With our Bibles open to John chapter 3 and then 1 Corinthians 15, we want to conclude our remarks upon the Incarnation by giving you the Gospel, why Jesus came. We've been giving you how He came as the Word made flesh. But why did He come? And therefore we will prove that His birth was not the greatest blessing for humanity. His birth had to be, but His birth was so that He could do the will of the Father, go to the old rugged cross, and be bruised of the Lord, that He might be the Savior of all men, especially them that believe. So if you would pray with me and for me at this time. Our Father in heaven, Lord, thank you for the salvation that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for your lovely presence. Lord, yet this same presence can be a terror to those who do not know you. Knowing therefore the terror of God, we persuade men. Lord, convince the sinner today of his or her need. Draw men to Your bleeding side, to Your resurrected Son, to the saving power of God. I pray for God to be glorified. Give the Word of the Lord free course now, in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Have you found 1 Corinthians 15? Look with me to verse number 1. Paul writing to the church at Corinth, "'Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel.'" which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. And so Paul writes to declare, that is, to define by proclamation the gospel message one more time. that he had previously preached, that they had already received, and in which they were standing, by the which they were saved, if they would keep in memory the message he had preached unto them. unless they had believed in vain. So let me give you this thought concerning that verse and explain the truth that is being taught. In verses 12 through 17 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, you'll find the explanation. There has entered into the church false doctrine concerning the resurrection, and some were confused. And Paul said, Keep in mind the true gospel that I have preached unto you, for that is the message by which you were saved, unless some of you may have believed in vain. See, to believe the wrong gospel is to believe in vain is to not be saved. So here is the gospel. This is why the birth of Jesus Christ had to be. So that He who became man could die for the sins of the world, and thus man could be redeemed back unto God. Verse number 3, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel is the saving truth of the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind, the burial of Jesus Christ as our sacrifice. and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and as our very justification. He is. our hope, yea our only hope. Now go back to John chapter 3. I want to touch a little more on the truth of the new birth, how to get ready for eternity. It's going to take the new birth if you would enter into the kingdom of God. We find in John 3 a divine meeting between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus. Verses 1 and 2. We hear a divine message from Jesus. Verses 3 through 21. And then we see a divine messenger, even John the Baptist, in verses 22 through 36. This divine meeting must take place. if you would come to know the Lord Jesus. A man of prestige and religion is Nicodemus in verse number one, and he meets the God-man, a man of power, a man of redemption, a man with salvation in hand and in heart with all power. to redeem the souls of men, for He was slain from before the foundation of the world. He would fulfill the call of God to go to the cross. Therefore He could say with certainty. In verse number 3, Jesus answered and said unto Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now verses 3 through 15. You've heard these words before, as we studied the incarnation in John 1, 1-14. But here, Jesus says, in the new birth, you need the life of God, the necessity of the new birth. You must be born again. Verse 3, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. but the nature of the new birth. Nicodemus asked about being born the second time. Jesus answered in verse 5, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. It is a second birth. It is a saving birth. Ye must be born again. It is a spiritual birth. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Friend, you need the regeneration that comes from the Holy Ghost. He washes you, and He cleanses you, and He births you again into the family of God. He puts the life of God into the spirit and soul of man, and we are born again, the nearness of the new birth. Nicodemus in verse 9 answered and said unto Jesus, How can these things be? I see nearness here. He did not say, But why? But why? He says, How? And Jesus witnesses to him of heavenly things. verses 10 through 12, and he says in so many words, you need a heavenly birth. Verse 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. The sacrifice of Jesus, the love of God at the new birth. 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. The love of God for the souls of men, that He would give His only begotten Son to remove our sin. that we might not perish or suffer under the wrath of God for all eternity, but have in Jesus Christ everlasting life, the light of God. of John chapter 3. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Christ did not come to condemn you nor me. He came to save us from our sins. But the truth is He did not need To condemn us, verse 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. We were already under condemnation, under the righteous sentence of a holy God that must punish sin. and judge sinners. But Christ came, not to condemn the world, but to save the world from destruction, from damnation, to rescue the sinful race of men from perishing in hell and the lake of fire. Light removes the darkness. Here is the judgment, verse 19, And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Light came in, removed the darkness, revealed the condemnation. Verse number 20, light reproves. the deeds. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Light reveals the evil, light reproves the evil, O that men would come to Jesus! But they will not, for they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." But then light reveals the difference. Verse 21, But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. Those who experience the new birth, who respond to the light and the love and the life that Jesus offers, they come to the light. Their deeds are made manifest that they are wrought in God. A work of God has been done within these who are born again, and so God's light reveals the difference between he that doeth evil, refuses the light, remaining in his darkness, and he that doeth truth, who comes to the light and is removed from the kingdom of darkness. Now look with me to the very end of the chapter. We see a divine messenger, John the Baptist. He is a heavenly messenger, in verse 27, a humble messenger, verses 28 through 30, whose motive of ministry was He, or Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease. But notice the honesty of this messenger. He was unafraid to preach judgment. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John declares that God's wrath abides or dwells upon and hangs over like a gathering storm of clouds, dark with thunder, bright with lightning, horrible with rain and fury and rage of wind. The wrath of God hangs over the heads and hearts of the sinners in this world. They are abiding in death, for God's wrath hangs over them. Why? Because they believe not the Son, therefore they shall not see life. If you would see life, if you would know love, if you would have light, then come to Jesus. He's not just a baby born and laid in a manger. He is the very bread of life that was laid in that feeding trough in Bethlehem that He might grow up as a sinless, spotless man. and die upon Calvary's tree, for the sins and souls of the whole world, that all who come to Him might be saved. Neither is there salvation in any other name, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Why not today? Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.