Coffee Mug Christianity
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What is “Coffee Mug Christianity”?
— We see it everywhere… on signs … on coffee mugs and tumblers… on car window stickers… on social media memes…
— Those quoted verses… you know, the ones that make us feel good…
— We quote them… regurgitate them… share them with others…
— We’re well-meaning… they lift us up… make us feel good… even give us permission for our attitudes and actions…
BUT… Are we quoting using them correctly? Do we understand their true meaning?
That’s what we are going to explore over the next few weeks in our look at “Coffee Mug Christianity”.
Starting with this one…
What is the most well-known verse in the Bible?
(shout it out)
16 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.
What is that verse about?
— God’s Love for us…
What if I told you that that is not 100% accurate? What if I told you that we misuse and misunderstand this verse?
— Would you throw stones at me?
— Would you quit coming to this church?!
The truth is, John 3:16 is one of the most mis-used cliches in the Bible…
It is tossed around… quoted… recited to make us “feel” good… to help non-believers understand the gospel… But what happens when we put it back into the context of John 3?
Does it still hold the same meaning?
I. Short Context
16 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.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This is what we usually talk about when we consider the missing context, right?
What if I told you we didn’t go far enough?
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
This is the “short” context…
Look at verse 19
John 3:19 (NIV)
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
What is “the Light that has come into the world”?
— Jesus (What about Jesus?)
Is that what this passage is about?
— What if I told you it is not?!
Look at verse 16:
John 3:16 (NIV)
16 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.
“The world” (‘o k’osmos) — “the universe… the earth - where mankind dwells… world system - godless world standards… people - those estranged from God.” (that is the order in which Strongs and other Bible dictionaries define kosmos)
— It kind of makes it difficult to say it’s talking only about us, doesn’t it?
(Why do we do that?)
God Loves ALL of creation!
Genesis 1:1–26 (NIV)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good...
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so…
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so... And God saw that it was good...
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so... And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds... And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so... And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Now look at verse 31:
Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good....
God Loves ALL of creation!
Look back at verse 16:
John 3:16 (NIV)
16 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.
Look at “so”… seems insignificant doesn’t it? It’s such a small word — “so”.
“So” is the Greek word, “houtos” — “in this manner” (Strongs)
In other words: “In this manner, God loved the world; He gave His only Son...”
What John is saying here is:
“God loved our hostile world like this: not by condemning it, but by giving His only Son so that those who receive the Son will not suffer destruction.” — Strong’s Greek Lexicon
God’s Love for ALL of creation caused His plan for salvation.
— We could stop right there, amen? We’ve heard a message… boom… altar call!
BUT....
II. Long Context.
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
This whole thing starts with Jesus’s discussion with Nicodemus.
Look at what He says:
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
What is Jesus’s point with Nicodemus?
— We have to be “born again”… into a “spiritual birth”…
Why? (It isn’t just about us!)
Creation — “the world” is “redeemed” through the “rebirth” of God’s Children — of us!
This is why Paul says:
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
But… “How does this happen?”
— How are we reborn?
16 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.
“Believes”… “pisteuo” — “trust, believe to the extent of complete trust”
Strong’s says: “Have Christian faith”
“to entrust something into the care of another.”
— That means that we give it to God, and TAKE OUR HANDS OFF OF IT!
We are “redeemed” … We are “reborn”… when we give ourselves completely over to God, TRUSTING Him with EVERYTHING!
“… whoever BELIEVES in Him...”
III. We must place our faith COMPLETELY in Him.
Look at John 3:14-15
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
Jesus gives Nicodemus — and us — and example of the Faith required…
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Weisrbe states: “The solution to the ‘serpent problem’ was not in killing the serpents, making medicine, pretending they were not there, passing anti-serpent laws, or climbing the pole. The answer was in looking by Faith at the uplifted serpent.”
Healing — salvation — came from placing their COMPLETE TRUST — not in the abilities of the serpent — but in the PROMISE of the serpent!
The same is true for us!
— We have all been bitten by Sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— God sent His Son for us!
But… wait a minute Pastor!
— You said God sent His Son for ALL creation!
— Yes!!!
What messed up creation?
— Sin
How did Sin enter into Creation?
— through man… through us…
— Gen 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
It was our unfaithfulness that marred creation, and it is our faithfulness that will restore it!
This world NEEDS our faithfulness!
Look around!
Is there any doubt?!?
Look at verse 20-21:
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
We are called to live Faithful, Faith-filled lives…
To Love as God Loved…
— That means that we do not love the world with the selfish love of participation in it… but with the selfless, costly love of God.
It means that we “love the unloveable.”
When Billy Graham was asked what that meant, he said:
“Love isn’t just an emotion, or feeling; loving someone means that we care what happens to them, and we want it to be something good. This is the kind of love God has for us — and it’s the kind of love He wants us to have for others.”
That is the kind of love that changes the world!
That is the kind of love that changes our city, our neighborhood, our community.
What is holding you back from Loving with that kind of Love?
— Let go of it!!!! Right here, right now!
And let’s BE the Church!