For God So Loved
God’s Great Love • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today’s Reading from God’s Word
Today’s Reading from God’s Word
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Introduction
Introduction
This year as we’ve sought to “Open the Eyes of Our Hearts” we have used Ephesians 1:18-19 as our primary text.
In v. 19, Paul focuses on the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. I like the way the NASB translates v. 19.
Paul wants us to come to know:
19 and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
Over the summer, we learned about God’s great power.
Now, during the fall, we want to focus on what Paul says in the second part of that first sentence of the verse.
We want to know more about God’s great power that is being focused toward us who believe.
This really should not surprise us.
Over and over again in God’s word we observe God’s power directed toward those he loves — for the purpose of leading them to a better place.
God wants to take you wherever you are right now — and lead you home to be with Him — in eternity.
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“for us.”
Do we truly understand how much God loves us?
Can we fathom the depth God went to save us?
I think, for me, one of the most impactful times I feel His love for me — is every Sunday during communion.
That is when I have the opportunity to push out everything else and focus on the cross.
It’s very personal. Because I am so unworthy and wretched — and He still forgave me. And not only that, he continues to forgive me as I go through life.
22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!
And it doesn’t matter who we are — God has paved the way and invites us to come and belong to Him.
So, during September, October, and November, we are going to consider the greatness of God’s power — and understand it is all for “us.”
The greatest and most powerful being in the eternal universe knows you intimately, cares about you, and simply asks you to believe in Him.
He has the power to sustain your life and get you through to the other side … into eternity itself.
For those who commit themselves in trust and reliance — He has adopted as sons and daughters. There is nothing more amazing or powerful than that.
This month, we’re going to focus on God’s great love for us.
Four amazing passages in the New Testament that tell us about His love.
Today: John 3:16-17
9/8: Romans 8:38–39
9/15: Ephesians 2:4-5
9/29: 1 John 4:9-10
Today, we’ll be covering one of the most familiar passages in the bible.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Most of us could probably quote it.
It is seen everywhere.
It is a profound truth.
One of the reasons that this verse is so widely memorized and deeply loved is that it is a remarkably full summary of the gospel.
There are four things we learn about salvation in this verse.
Because of our sin, we are in danger. We are perishing.
Out of love, God designed a way for rescue.
We have a duty to respond by believing.
And when we do, God changes our destiny by giving us eternal life.
For those who call on Him, God is, as Paul writes in Ephesians 1:19, exercising his “boundless greatness” power to make us His own.
For the next few moments let’s explore a summary of the gospel — as given to us by Jesus in John 3:16.
Let’s talk about the:
Danger
Design
Our Duty
Our Destiny
The Danger: Apart from Jesus — We are Perishing
The Danger: Apart from Jesus — We are Perishing
John 3:16 (CSB)
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
What does it Mean to Perish?
What does it Mean to Perish?
More than Just Death
More than Just Death
To “perish” here is not just to die.
It is to be under the wrath of God — to have been judged by God.
18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
John 3:36 (CSB)
36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
This is not a “going out of existence” — it is remaining in existence for all of eternity and suffering fiery torment in hell.
Revelation 14:10-11 are among the most terrifying verses in all of scripture:
10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
Separated from God
Separated from God
2 Thessalonians 1:9 says these will be separated from God:
2 Thessalonians 1:9 (CSB)
9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength
Separation from God may be the worst of it all.
Every day — God reveals himself to all of creation in countless ways, if we would see.
In hell, the occupants are cut off from his work — except the work of his wrath.
The Opposite of Eternal Life
The Opposite of Eternal Life
To “perish,” as in John 3:16, is the opposite of eternal life.
It is Eternal
It is Eternal
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
It is Irreversible
It is Irreversible
26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’
Once you are there — you are there — and there is no coming back.
So, to “perish” as Jesus says in John 3:16 is to:
experience God’s wrath in fiery torment.
be separated from God.
be subjected to an irreversible sentence.
I do not speak these things with glee — I speak them as a warning.
Flee from the wrath of God and run toward the love of God through the door of Jesus.
2 For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!
And so the greatest news ever is found in John 3:16 — God will rescue you from His wrath through your faith in Jesus Christ.
Why Will We Perish if We Don’t Believe?
Why Will We Perish if We Don’t Believe?
We are frail, decrepit sinners.
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
The one who sins, dies.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All sin deserves punishment.
Why Does Sin Deserve Punishment?
Why Does Sin Deserve Punishment?
Because of who God is.
His greatness is infinite.
All things are measured by Him.
He is the beginning and the end of all things.
Every person depends on him for everything.
As our creator, we owe Him our trust, allegiance, love, worship, honor, respect, and obedience — because he made us, owns us, and sustains us.
When we reject, distrust, disobey, and neglect him by enjoying other things more than him — it is the ultimate insult.
A life lived in rejection of Him — deserves eternal punishment.
And so, the more we focus on this reality, the more the message of John 3:16 comes to life.
God loved us enough to give us His own son to recue us from perishing.
The Design: Love
The Design: Love
John 3:16 (CSB)
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
“For God so loved….”
How did He Love?
How did He Love?
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
“He gave his one and only son.”
In essence, he gave us a part of himself.
Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father — equal to him in every way — co-eternal with Him.
