The Incomparable Love of God

This is a passage that is so familiar to us, and it’s difficult to get unfamiliar with it in order that it might come to us in a fresh way. With that in mind, I want to begin by stating that the common rendering is a bad rendering. “God so loved the world”, doesn’t capture the sense of the text because it’s not first and foremost about the degree or quantity with which God loves. It’s not “how much” He loved the world. “God loved the world so much, that….” doesn’t capture it. “In this way”, is the better and more literal rendering. it’s in a strange and unusual way, such a condescending way, a love that gives up his own eternal Son to death for those that oppose and rebel against him. It is a surprising love. A love we wouldn’t expect. It’s not a way we would express our love. And it isn’t fitting for the god’s of paganism. Listen to one commentators helpful consideration:

This attitude of God toward the world is in suggestive contrast with that in which the gods of paganism are represented.

Thus Juno says to Vulcan:

“Dear son, refrain: it is not well that thus

A god should suffer for the sake of men.”

“Iliad,” xxi., 379, 380.

And Apollo to Neptune:

“Thou would’st not deem me wise, should I contend

With thee, O Neptune, for the sake of men,

Who flourish like the forest-leaves awhile,

And feed upon the fruits of earth, and then

Decay and perish. Let us quit the field,

And leave the combat to the warring hosts.”

Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 100.

Not only were the Jews not expecting God to come to them in suffering form, but neither were the gentiles.

And what was there to love? Of every human being on earth. In all of the world, what had they made of God’s gifts? That had taken it all and turned it into thorns and thistles, barrenness, and unfruitfulness. He didn’t come to find us loving him but hating him, and he loved us anyway. He stooped to the dregs of humanity. To the world. We remember the word world largely has negative connotations in Johns gospel and here it is negative in it’s fullest sense.

The world stands in a great and irreparable plight. And something out of this world must happen for its salvation and reparation.

Who loved?

“God loved”

The Father loved the world. It does not say Jesus. Though Jesus does love you, the point is to emphasize that it is God the Father who loved you with this love. Before the world was he had set his love upon his fallen image bearers. Don’t miss this. Jesus is not appeasing a hard Father. It’s not like Jesus comes and dies and rises again and now the Father can love you, but until then, he had angry and hard thoughts toward you. His love is the driving force, the fountain. Any love you get— as the Spirit’s gift through Christ—is first and foremost from the Father. John tips us to it here and will further expand on it in Ch 13-17. We need to remember that while Christ-centeredness is great, it can quickly become a Christ-isolatedness. Christ-centeredness and God-centeredness go hand in hand(John 17:3). Jesus is only everything to us as the gift of the Father, and by the gift of the Spirit. If you embrace Jesus, you embrace the Father’s gift( and even the Father himself). If you see in Jesus your only hope, the Holy Spirit beat you to it( he brought you there). There is no moment in salvation history that is not Trinitarian. And it is the love of the Father for you from eternity, that is the fount of it’s expression in Jesus.

Further, while this salvation is for all. It is held out to everyone. It is not an invitation. It is not, “listen to this text now will you accept Jesus. Will you give Jesus permission to enter your heart.” This is a declaration and proclamation as we’ve seen above, of the inexplicable love God has shown toward humanity. You may use it in various ways as you evangelize. But this is not an invitation. The gospel is not an invitation! Everyone, by natural birth stands under the condemning wrath of God. The gospel, this announcement is your ONLY hope. Jesus is your only hope. Just as you must be born again, you must repent and believe in Jesus, and Jesus alone. There are no other options, no other Son’s given of the Father. No other Way, no other Truth, no other Life, no other Name under heaven by which men must be saved than the Lord Jesus Christ! “The one’s believing in him will not parish”. “Whoever has not believed the wrath of God remains upon Him.”

And because it is not this casual invitation, because of the urgency of mans state, we take missions very seriously. We take missions seriously because we take mans depravity seriously. We must go into all the earth and call men and women to repentance lest the parish. They need the gospel because the wrath of God has been and remains upon them lest they believe in Christ.

If man has any good in him, then it would be best to leave these remote peoples alone lest they hear and reject the gospel and then bring condemnation upon themselves. But that’s not the case. Men and women are parishing everyday. Slipping into eternal ruin under the condemning wrath of God. Because they are rebels and have been rebelling against their creator from their birth. They need the gospel. Do you ever wonder that that wasn’t you. What did you do to be born at the time and place and circumstance you were, where you would hear and believe the gospel? Nothing!

And it is for all.

and “whoever believes” lit “:all the ones believing”

anyone and everyone who at any point in time believes. It’s for all people at all times. There is no distinction.

Romans 10:12 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.”

And whoever calls upon him will not parish.

“Will not parish”

John 8:24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.””

