Untitled Sermon (4)

The World (The object of God’s Love)

Today we continue our study of , this is the Gospel in a single verse

o It has been called the “Greatest Verse in the Bible”

§ I once heard WA Criswell say that is about:

§ the greatest Being in all the world, God;

§ the greatest power in all the world, love;

§ the greatest gift in all the world, Jesus;

§ the greatest act in all the world, belief;

§ the greatest tragedy in all the world, perish;

§ the greatest inheritance in all the world, everlasting life.

This is the Gospel, and it is God’s story, it’s his plan for His world and the saving of our souls.

As we make our way through the text of the verse, this time we come to “the world”

AS IN: For God so loved the world

· it is the this phrase: “the world” that we are to examine in our brief few minutes today

READ THE TEXT IN CONTEXT

(NKJV)

[16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[17] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

[18] “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

[19] 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.

[20] For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

[21] But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

When we examine the word WORLD here in this passage, we see that in a few short verses, it is used a total of 5 times.

What is translated as “world” here in English is the GREEK word: kosmos (spelled with a k)

· We find, that we know this word!

· It indeed sounds quite familiar to us…

o When we think of the cosmos (we spell it with a c) we think of the vast/infinite expanse of the universe with it’s trillions upon trillions of stars

o We think of a well-ordered / endless and amazing creation that displays the glory of God

· Kosmos in the Greek language can be used, however, in at least 5 different ways:

o #1 it can be used broadly of “the universe” – the entirety of God’s creation

§ Luke writing in (my translation) [24] God, who made the …kosmos/the universe… and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

o #2 sometimes kosmos is used as “adorning or decoration”

§ There is where we get our English word for “cosmetics”

· You can enroll in a school that will teach you cosmetology

o The professional study of “beautifying the face, hair, and skin.”

o Of beauty treatments / and adornment of the body

§ (NKJV) [3] Do not let your adornment (your kosmos) be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— [4] rather let it (your kosmos/your adorning) be the hidden person of the heart

o #3 In the scriptures, kosmos commonly refers to “the earth”, “this planet” and all that it contains

§ Jesus being tempted by Satan:

§ (NKJV) [8] Again, the devil took Him (Jesus) up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world (all the kingdoms of the kosmos/the earth) and their glory.

o Well, Jesus resisted this temptation and then passed that wisdom along to us!

HE ASKS US:

§ (NKJV) [36] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

· Would it be a good deal to possess all the riches and power in the entire earth in this life just to lose it in the end? To have it stolen out of your grasp in the end by death?

· Or to let go of the earth now and receive it as the riches of your future inheritance in the kingdom of God?

o #4 Or even a more narrow use of kosmos is “humanity” – or “the human inhabitants of the earth”

§ In , all of Jerusalem had heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

§ As Jesus approaches for his Triumphal Entry, a massive crowd gathers, taking palm branches and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

· And the Pharisees (the religious leaders) are sulking, they are jealous and grumbling

· (NKJV) [19] The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “…Look, the whole world has gone after Him!”

o Meaning everyone, all of humanity is going to Him

§ Jesus speaks of the world/kosmos as all the nations in this same sense

· (NKJV) [15] And He said to them, “Go into all the world (all nations/all peoples) and preach the gospel to every creature.

o #5 The last use of kosmos speaks of an:

§ organized body of people or order,

§ a structured organization, like a body politic

§ Like when we speak of a hobby group or organization of likeminded people and all the accessories and trappings that go along with it.

AS IN:

· The World of Sowing

· The World of Dance

· The World of Baseball

§ In , Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders and he rebukes them

§ (NKJV) [23] And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

· He is making the distinction in this passage that they were not in fact children of Abraham – a people of God

· But in fact telling them their true allegiance was to darkness, their father was in the devil himself

o And their actions are simply a reflection of “the world” , “the organized structure” they were truly members of

The question being then:

How does this relate to “For God so loved the world”

o Well, which meaning of kosmos, “the world” does John use here in the verse?

o #1 Does John mean by the world then, “the universe” – the entirety of God’s creation, or “the earth” itself and all that is in it?

§ Does say? For God so loved (the entire universe / stars / planets / moons / sun / earth / trees / rocks/ plants / dogs / fish / insects) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

· No, clearly that can not fit. Whoever believes must mean someone with a mind that can think…

o With ears that can hear the Gospel, and a will that can believe it

o This removes stars and planets and rocks….

· So John’s use of “the world” here cant mean creation itself

o Yes, even so, one day he will right all the wrongs in the universe and create a new heaven and new earth

o #2 Does John mean by the world then, “adorning or decoration”?

§ Clearly we can reject this meaning outright as God as

· God so loved the world…that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

· The reason for Christ dying is a matter of life and death not beauty and external adorning

o Yet, we shall one day shine like the sun

o that we, even now as believers, are “clothed in righteousness”, “washed” of our sins, to be presented “pure” before him

o #4 Is where we find a bit of dispute: When John says the world, does he mean “all humanity”?

§ (NKJV) God says [23] Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

§ (NKJV) God [4] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave Himself a ransom for all

· Yes, I believe that God has a love for all… All men and women and children….

o That God pours our his blessings each and every day on the just and the unjust

§ Close to the truth, I think the meaning of “the world” here is speaking more of all people groups

· all nations/people from every tribe/tongue/and nation

· Throwing off the notion that somehow God’s love and care is only for the nation of Israel

§ But some will try to make this mean that all will be saved at the end….

· However, we must reject that The words of Jesus are clear here that salvation is conditional and not universal:

· God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

o It is down to whoever put their faith hope and trust in the life and work of the Son who will “not perish but have everlasting life”

o #5 The more I examine this, the more I believe that John’s Gospel has more than one meaning actually in mind.

§ The last use of kosmos speaks of an: organized body of people or order, a structured organization

· (NKJV) [4] … God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, [5] having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, [6] to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

· In this sense, God love is so great for His people, that even before creation itself, he knew, he foreknew those who would be his….

o His love is so great for this group that he was willing to send His Son to die for them….

§ That they are from all peoples/ all nations

§ And that they will come to faith and trust in Jesus and be saved….

Here is the point:

If you step back and look at God’s love for the world in its grand view, we are soon struck by a sense of awe and wonder.

RC Sproul “The wonder of God’s love is displayed in the unworthiness of its object.”

John says the object of God’s love is the world…

o The amazing wonder of God’s love is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

o The wonder of God’s love is that he would come here, and lay down his life to redeem anyone

o We aren’t talking about saving those who are mostly good but had a few mistakes.

o But, in reality there were no good ones here to begin with at all!

§ (NKJV) [18] So Jesus said…”No one is good but One, that is, God.

o (NKJV) [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

o (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death

o We were absolute rebels, lost, slaves to sin

§ Paul says “you, who one were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body by his death”

We by nature are children of this world, this God rejecting world…

o The world that persecuted Him and today still persecutes those who follow him.

§ We had turned our backs on him,

§ we shook our fist in the air

§ and said no, not your way but my way

· Not your will but my will

o And yet….

o God in His infinite love looked down on us, us…

§ little, petty, prideful, rebellious, beings,

§ Hostile in mind / willfully rejecting Him / doing evil constantly

o And decided to send Jesus to save us, to make a way back to him, to call out into the darkness in all parts of the earth

§ And pull sinners out of the fire, pick them up, wash and purify them

§ And give them a hope and an eternal future with him