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Let's pray together. Oh Father, we just saying that which is so true and yet so hard to cling to, all we have is Christ. Jesus is our life. And Lord, we're reminded that at the end of the day, all we truly have is Christ. All that remains for us is Christ and Father we ask that you would grow us in our understanding of these things as we open your word this morning. God would you through your spirit cause your word to come alive into our hearts and would you create fertile soil in our hearts that Your Word would take root there and grow and flourish. And Father, we pray that as a result of our time together, we would continue to grow in You and our knowledge of the Gospel, the knowledge of what it means to be called by Christ, and the knowledge of what it means to walk in the ways of Christ. So Father, would you please use this time to accomplish that which you desire to accomplish, that which we can't accomplish on our own. Would you grow us, Lord, to love you more and love each other better. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. I jokingly say that the most loved and appreciated I have ever felt in my life was on a summer day in 1996. I had just finished my sophomore year in college and was working my last season at the golf course in St. Regis. And that week, we were working long hours and long days in preparation for a tournament that was being hosted at our course that Saturday. So the course had to be in tip-top shape. And we were hosting a tournament of a group of people from Missoula that were being bused down to the golf course, which is a key information for the story, as you'll see here in a moment. The day before the tournament, my boss came up to me and said, ''Hey, I need you to do something tomorrow. I'm sending you on a mission. I want you and grab the young guy that works in the clubhouse and I want you guys tomorrow to load up the Cushman, which was a little golf cart thing we had for maintenance and had a big flat bed on it with little sides. He said, ''Load that up with ice and beer and drive that around because the entry fee pays for free beer for everybody. So your job tomorrow is to drive around and hand out all of that free beer. And so that next morning, we got up early, we got there, loaded everything up, and as the buses pulled in and people were unloaded, it was boisterous, and it was loud, and tea times were registered, and places where they were going to be teeing off were handed out. golfers began spreading out laughing and shouting and mocking one another as golfers tend to do. My job was to drive around and so we started driving around and handing out free beer and it was fun meeting people and talking to people. They were warm and friendly and they gave us kind words. It turned into a beautiful day. Everyone became in a jovial mood and the jovial mood only increased as the beer in our cart decreased. There's a direct correlation between the two of those things. And so we went back to the clubhouse and loaded up with more beer and more ice and went back out. And this time, as the golfers saw us coming from a distance, they started whooping and hollering and waving their arms at us and shouting at us as we got nearer. And when we pulled up, we were told that we were the greatest guys in the world, and 20s were slapped into our hands and stuffed in our pockets. We had gone from these nice young guys to the beloved ones in just a couple of hours. I mean, Robin Hood himself was not loved like we were loved that afternoon. When we drove away from the groups, we drove away to a hero's farewell and a bidding to please return as soon as possible, for they would need us again. Hence the reason I jokingly say the most loved and appreciated I have ever felt in my life. Now, no one cared much about the amount they were drinking, because as I said, they were going home in buses. So they didn't care. It was a simple mission. It was a simple mission that we were well received on. But when we come to John 3, we come to a text where mission dominates the text. Jesus is sent by God on a mission, an ultimate mission to save all who would believe in him, save all who are called according to his purpose. Only for Jesus, most did not receive him with love and appreciation, and yet some did. We remember this from the prologue. He was in the world. And the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. So we're going to go back to John 3. We started it last week. I want to read from verse 1 again, though, to make sure that we get this in context. So if you're not there already, open up your Bibles to John 3. We're going to start in verse 1. So we pick this up. In verse 1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you cannot hear the sound or you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So as everyone who is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher of Israel? And do not know these things. Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is a son of man who is in the heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must a son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 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. And this is the condemnation. that the light has come into the world. And men loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. That he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Last week we saw how Nicodemus came to Jesus, and Jesus instructs him that you must be born again. And Jesus emphatically stated, you will not enter the kingdom of God unless you are born again. As we saw, being born again is a work of God whereby He, through His Spirit, makes one alive who is dead in sin. They are given spiritual life. And Jesus says, this will be accomplished by me being lifted up on the cross that whoever believes in me should not