John 3:16
Notes
Transcript
I am assuming if you are here you have probably heard of the verse John 3:16 right?
You know you may have remembered learning it in Sunday school when you were a kid.
But even if you didn’t or even if you didn’t go to church your whole life you have probably heard this verse right?
Because you can’t go anywhere without seeing this verse.
You log onto Facebook and you see it
You go into Hobby Lobby and you see it
You turn on TV to watch some football and you see it
People get tattoos of it
There is even a golf ball company that makes balls with the verse John 3:16 on them.
I mean regardless of if you grew up in the church or not this verse is big!
But have you ever wondered why this verse is so popular?
I mean what is all the hype behind this short Bible verse?
And so today we are going to be talking about why this verse is so important.
And we are not just going to be looking at this verse specifically, but we will be looking at the verses following this verse.
Because while A lot of us know the verse John 3:16, what we do is we do not look at whats around this verse
Because whats around this verse actually makes this good Bible verse great.
And so we are in John 3:16-21 today
And I am going to be honest with you, this sermon is really simple today!
Because there are only 3 points I want you to get and Its just this: because we are going to be looking at:
Who God is
Who God is not
and then who we are.
So are you ready? Because we are just starting with the first verse which is just John 3:16 and I want you to read this verse with together with me aloud because I am sure most of us know it. It says:
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
So are you ready to know the secret of why this verse is so big?
Because this verse is one of the best verses when it comes to describing who God is in a sentence.
Because look how much this tells us about our God
because lets just break it down:
Its says “For God so loved”
Meaning that God loves. He does not hate his creation, but instead He loves it deeply and He loves you deeply.
And not just that but it says: “For God so loved the world”
And this is really good news because this means that God doesn’t just love some people but his love knows no borders or conditions
Meaning His love is inclusive and exclusive.
This passage does not say God so loves America, or God so loves the rich, or the poor, or those who have their lives together.
But it says God so loves the world.
In fact if you look at this passage and whats around it right before this passage Jesus is talking to a Pharisee who was considered to be the religious elite in this society. I mean people looked up to these guys in Biblical times.
And then almost right after this passage Jesus runs into a samaritan woman at the well and Samaritans in the Bible were considered low in society
And not just this but women were also considered low in this culture (which wasn’t right but its how this culture worked) and not just that but this woman has had 5 husbands which means she was considered very low in this society.
people would judge her
People turned there heads at her
But notice I didn’t say Jesus viewed her as low did I?
Because Jesus comes for her as much as He came for the Pharisee
This woman just knew her need.
Jesus loves the world.
And look at this next part because it keeps building on God’s Character and it actually says “For God so loves the world, that He gave His only son”
This is a big one because God doesn’t just say I love love you, but this part of the verse says God sacrifices for you.
If you are taking notes you can write down “God is a sacrificer”
and not just that but He has made a big sacrifice for you!
Because He loved you so much he actually sent His son to die a painful death on the cross.
And what makes this statement stunning is that while God is a sacrificer who gives everything to be in a relationship with us.
Some of us have a hard time sacrificing even the smallest things for Him
Some of us say I can’t sacrifice an hour on a Sunday morning
Doesn’t He know the Lions game is not right after
Doesn’t He know I am tired this week.
Some of us can’t sacrafice 30 minutes of devotional time in the morning.
Some of us can’t even sacrifice reading the verse of the day on a Bible app on our phone
And I not telling you this to make you feel guilty or ashamed, but I am telling you this because the truth is we can’t out sacrifice God, but even with that God says I will give the ultimate sacrifice for you which is my son.
God is a sacrificer
Look at this last part of the verse because it says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son.” and then it says “that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
This simply means that God is our savior and our way-maker.
He made a way where we could be in a relationship with Him even when it seemed like there was no possible way.
I mean we serve a God who can do the impossible
And that God is our savior.
Well look at these next couple verses because that verse gave us a good picture of who God is, but look at these next verses because it tells us this is who God is not.
Verses 17-18. It says this:
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
You know so often if you talk to someone who is doesn’t know God or is a new Christian a lot of times there view of God is that He is there to judge me, to punish me, and that is it.
