Strangers to Believers
Notes
Transcript
We talk about strangers to be believers, it is important to get this right. Of the steps of strangers to believers and then lovers and warriors, probably this step is the most important, as with the help if the Holy Spirit, we hope the other two will follow.
When we say we want strangers to be believers what we don’t want is just for people to become nicer, or more sincere, or to even to make a decision for Christ. We want people to become new in Jesus not nice, to be saved not sincere and to be a disciple or follower of Him and not make one decision that doesn’t affect their life.
There are many things we can say about this, but for this short time we will just consider John 3:16. It like the most famous verse in the Bible and in it we learn something about believers. It says:
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 is simple enough for a child to understand yet deep enough for theologians to debate. It remains the core of our faith, a message we never outgrow. It explains the basis in how strangers can become believers.
For God so loved the world
This verse begins with “For God” and so it would be good to know who He is and how He loves.
Many misunderstand God—seeing Him as a distant figure, a cosmic policeman or Santa in the sky. But Scripture tells us otherwise. In Genesis 17:1, God declares, "I am almighty." He is all-powerful. In that context, He can bring life to a barren couple in Abraham and Sarah and make a nation from them.
We we also see that “God so loved the world”. He cares for what goes on here. He is not absent or uninterested. God lives the world, but not because the world is great, but because of who God is. It is His nature to be love (1 John 4:16).
However, the world God loves is not neutral towards Him—it actually loves the darkness. Three verses after John 3:16 it says, “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19-20) We all have done evil and covered it up. We are all by nature strangers to God, in the dark for we do not want to know Him. Our deeds shows us our sinfulness, but the Gospel shows us God's love for the undeserving. Despite the world’s rejection, God did not abandon us.
That He gave His only Son
It goes on “that he gave His only Son”.
Out of God’s love, He gave us something so costly to save us. He gave His Son—His only Son. Jesus is unique, and the only Savior. Acts 4:12 say, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
At the cross, God did not hold back. He gave Jesus up to the judgment we strangers deserve, so that in Him we might receive what we could never earn—grace, mercy, and eternal life. The cross is both the clearest display of God’s hatred of sin and His incredible willingness to pardon sinners. Here, everyone—regardless of past failures—can find hope and restoration, and no longer be a stranger with God.
That whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life
We are told “that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”
This message of God giving Jesus for the world is for whoever believes in Him. The word whoever is broad—anyone can enter in. But the phrase not perish but have eternal life is narrow—there are only two paths. Everyone will go one way or the other, eternal life or not, depending on whether they believe in Jesus.
To believe is more than intellectual agreement; it is to trust in Jesus fully, moving from being a stranger to a believer. Greek scholars note that "whoever believes in Him" could better translated as "whoever believes into Him." It signifies moving from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness, from self-reliance to Christ-reliance. It is not believe in some objective historic facts about Jesus, but about moving our life from ours to His, listening and obeying Jesus. Having our hearts and wills aligned and for Jesus.
When we believe, we stop hiding from God, and we go to Him. We move from being a stranger to a believer. We surrender our lives, trusting that Jesus took on the forsakenness we deserved. What matters to God is not our goodness or badness but whether we are united with Christ. Weather we believe in Him or not. God has made the way simple—He has done everything for us. But it is hard, for it means giving up our selfishness and trusting in Him. A believers response is to turn from themselves and receive Christ with empty hands of faith.
A call to respond
If you take out God and His love for us in this verse, all that we have left is perishing. That is where we are going without Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 warns, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel... They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord.” They will be strangers to Him. And we don’t want that for anyone.
The good news, that drives what we do is that eternal life is available now. God loves sinners, and He gave His Son for them. The only question is: Have you trusted Him? Are you a stranger of Jesus or do you believe? This is what we are on about when we talk about Strangers to Believers. We want all who don’t know about Jesus to know that life can be found in believing in Him.