perish, but have eternal life. And this now brings us to verse 16. Number one here on your outline is know the purpose of the mission. Jesus's mission was infinitely far superior to my silly mission that day on the golf course. Jesus's mission is die on the cross for the sins of God's people and accomplish salvation for them. Here in these verses, Jesus's mission is carefully spelled out. And not only is it carefully spelled out, also what Jesus's mission is not is carefully spelled out. And as we see, the mission originated in God the Father. Now, because the Greek does not contain the punctuation marks we are used to in the English language, it's uncertain whether Jesus' words to Nicodemus end at verse 15 or verse 21. Both are possible, and we're going to hit the same thing later on in John 3, where it's uncertain where John the Baptist's words end and where John's words pick it up. They flow almost seamlessly. Regardless, the truth of these words remain. God loves and takes action. John 3.16 is so well known and so ingrained in our minds. Most of you can probably recite it from memory. Even if you can't recite another verse, you can know John 3.16. And because of that, it's so easy to overlook it and become numb to the truths that are contained in it. The word translated for, that begins verse 16, really means in this way, or speaks of the manner in which something is shown, or the way something is demonstrated. The CSB, I think, most closely follows the Greek idea here when they translate it this way, for God loved the world in this way. He gave His one and only Son that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. What is the manner in which God loved the world? What is the way in which God loved the world? He gave His Son. And here we see the incredible nature of God's love, such that is so incredible and so amazing. We could not draw it out, though we would sit here and speak of it for hours upon hours upon hours. God's love is the focus here. He acts out of love. His action is not prompted by anything in mankind. His action is not prompted by a sense of guilt. No, He acts in love, and the contrast between God's perfect love is pitted here against world. Because in the book of John, world is always used in a negative sense. God didn't love the world because the world was so cute and lovable and so nice, filled with mostly good people. No, the world is actively in rebellion against God, an enemy of God. And John here is trying to magnify the extent of God's love when he says, God loves the world. And we should read that and see that and not be filled with, oh, that's sweet, which is how we so often tend to respond. We should be shocked that the world is nasty, an enemy of God, against God, resisting God, rebellion against God, dead in sin. God loves the world. His love is according to His sovereign choosing. It flows out of who He is. He is love. John will later write in 1 John 4, God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4, 8-10. God's love is a choosing love. It's a sovereign love. He loves as He wills. It is out of God's love that he chose Israel. He reminded Israel in Deuteronomy 7, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Now, listen, the Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people. In other words, it wasn't because of you. for you are the least of all peoples." Likewise, the New Testament tells us it is out of God's love that He chooses us. Paul is fascinated with this in Ephesians chapter one. He begins the book in this way. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved. God's sovereignty is dripping in that text, and it's surrounded by His love. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ, making us accepted in the beloved. And just like Israel, God's love upon us is not based upon us. in our goodness, but rather it's in himself. He chooses to love us, and that choice prompts an action. A month or so ago, my oldest daughter, Kate, was instructed by her boss that she needed to go to the post office very early in the morning, like 5 in the morning, 5.30 in the morning, to pick up chicks for the store. I wasn't super thrilled with my daughter being out that early. And as many of you are well aware, those who work at the post office can't be trusted. Just kidding, AC. Just kidding. So I got up at five to see her off, and I told her, when you get there, just have me on the phone. And as you're going through there and picking this stuff up, we'll just stay on the phone together. And then had her text me when she got to work early in the morning. I made a choice to lose some sleep because I love my daughter. And God's love was far more costly than just losing some sleep. He gave his son. We are told here, this is the way God loves. He gives. The story is told of a man who was an engineer operator on a drawbridge over a large river, and maybe you've seen this on the Columbia River, where the large drawbridges raise up to allow barges to go under, and then they drop back down for the trains to go across the river. And when the trains come, this man lowers the bridge so they can go across. And one day he took his young son to work with him. He was going to have some daddy-son time at work. And so as days like that can go, as he's kind of there and working on doing his things and such, he realizes, I have not heard the voice of my little boy for quite a while. And he begins to panic, and he looks around. And then he finds his son climbing on the platform that the drawbridge comes down upon. He begins to leave the little office he has worth all the controls to run to get his son when he hears the whistle of an approaching train and realizes it's the scheduled passenger train coming. And suddenly he's with this horrifying choice. lower the drawbridge and kill his son, or leave the drawbridge up and hundreds of people perish on the train