But this passage actually tells us Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it.
But you are probably thinking “Well, Okay Pastor but this passage does say we are condemned right?”
But this is what I want you to get God is not the reason we are condemned but we are.
Because we have all done wrong,
But then we like to blame God.
Its almost like this: because Liam (my son) looks really innocent (and he is a really good child).
But he occasionally will get in these slapping fits and he will slap me hard.
And so when that happens I break out my Dad voice (which Arika tells me is really scary)
And I say no Liam that is bad, we don’t hit.
And not just that but if He keeps doing it I will often times place him in Time out if He is hitting me with somthing I will take it away.
And when I am doing that Liam looks at me like I am evil. I mean I am convinced if he could talk he would be telling my friends can you believe what my Dad did to me?
Can you believe what he said?
But you know so often in our walk with God we are that way. We say God has come to punish us when in reality we are the ones who have condemned ourselves.
And I am not saying God punishes by taking away something (although its possible), but what I am saying is we are the reason we are condemned, not God.
And this passage actually says God sent Jesus to do the opposite which is to save us from our sin
So when we trust in God and enter into a relationship with Him we are made clean
meaning that condemnation is gone.
Well look at this next part because we talked about who God is and then Who He is not, but this next part is almost just as important, because it tells about ourselves.
Look at verses 19-21 because it says this:
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
So this part of the passage starts by Jesus saying this is the judgement:
Basically: I am going to give it to you in one of the most simple ways possible.
And what he says is the light has come but we love the darkness.
Basically Christ has come and He has the ability to drastically transform our lives, however for some reason we would rather be in the dark then experience the light.
and the reason is that the light exposes things, doesn’t it?
So if we have things in our life that are not God glorifying it can be challenging to change some of those things, and so instead of bringing it to Christ what we do is we hide it.
Its almost like going to the dentist. Does anyone else here hate the dentist? (Every hand should be raised)
But I really hate the dentist,
and because of that I avoid going as long as possible because check ups aren’t fun, but then if you get a cavity its terrible right. (and the numbing stuff doesn’t even work on me)
And so if I have some sort of pain I ignore it and I keep ignoring it and keeping it hidden because I don’t want to face the reality that I may need a filling.
And if you know anything about dental hygiene you know that is a terrible idea because if you do treat a cavity it spreads and spreads and it has the ability to rot the entire tooth and not only that but it can cause issues in your gums.
In fact eventually it will become very obvious that my teeth are rotting because the outside will rot.
But you know thats what happens when we love the darkness, because when we avoid bringing things to light in hopes that it will just go away, but we don’t see it happen.
instead what we actually see happen in the cavity or sin grows, it gets deeper, and eventually it gets bad enough where others can see it anyway.
But when we bring ourselves to the light thats when the healing can start.
I want you to think for a second what is a dark area in my life?
An area where you have put up caution tape and said “God you are not allowed in this area!”
An addiction
a hurt
a struggle
something we are placing above God
And what would happen if you said God I want your light to shine in this place.
And I even want to take this a step further: what would happen if you said I want to bring this to light to a small group or a trusted Christian friend.
You know I have found in my walk with God if I am struggling with something the best thing to do other than to give it to God is to go to a trusted friend to walk along side with.
And you might be here thinking that sounds painful, I do not know if I could bring that thing in my life to light to God let alone others.
But heres what I want you to get, because when you go to the dentist there is potentially some uncomfortableness when you get a cavity filled, but that one hour appointment is nothing compared to walking around with the pain and burden of an infected tooth for years.
This morning have you been walking around with an infected tooth?
Has there been something you have been trying to hide for months years, maybe even a large portion of your life.
And can I just ask you hows it going?
I know its wearing on you.
And I just want you to imagine the freedom of throwing that weight off you this morning.
Because if you remember God so loved the world that He gave His only son not so you are condemned, but so you are set free and saved.
This morning I believe God wants to make a way in your life in an area that you feel like is impossible.
But we can’t love the darkness. It is time to come to the light.
It is time to come to the father.
Will you pray with me?