Sermon Tone Analysis

Cliches

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)

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

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?

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.

This whole thing starts with Jesus’s discussion with Nicodemus.

Look at what He says:

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:

But… “How does this happen?”

— How are we reborn?

“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!