What is it to parish. If the love of God is expressed in giving his eternal Son up to the shameful death of the cross. Where the full wrath of God was laid upon him for us. Then what of the impenitent? The wrath of God remains upon you. And though it is upon you now, it is mixed with many, many, gifts, and kindnesses, and with much longsuffering. His wrath is present now, even in his patients towards you. But to parish eternally, is to bear God’s wrath, without any of these temporal reliefs. No more of his kindness, gifts, sunshine, longsuffering and forbearance. But only the terror of his wrath upon your fallen and rebellious self. Unmixed. You will cry out to be set free from his presence, but to no avail. Unbelievers can still hide from God under creature comforts, but at that day, no more hiding.

This is were all humanity is headed outside of Christ. Literally on the highway to hell. Broad is the road to destruction and many are on it.

How do we escape this. Just pray this prayer and accept Jesus into your heart…..

No, repent and believe in Jesus. All he is for us. What he, the Father, and the Spirit through the Baptist say. That he is God’s promised Messiah, God’s eternal Son. He takes away your sin, he gives you his Spirit. He was given over to death for your life. Faith, is literally putting yourself inside Jesus. I have no good in me, so I’m going to flee to him. I go to him for refuge. I hide in him and am clothed in him.

Will you accept Jesus into your heart, said no one ever in the Bible. What does repentance and faith sound like? “I don’t deserve to be called your son.” Make me like one of your hired servants” That’s what true repentance looks like. And that is the contrite heart the Father will respond to: Come enter my rest my beloved adopted son or daughter.

And John under the inspiration of the Spirit knows of no other final state for humanity. You either have eternal life in Christ, or you parish eternally.

He knows of no other Spiritual state one could be in. You are either dead in your trespasses and sins in your natural state, or you are born again by the Spirit of God.

And John only knows of an exclusive salvation. There is not another lamb, there is not another Spirit giver, there is no other gift of God, no other Son of Man to be lifted up on the cross, no other Son of man to declare Gods will to us, there is no other gospel. All other religions and saviors are excluded. It is by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. Brought to light in the Scriptures alone to the glory of God alone.

“Eternal life”

This believing one possesses eternal life now, and will enter into it’s consummation ahead. Eternal life is both now and to eternity. This is not something to be experienced only in the age to come because the age to come is already here. Salvation is now. If you have said yes and amen to the Fathers gift of Jesus. If the Spirit has shined on Jesus in such a way that you have said, yes, that is for me. That is the only hope for such a wretch like me. Then you have eternal life now! It’s already begun in you. That fellowship with the triune God that we will enjoy and experience for all eternity, has already begun in you. Romans 5:1–5“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

It is now, and notice again it is trinitarian, through and through.

And with that, I hope we understand that eternal life, heaven, is not first and foremost about being reunited with loved ones. It’s about coming to face to face intimate fellowship with the only true lover. Your Savior, who is nearer and dearer than family and friends. Closer than a spouse. More intimate than any relation. Eternal life is coming to embrace your True Husband, and to taste and enjoy his pleasures now and forevermore.

Brothers and sisters, your taste of heaven now, is all about learning and experiencing how deep the Father’s love in Christ is for you, and how great the grace of Jesus life was and is for you, and how wonderful is the fellowship the Holy Spirit brings you into. And then understanding that all of this is for his own Triune glory and casting it back to him. What shall I offer to the Lord for all the benefits he has given to me. I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the LORDs name. It’s all from him and all back to him. That is the main thing. Everything else flows out of that. Whatever other enjoyments come in heaven, it’s out of this.

And if that isn’t the main thing, then your thinking about eternal life needs to be reoriented.

Verse 17.

We’ve already discussed the fact that man stands condemned. We’ll get to more of that in verse 36. But listen, God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save it. He came to bring salvation. This is gospel. God the Son, has come to repair rather than condemn fallen image bearers. He could have come and condemned. But in his eternal counsels our triune God determined that he would restore fallen image bearers. He loves his image in us that much that he would save it by the lifting up of the eternal Son on the cross!

Even though, at one and the same time, judgement comes with his coming. If you do not believe in God’s only begotten Son, you remain condemned and are already in a state of judgement.

This is a major hurdle for the Jews. They thought; Messiah comes and brings judgement on the gentiles and saves us. What Jesus says is that you are all under condemnation unless you believe in me. You can already see the difficulty that will come ahead with the Pharisee’s because of this false supposition. I will bring judgement to all of my enemies at my second coming, and unless you repent, that will include you. My mission at my first coming is to call all men to myself.

“Not to condemn”

What is condemnation?

To be pronounced guilty. Justification is to be pronounced righteous. Condemnation is to be judged with a guilty verdict upon your head. The guilt of being under fallen Adam and the guilt of all your particular sins will weighing down upon you, waiting your just sentencing.