as the train would plunge into the river. And with tears in his eyes and agony in his heart, he goes back into his little control room and grabs the lever. That story is sometimes told as an illustration to John 3.16, and though it is moving, it is woefully inadequate. It tugs on our emotions rather than what's really happening. Don't miss this. God was not at the end of His rope with us and unsure of what to do and hits His situation where all of a sudden He is forced into a decision. No, that is not what the Bible says at all. He willingly gave His Son. because that was his sovereign plan and because he loves us. There is nothing more precious he could have given. He gave that which is most costly. I like what F.F. Bruce says on this. He says the best that God had to give, he gave. His only son, his well beloved. Friends, God loves with an intense, sacrificial love that is costly. He loves with a love that's willing to pay a price. And that price was of infinite value. The price was Son, the only begotten, Jesus Christ. That's the price. Richard Phillips states this, I think he's right. How do we measure God's love for us? By calculating the infinite value of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. Friends, think deeply on the love of God for you. He gave that which was infinitely precious to Him in an order that you might be saved and have a life He gave that much because it costed that much. You see, so often we think that we're pretty good people and we've got a few hitches in our giddy up here and there, a few little weak points. But if that was all it was, Jesus would not have had to come. So great is your sin and my sin and our rebellion against God, that nothing, nothing else could have saved you except the death of Christ. And this is why Jesus said, I must be lifted up. Remember the two musts in that that we saw last week? You must be born again. I must be lifted up. You were dead in sin and unable to save yourself. Ephesians 2, 1 speaks of this, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sin. You were not just mostly dead. or are halfway dead, know you are dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. That's our descriptors. It's not very pleasant. We learn here our problem isn't just some morality problems that need to be straightened out or some belief issues that need to be set straight. No, we are dead in sin, walking in Satan's ways, living for self. We had no power to suddenly wise up and rise ourselves up out of the casket and say, I'm going to follow Christ. No, we are dead in sin. living for ourselves. And that's why Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And that comes through God's sovereign love, which is where Paul goes next. After verse three, he says this in verse four, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved. God is rich in mercy, and because of His great love, He makes us alive. And what's the result? That whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Salvation comes from looking to Christ raised on the cross and believing in Him. It's very important to understand this word, believe. Lots of people believe in Jesus. That's not new. Remember from John 2? Many believed in Jesus. But what did Jesus say? I do not trust myself to them. Because they had a superficial belief. Jesus was nice to add on to, to life. There's more than this. Belief. is abandoning trust in anything we do, and trusting entirely in Christ's work. He's just saying about that, all I have is Christ. All I have is Christ. Nothing else. Jesus, who's saying, it is my life. That's what true belief is. It's coming to the end of ourselves and realizing, I can't, I can't please God. I can't measure up. How in the world could I accomplish that which God demands? Perfection. I can't do that. And so, there is an abandonment in ourselves, entrusting to Christ, completely surrendering to Him, and casting ourselves upon Christ. And the result of that belief is everlasting life. We looked at this term last week. And remember, it refers not just to the quantity of time, but the quality of it. It is life lived with God as God created life to be lived. We get to experience it in part now and in full when we go to be with Christ. But the flip side of this, Jesus says, or John says, is to perish. perish. Look at verse 16 again. Whoever believes in Him should not perish. This is a terrifying state. It means to suffer eternal damnation apart from Christ. It's a state of eternal punishment and rebellion for sin and rebellion. Richard Phillips is wise in helping us with this. To perish does not mean to cease to exist, but to be tormented day and night forever and ever, as we see in Revelation 20, 10, and 15. It truly is horrifying, which is why Jesus spoke of it so often. It is horrifying. All humanity is destined to perish. All humanity is destined for hell. Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Remember Romans 3.23? I put it together with Romans 6.23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. You see, were God not to work, were God not to intervene, not one person would be in heaven. We cannot earn it. We cannot work our way there. Because we are dead in sin. So God, out of His love, gave His Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. And He does this out of His intense, infinite, passionate, unending, immeasurable love for you. Jeremiah Burroughs, the Puritan, tries to capture this love of God. He says this, Behold, the infinite love of God to mankind and the love of Jesus Christ, that rather than God see the children of men to perish eternally, he would send his son to take our nature upon Him, and thus suffer such dreadful things. Herein, God shows His love. It pleased the Father to break His Son, to pour out His blood. Here is the love of God and of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a