paul

In a different order than many of us are used to through Paul for example

Talks about sin and punishment last

Asks the heaven question first

Still a great way to share the Gospel

Wayne Grudem shares four elements of Gospel presentation

All people have sinned (Rom. 3:23).

The penalty for our sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins (Rom. 5:8), and he rose from the dead and is alive today (1 Cor. 15:3–4).

Invitation to respond in repentance and faith (Mark 1:15)

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Has 3 out of the 4 elements

Does not cover sin, although implies it. In many ways, it is previously covered in the verses about being born again even more extensively.

States that all naturally are headed towards perishing or eternal death

States that through the Father giving His only begotten son, some can have eternal life

Calls for belief in, and not belief “that”

Closing Questions

Are you a true believer in Christ Jesus? Or are you a person who has bought into the lie of belief of Jesus rather than belief in Jesus?

Are you in awe of the love of God for a world that hates Him?

Is there anyone you need to share the Gospel with? Is there someone in your life that you are worried about them perishing rather than having eternal life?