“To save”

What does it mean. Not to be condemned. To be in Christ.

Romans 8:1“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

To be under the care of the Good Shepherd.

John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Verse 18.

Again it is reiterated. He who believes. The 4th time believe is mentioned. This is the simplicity and freeness of it for all. It does not matter what your record is or where you’ve been, the message is for you, for the worst of sinners. It is for you today children. Do not go on in unbelief. The pleasures of this world the pleasures of sin can only bring you misery and ruin. They promise joy, happiness, thrill, they even provide a fleeting comfort. Do not go on chasing empty pleasures, and empty delights. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and have lasting joy, eternal joy.

And there are no steps. There are no preparations. You do not prepare to receive grace. You don’t do XYZ and then you’re ready to believe. Isaiah 55:1 ““Ho! Everyone who thirsts, (do you know that if you don’t have Christ you are thirsty, you are dying of thirst if you don’t have Christ) Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.”

John 3:18 ““He who believes in Him is not condemned;” Right now! If you believe in Jesus you are not condemned. Praise God!

John 3:18 ““………but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

And men flee to the darkness because there evil deeds are exposed by Christ.

John 3:19–21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.””

Have you ever had your parents come flip the lights on in your room at 5am on a cold dark winter morning. Whats the first thing you do? Cover yourself with the blanket. That’s what the sinner does when come in contact with the gospel or with christians. He hides and covers his sin. Perhaps this is an illusion to Gen 3 where Adam and Eve try to cover the shame of their sin.

But there are those who are in the darkness who will come into the light through faithful witness and faithful preaching. Remember Nicodemus came to Jesus in the dark, the darkness of his soul, but he will come to the light. And that’s because God provided him the only fit covering for sin, which is Christ and his righteousness.

And it won’t be hidden. The reality of the new birth and faith in Christ cannot be hidden.

We see just like in John’s epistles these general truths. John says: consider two people side by side. The one who practices evil, will in no way come to the light because it would expose his evil deeds and naturally since the fall, we always hide our sins. But the one who practices the truth, the one who has a new heart, who’s been born again, he comes to the light, so that everyone might see the work in him, he is not ashamed to be God’s workmanship. God has worked in me and it won’t be hidden. I want people to see the effects of the Sprit of God in me.

How incomparably great is the love of God to us. So unexpected, so condescending, so free, so abundant, so fruitful, so delightful, so sure and fixed for all eternity. Please pray with me.

What is faith?

Receiving and believing in Christ.

It’s saying amen to what the Father, Son, John the baptist, and evangelist say about him.

Receiving Christ and all his blessings. It is “in Christ” the one believing “in Christ” actually puts himself “inside of Christ”. I want what he has, I need what he has. I will take it! I will embrace him and all of him!

Where does faith come from?

John 1:12-13 . This is so important.

In the prologue, as you’ll remember, the world is opposed to Christ, it lay in darkness, yet there are some who believe!

And after John lets us in on that glorious fact, he gives us the how? Notice the language. How did they come to believe John? Was it related to their heritage, was it related to there will to believe?

No, they were born( past tense) of God. They were born of God. Jesus just got done catching Nicodemus up to speed on this doctrine in the previous verses. You must be born from above or again. The Word means both.

What is it mean to parish?

How does it happen?

John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.””

Are there any other options?

And there are not multiple states or more than one destiny for man to consider outside of these two. You are not born again or you are born again. You either parish eternally, or have eternal life. We admit of no other state for man to be in, and no other destiny than the two mentioned.

There is one new birth, and it’s by the Spirit.

There is one way, and His name is Jesus.

There is one destiny, and that is the Fathers blessed presence by means of His two Hands. Forever!

What are the evidences of faith?

What are the evidences of condemnation?

How deep is the love of God?

So deep that he became a worm to save worms like us!

How ineffable is the wisdom of God. So unspeakable, that no man ever, would devise such a plan. God, the King of all the earth, is going to come in the lowest conditions, without splendor of pomp that are rightfully his. He will remain in obscurity for the majority of his life and then enter a 3 year ministry, be rejected by the majority of people and killed by the same. But in all this, he will save a multitude so vast no one can count, and he will save people from every tribe tongue and nation. That’s the greatness and depth with which he loves the world. He comes to the lowliness, the dregs, the hopeless, fallen image bearers. World here has negative and ugly connotations to it. It hates God, his government, his Son. It is dark and remains in the dark. The Son has been with his creation and it has rebelled against him from the get out. All you have to do is go read the OT if you want to better understand this idea. And yet, God still loves his image bearers.

And he will do it. Because Jesus atonement is a definite atonement. He is going to get the people the Father gave him. That’s how

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