powerful, mighty, drawing, efficacious meditation this should be to us. Do you think often on the extent of God's love for you? Do you meditate under passages like this? Do you pray, as Paul prayed in Ephesians 3, that you would know more of the depth and the width and the height and the length of the love of God? It's immeasurable. I know I don't think on it nearly as I should. You can only be saved because of His love. If God did not choose to love you, you would be damned, and God would still be just. But God chooses to love, and He takes action. I think this should cause us to reflect upon two things in particular. The first being this, what more would you ask of God to give you? Isn't it amazing how selfish we are as human beings? If God loves you so much and he gave his son, why say he needs to give you more? What more could he give? God out of his love supplies our greatest need. And if God loved us like this to pay such a high cost, won't he give us lesser needs as well? Romans 8.32, Paul says, There's both a rebuke and a comfort here. The rebuke is this. Be careful what you say you need. We only need that which God says we need. And if there's something you want that you don't have, guess what God is saying to you? You don't need that. And yet we fight and we resist, but I want that. And I'm going to try to make that happen. I'm going to do what I can to make that happen, because I need that. I want that. And we lose sight of God and He's over us. And He says, I gave you my son. What more could you need? What more could you want? There's been many times in my life I thought I needed something. Whether it was a vehicle, a job, money, relationships, and God said I didn't need that because He never gave it. The comfort in this is that if God gave His Son, He truly will give us that which we truly need. And that's a comfort. We have what we need. He gave us Christ. But there's a second thing we need to see from reflecting upon John 3.16, and God giving His Son out of love. Consider this, if God acts towards us with such lavish, gracious, giving love, should that not dictate how we love as well? It should make us the most giving and loving people on the entire earth. I mean, just remember, God loved the world. The world was dead in sin and rebellion, and they were children of wrath, and yet He loved. I've said this before, no one will ever sin against you as much as you sin against God, and yet God loves you. So don't ever think you can't love someone else. God loved us, and he gave. And so we need to think about this in our giving. How could we even match half of what we've been given? How could we even match half of that? It means we should love others. with a lavish, selfless love. This is where John takes us in 1 John 4.10. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, just like that. That should be how we love. But it also means that we should be forgiving people. Ephesians 4.32, and be kind to one another. Has God not been kind to you? Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. If this is the way God treats you, kind, tender, forgiving, how much more should we treat others with kindness, tenderness, There's multiple other examples we could talk about of the way we give in response to how God gives. We could talk about time, giving of time. I think many of us just struggle with being selfish with our time. We could talk about money. We could talk about worldly goods. We could talk about service. So many areas of life. where we can respond to these truths. But we must move on. We read in verse 17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The word condemned here means to bring about the effects of God's verdict of guilty. It's to hand one over to final punishment. And this is not why Jesus came. However, we need to be people who know our full Bible, not just select verses. Jesus will be coming for judgment. He will return, and he will bring in the full judgment of God. We catch a glimpse of this. Turn to Revelation 19. Keep your thumb or finger or bookmark or whatever there in John 3. Jump over to Revelation 19, almost at the very end of your Bibles, a couple chapters away from the very end. Let's look at verse 11 here. We'll read through verse 16. Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written on it that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe, dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Remember back to John 1, how was Jesus introduced? The Word became flesh. Verse 14, And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. that with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Friends, don't miss the full character of Jesus. This is Jesus when he comes again. He will come in judgment. And apart from turning to Christ and looking upon He who has lifted up, this is the destiny of those who resist, who don't believe. Well, we must move on to the second point. Know the result of the mission. Go back to John 3. Look at verse 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. 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. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Verse 18 is a verse of extreme hope, and it echoes what Paul will say later in the book of Romans. He who believes And Jesus is not condemned. But apart from Jesus, there is condemnation resulting in the final judgment and eternity separated from God. But in Christ, those who believe in Christ, there is no condemnation. One of the most hopeful verses in the New Testament, Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation. To those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. No condemnation for those in Christ. No verdict of guilty. No uncertainty of the future. No fear of the judgment. No question of one's status with God, or where he or she stands in the light of God's mercy. No doubt as to one's relationship with the Creator. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because they are in Christ Jesus. But for those who don't believe, there is condemnation. They stand condemned under the just and holy wrath of God, which is not because there is a lacking of love in God, but rather a lack of belief. John 3, 336, he who believes, we're going to get to this next week, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Do you realize what we're being told right there? Those who are not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ right now, at this very moment, have the wrath of God resting upon them. That's terrifying. The world, Stan condemns. Stan's condemned because of sin. For all have sinned. But God in His love and His mercy gives His Son to rescue all who believe. The tragedy is many do not respond because they do not want to. We wish we had more time to flush this out. These are critically important words here. They don't respond because they don't want to. And you can't argue them in. They want the darkness, we're told here. They like living for themselves. This reminds us of, again, the prologue, the light in verse four. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Didn't understand it, didn't want to understand it. They like the darkness, and they don't want to give it up. I want to stay in this place, is what they say here. And it can be tempting to think of the big things here. Drugs, alcohol, promiscuous living. Those things are true. But really, what is at stake here is pride, selfishness, and control. I want to keep living for myself. I do not want to surrender to Christ. They don't want to give up control. They want to retain control of their time, their morality, their concept of morality, their forgiveness, their money, their love, and we could go on and on. And what we are seeing here, and this is very important for us to understand, it isn't that mankind is a victim of their circumstances. They're innocent, and they're just a little stuck. No. They're not a victim of their culture either. And innocently standing in condemnation. No, we are told here that they like the darkness and they want to stay in the darkness. They might not like the effects of it, but they don't want to leave it. One of the difficulties for me of living for 11 years in California was a distinct lack of hunting. And growing up here and growing up hunting and stuff to then move to California and not really be able to hunt much of anything was difficult for me. I did not like that at all. But one thing we did find to hunt that we could hunt that was legal to hunt was wild pigs. These are the nastiest creatures I have ever hunted in my life. They are disgusting. And there was one in particular that I remember. It was a massive boar, and we were hunting on this large ranch, and I was with another guy, and I took one side of this long, dry, wide, crook bed, and he took the other side, and we kind of paralleled along it. And one of the things about the wild boar is they love to burrow down in the dirt, sand, and the nastiest brush they can find. And they just settle in there. And my friend across from me found, down in this creek bed, this massive boar. And he was just burrowed down in there. And my friend tried to scare him out, took a shot near him to try to scare him out into the open so he could get a shot. And that boar would not leave there. And so he worked down the bank a little bit, getting a little closer, trying to scare him out, and he would not move, he just hunkered down all the more and trained his beady little eyes on my friend. And he wouldn't leave, and my friend finally got really close, trying to scare him out, and finally the boar came lunging out, but at him. And so he shot quickly and killed the boar before it was on him. And my friend was a big guy, six foot two, and a large guy. And I have a picture of him laying next to that boar, and that boar made him look tiny. Boar was at least six foot six. He was huge. But that thing would not leave his dark hole. He liked that darkness. He liked being in all of those brambles. And he did not want to come out. And when he did, finally, it was to lash out. And likewise, we are told here, men love darkness. And they won't come out. They stay, lest their deeds be exposed. I've done counseling with people like this several times. People who are drawn to our church, and they're drawn to Christianity because they see the light, and they like the light, and they like the things of the light. They like what the light can do for them, and they like how they feel when they're around the light. But in time, they retreat and go back to the darkness. Because when push comes to shove, they wanted the darkness more than they wanted to surrender. Those who stay in the darkness do so because they don't want their deeds exposed. Verse 19, they love the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. They don't come to the light unless their deeds be exposed. They don't want the shame. They don't want to face the conviction. They don't want to face the rebuke. They don't want to face repentance. They don't want to face surrender, all that would be necessary if their deeds were fully exposed. They don't want to be seen for who they truly are, dead in sin, helpless, desperate for grace, and so they stay in the darkness. And yet, Paul also gives another reason why they stay in the darkness. Both things are at play, as we often find in Scripture. In 2 Corinthians 4, 3, Paul says, But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, would shine on them. What is Paul saying? They don't come to the light because the God of this age has blinded them. You see, we need both of these texts side by side together. Because if all we have is John 3, 20 through 21, we can become cynical of people. Well, they like the darkness. Let them stay there, scum. I mean, we don't say that, but we could start to drift that way. Just evil people, they just stay in the darkness. We need the balance of what Paul says. They stay in the darkness because their eyes are blinded. The God of the sages blinded them. But we need to balance 2 Corinthians 4 with John 3, because otherwise we just come, they're just innocent. They're just blinded, they just can't see. No, they're blind because they want to be blind. Both of those things are at play here. There's a mystery here we can't fully understand. And this is why we need God. We need him to act, which is what Paul says two verses later. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of the darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God's got to take action. He's got to bring the light in. And yet, verse 21 in chapter 3 of John says, Now what's being said here? It almost sounds like we're saved by our works. Is that what we're being told? But a quick look tells us this is not the case because there's a contrast that's been established in verse 18 between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe in Jesus. Those who don't believe in Jesus don't come to the light. But those who do believe in Jesus come to the light. And so the focus of 20 and 21 is not on how one is saved, but how one responds in their life based upon their belief, or how one lives their life based upon their faith in Christ. So the phrase, he who does the truth, was an expression for someone who is faithful and honorable. And they are faithful and honorable because they live in the glory and strength and power and majesty of God, and they do so for the glory of God. Their deeds are done from faith in Christ for His glory. We're reminded of this in even the simplest sense in 1 Corinthians 10 31. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. That's how we are to live for the glory of God, doing things in God. And so the true believer who does the truth willingly and joyfully comes to the light because they know that they are not condemned because they have put their faith in Christ. And their righteous deeds will be clearly seen for having been done for the glory of God. And here we're reminded of the truth that those who are truly saved live for the glory of God. It doesn't mean they're without sin, but a true believer lives a transformed life. They are not the same. They are born again. James 2.17 says this, that's also faith by itself. If it does not have works, it's dead. It's dead. So a true believer comes to the light without fear of their deeds being exposed because their hope, catch this, is not in their deeds, but in Christ. So they strive to live for the glory of God because their hope is not in their works. It's not in their works. They know they were once condemned until God acted. cause them to be born again and they put their faith in Christ. They know they are saved because of the love of God demonstrated through the gift of Jesus. I like what Steve Lawson says here, salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it's a gift for the guilty. It's a gift for the guilty. It's not a reward for the righteous. And so the believer lives in the light knowing they were once condemned. They don't want to go back to the darkness. And they see their salvation as an incredible gift of God. Christ was given out of the love of God to stand in their place out of God's judgment. They are who they are because of the love of God. and the love of Jesus. The story is told from a couple hundred years ago of a man at the end of the Civil War. He was walking along and comes upon a lowly farmer. This farmer is stooped over a gravestone and he's carving on it. And then the man soberly stopped and asked and said, is that the grave of your son? The farmer carving said no. The farmer went on to say he had a wife and seven children who depended heavily on him. And when the war began, he had been drafted and commanded to go to war. His family was overcome with grief for they desperately needed him. They weren't very wealthy. They were poor. And then the day came where he was to leave. And as he was getting ready to go, his neighbor's oldest son came over and said, you can't go. I'll go in your place. Farmer said, this is his grave. The man asked in a quiet voice, well, what are you carving on that headstone? And the farmer quietly replied, he died for me. Jesus died for me, for you, out of his love, out of God's incredible love. What is the way God loves? he gave his son. Let's pray. Father, trying to preach a text like this is like trying to describe the galaxy in 30 seconds. Trying to wrap our head around this text in 45 minutes is the equivalent So Father, I pray that seeds have been sown here this morning that would cause us to think more deeply on the incredible love that you have for us. Love that is beyond our comprehension. Father, may we be people who think on this, meditate on it, and live from it. Father, as we're going to sing here in just a moment, a song that contemplates the depth of God's love for us. Would you help us? As we sing this, to reflect on the measure of your love for us, what it cost, and what it produced, and what it should result in our lives. Would you drive us towards loving you more, and loving each other better? We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
The Mission
Series John
John 3 is filled with the theme of mission. Jesus' mission is carefully spelled out and defined by what it is and what it isn't. This mission originated with God the Father and flows from His character. It is a mission characterized by incredible love and compassion for sinful humanity. Learn about the mission of Jesus and respond in worship!
Sermon ID | 424231529246471 |
Duration | 55:13 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | John 3:16-21 |
Language | English |
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