Learning of God's Love

Introduction:

Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus came to its emphatic and dramatic point in Jn. 3:14-15.

It is necessary for the Son of Man to be exalted (crucified) so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Our situation was hopeless, apart from the act of crucifixion.

Last week, we did not think about the universal atonement offered in the raising of the Messiah, but perhaps today.

The question that will now be addressed, either by Jesus or the Gospel writer, is what necessitated the substitutionary atonement of Jesus?

Human prayers did not compel it.

Human behaviors did not compel it.

God had an alternative, namely, wrath and judgment.

The Function of John 3:16

Most are probably able to recite the words of John 3:16, but we want to think about how this verse works or functions within the broader context.

The initial word, “for,” points us to the foundational reasoning behind a previous claim.

There is a logic/rationale to the death of the Messiah.

Two words, οὕτως and ὥστε help us navigate the statement.

οὕτως points to degree.

ὥστε answers it.

God loves the world, and this explains why it was necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up so that everyone believing in Him might have eternal life.

Romans 5:8.

1 John 4:9-10.

The Nature of God

The Gospel of John brings into view God’s loving nature.

Ancient people, including the Jews, assumed gods/God to be wrathful.

This is only partially correct.

Wrath does not preclude love.

Even modern people think God’s love obscure or difficult to see.

This is because of confused standards.

We do live in a world filled with darkness where human evil can cause us to question God’s care or concern for us.

We learn about what the true God is like in crucifixion.

We were not compelled to offer a propitiatory sacrifice.

God offered this for us without us even asking him to do so.

The verb “perish” or “destroyed” still implies that something real is at stake.

God is angry, and He has already judged us apart from His Son.

He was able to provide an alternative to our eternal death.

Note also the very real conflict in Jn. 3:17-18.

The Universal Accessibility of Eternal Life

Works for or to finish salvation make sense to human beings.

These statements offer an alternative understanding of eternal life.

Eternal life is the possession of everyone believing in him.

The phrase “believing into him” has now returned.

Jn. 1:12-13; Jn. 3:14-16.

We would be right, also, to focus on the potentiality inherent in Jn. 3:16.

“might not perish”

“may be having”

Believing in him constitutes the “birth from above” or “having been born from God” - See John 1:12-13.

The Correct Understanding of His Coming

The Son of Man did not come to execute the final wrath of God upon the world.

Jews did expect it - Romans 2:1-3.

They thought they would be exempted from it.

Such an understanding of the coming of Messiah, most likely, would not have resonated with Pharisees represented by Nicodemus.

Jesus, however, has framed the necessity of substitutionary atonement from God’s perspective.

Consequently, we can understand God’s love when we consider the incarnation from the overarching purpose of crucifixion and resurrection.

Works are impossible for man’s forgiveness.

Notice the repeated emphasis upon “believing in him.”

An Unchanging Judgment

What is explained in Jn. 3:18 accords with Jesus’ own teaching throughout the Gospel.

Moses as judge: Jn. 5:45-47.

Judgment appears to be used in two senses:

Eternal or final judgment - Jn. 5:24.

Judgment ushered in by Messiah at the last days which would result in the establishment of an independent Jewish state.

In order to understand judgment (note Jn. 5:22, 30), we have to put everything around the crucifixion into broader context (remember also Jn. 12:30-34).

Messiah did not come to bring in final judgment.

He must first suffer, then he will judge.

Furthermore, the dividing line of eschatological judgment is not Jew/Gentile but believer/unbeliever.

Judgment is a reality of human existence. The only way out of that reality is faith in Jesus Christ.