Why John 3:16 Matters Today

Opening Welcome

Obituary Reading

Scripture Reading

Prayer

Song #1 - How Great Thou Art

Message

Song #2 - Amazing Grace

Dismissal

Introduction:

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 3837 How Great Thou Art

A young minister’s two-mile walk in the rain provided the inspiration for “How Great Thou Art,” a more recent addition to the collection of age-old hymns.

The Reverend Carl Boberg of Monsteras, on the southeast coast of Sweden, was 25-years-old when he wrote the lyrics of this song after treking through a thunderstorm from a church meeting two miles away.

One cannot sing this majestic hymn of praise and adoration without realizing anew the omnipotence of the Creator who did it all.

What is the primary message that Ginny would have heard when she and her husband came to Grace Baptist Church? The message would have been that of John 3:16, and it is important that we have absolute clarity as to what that message is and why that message is especially important to us today.

John 3:16 says,

John 3:16 KJV 1900

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This verse makes a declaration of two things that God has done, and one promise that God has made.

(1) The Activities of God

Notice that it is God who has both loved and God who has given. That fact that it is God cannot be overlooked. The story of John three is that a religious man came to Jesus by night with a desire that God would be with Him. This desire immediately tells us something about God and man. First, not everyone is in good standing with God.

Second, religion does not put you in good standing with God. By good standing with God, what I mean is that God is with the person, and the person has no fear of the justice of God. If even a clean cut, well-meaning, religion-observing man like Nicodemus felt that God was not with him, what does that say about the rest of mankind? It says that God must be so perfect that whoever really considers God feels inadequate or like something is missing before Him.

It is this God, who though He is Righteous, has loved the world.

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XXXI Immeasurable Love (No. 1,850)

That love of God is a very wonderful thing, especially when we see it set upon a lost, ruined, guilty world.

This love has been manifested through the second activity — that is, he gave his only begotten Son. The word gave here cannot merely mean that Jesus just came to this earth. This word gave causes us to ask, “Why?” Why would God give his only Son, and what does this mean?

First, and of utmost importance, it means that Jesus came from Heaven to the earth. This means that Jesus is God in the flesh.

In addition, Jesus is called the only begotten Son of God. Jesus had a good standing with God. Jesus had the standing with God that the religious man needed to have with God. Jesus had the good standing with God that all mankind needed. Jesus even told the religious man, “You must be born again.” In other words, "You are not good enough before God as you are; but you must be born again if you will be a child of God.”

Second, the fact that God gave Jesus means that Jesus is given by God for a reason — to cause men to be drawn to Jesus. But how would men be drawn to Jesus? The story shows to us that this religious man was drawn to Jesus by the mighty works that He was doing. The life that Jesus lived was marvelously perfect — so perfect that even a good man saw how incomparable he was before Jesus.

Jesus’ life certainly drew men to God, but it would ultimately be the sacrifice of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus which would draw men to God. It is the death of Jesus, in which he was elevated upon a cross and the Resurrection of Jesus, in which he is elevated from the grave we have two striking realities. These striking realities are mighty works that draw people to Jesus. Why would someone so perfect suffer this kind of penalty? The answer is found in the promise given by God.

(2) The Promise of God

The promise of God is that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The promise of God has several facets.

First, it answers the question of why Jesus is lifted up on a Cross. Jesus is lifted up on a Cross so that people would look to Him and believe that He is the payment for their sins. We may try to deny that we have sins, but the perfect life of Jesus exposes our sinfulness. The question of sinfulness is not whether you are as bad as someone else. The question about sinfulness is, “Are you as good as Jesus?” Clearly, this religious man saw a difference between Jesus’ standing with God and his own standing with God.

Secondly, since Jesus was lifted up on a Cross, it reminds us that sin requires sacrifice. In order to have our sins forgiven completely before God, we must believe in the sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. It is the sacrifice of this perfect Jesus that is payment enough to put people in good standing with God.

Thirdly, not everyone believes in Jesus Christ; but those who do believe in Jesus as their Lord receive eternal life. This is what it means to be in good standing with God. It means that you are reunited with the ultimate Source of Life — namely God. It means that you have heard the message of Jesus’ perfect life, his horrific death, his powerful resurrection and you have believed in Jesus alone for eternal life.

Lastly, and significantly, anyone who is not in good standing with God perishes. To perish is to be destroyed or lost, but here the contrast is with eternal life. In other words, it is not merely that someone is lost for a short time, but people can be eternally lost. The meaning then is that those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, their sins are not forgiven and they are never in good standing with God, and they are lost forever.

While you have physical life, you have opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ, to have your sins forgiven, to receive eternal life. On the other hand, if you are lost right now and you die in this lost state, then your lostness will be eternal. Rather than have eternal life, you will experience eternal death.

So, hopefully, you can see why this is actually a truly loving activity of God. Though God was the offended party, God sacrificially gave Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and God makes eternal life available to those who will respond in faith.

Conclusion:

Thus, I presume that Ginny Ingram not only heard this message of love but that she received Jesus Christ. She and her husband moved their membership back to GBC in 2003. As a member they had to give a statement of faith that they were believers in Jesus Christ. This means that they were not in good standing with God because they were the best people. This statement of faith means that they were in good standing with God because of Jesus Christ. This is the good news today. This is the gospel. This is our hope — a hope that those who believe in Jesus Christ shall never perish but have everlasting life.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 3811 Amazing Grace

3811 Amazing Grace

A 200-year-old American hymn tune, with words by a former English slave trader, played by, of all things, a Scottish bagpipe band, was the runaway hit record of 1972 in Canada and Britain. “Amazing Grace,” performed by the regimental pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (a British cavalry regiment), was the number-one record in Britain and now tops charts in Canada. Sales in the United States were brisk.

More than 100,000 copies of the 45 rpm single were sold in Canada within three weeks of release, and sales of the band’s long-play album total half that. Amazing, says a distributing company official.

—Barrie Doyle