He gave him up to rejection and death.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
They killed him.
This was the work God gave Jesus to do:
4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
God’s love is a giving love.
To save us, He gave His most precious treasure — His Son.
There is no greater cost.
There is no love more powerful.
We should celebrate this love.
Love: Despite our Rebellion
Love: Despite our Rebellion
Romans 5:8 (CSB)
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Have you ever just sat and contemplated these verses?
This is mind-boggling.
Let’s go back to John 3.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
This is tied to Numbers 21 where Israel rebelled against God when they complained about eating manna.
God punished them by sending a plague of serpents who bit and poisoned the people, killing many.
The people cried out for relief.
And in response, God tells Moses:
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”
This is God’s design, out of love, to rescue rebellious people from perishing.
And here in John 3, Jesus connects this passage to his mission on earth.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
So when Jesus says “For God so loved the world that he gave” it means he gave his one one and only son to a world of rebellious, sinful, and perishing people.
He is the only hope.
For Everyone
For Everyone
John 3:16 (CSB)
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
“Everyone” who believes.
Every sinner who has committed every type and degree of sin.
You may look at yourself — and feel unworthy.
And yes — we are all unworthy.
God knows that. And it didn’t stop him.
But … don’t look at yourself — Look to the Son — and to the love of God — and to the promise that whoever believes on him will never perish but have eternal life.
The Duty: Faith
The Duty: Faith
John 3:16 (CSB)
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Belief is the essential link between your soul and God’s rescuing love.
Those who choose not to believe remain under God’s wrath:
John 3:36 (CSB)
36 … the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
Believing is the way we connect with the love of God.
The love of God is sufficient to save the world — but efficient to save those who believe.
His love actually saves believers.
It is effective in saving them from perishing.
But the love of God does not have this effect in the lives of those who do not believe. They perish.
So, believing is absolutely essential.
Actually — the world comes down to two groups:
Those who believe.
Those who don’t believe.
Those who believe are connected to the love of God & rescued from perishing.
Those who don’t believe remain under the wrath of God.
Believing is what links you with the rescuing love of God.
It is not about:
your status
how smart you are
church attendance or religious background
It is about — whether you believe on the Son of God.
Defining Belief
Defining Belief
Believing, in John 3:16 is not a one-time act.
It is an ongoing condition of the heart and mind.
The word is in present tense. It is not just about a past decision.
The issue is: are you believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God? Is this the ongoing condition of your heart?
Believing What?
Believing What?
“in him.” (as the Son of God sent by God.)
This is not subjective, nor is it solely an emotional thing.
Rather, belief has objective and specific truth content.
Look back at v. 13.
13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
The only person who ever came down from heaven with the truth about salvation is Jesus.
What is that truth?
15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
He is, as John said,
John 1:29 (CSB)
29 “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
This is the objective truth that Jesus brought with him from heaven.
But … while our head is involved in the receiving of this truth … the heart must be involved in accepting or being satisfied with God does for you in Jesus.
Belief is dependence on Christ crucified for salvation and accepting His atonement for our sins.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
The bitten Jews were healed by poison by depending on God.
They had to go to where the serpent was hung on the pole, look at it, and as they did that, they were healed.
And so it is that all God asks of us is to look at His Son, to lift him up.
The Jews who were bitten didn’t have to do anything.
There were no works or rites to keep.
There was no restitution - just look and you have life.
They simply depended or trusted God to do as He promised.
And that is the beauty of v. 15:
15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
All we can do is trust God.
And of course, we express that trust through our obedient response by repentance and baptism.
It is in those acts that we are demonstration and trust in God and acknowledgment of the fact we can do nothing of ourselves to bring about salvation.
We have to trust in His work.
As We Close
As We Close
Let’s look at our passage one more time.
John 3:16 (CSB)
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
“eternal life.”
Life in the Son of God.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
It is supernatural.
It is a gift — something beyond what we can manufacture.
When we hear His words, yield to God’s power, and believe on Jesus, we receive eternal life, because He is eternal life.
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Have you ever wondered why eternity exists?
It exists because it will take us that long to know the inexhaustible glories of God.
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (The Destiny: Eternal Life)
We can never by soaring and ascending come to the height of [the love of God]; we can never by descending come to the depth of it; or by measuring, know the length and breadth of it …
How blessed therefore are they that do see God, who are come to this exhaustless fountain!… After they have had the pleasure of beholding the face of God millions of ages, it will not grow a dull story; the relish of this delight will be as exquisite as ever …
Are things happening in your life that are driving you toward God?
John Newton, who was born in 1725 and became a sea captain and slave trader and generally perverse rebel against God, was brought to faith in Christ through a series of fearful dangers that shocked him into spiritual seriousness, and made him take heaven and hell seriously. He almost shipwrecked. And while God was dealing with him after that, he was in Londonderry, Ireland, hunting:
As I climbed up a steep bank, pulling my shotgun after me, in a perpendicular direction, it went off so near my face as to burn away the corner of my hat. (Out of the Depths: Autobiography, p. 70)
Newton came to see these experiences as God’s way of getting his attention and teaching him to fear so that he would look for relief in the only place it can be found: Christ.
So he finally wrote the great hymn:
T’was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved,
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed.
Look to Jesus — believe on Him — and be saved.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
