For God So Loved
Text: John 3:16
Core Idea: John 3:16 tells us of the great message of the gospel – that this holy God loves these unlovable sinners by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. This is what’s at the heart of the Christian faith.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse. Happy Resurrection Sunday! It’s so good to see you – and if you’re joining us online, we want to warmly welcome you as well. If you’re new with us today, and especially if you’re new to Christianity, we’re so delighted to have you here. I pray that you’ll come to see how beautiful and wonderful our God is – and that you’ll experience this incredible love that He has for you.
Well, what I want to do today is show you what the gospel is by looking at one of the most famous, the most searched for, and the most prized verses in the whole Bible – John 3:16. Now, some passages are hard to preach from because they’re just so obscure or they take a lot of explaining. But some passages are so familiar, so common that it becomes extremely difficult to preach from because people assume that they already know exactly what I’m going to say – and the worst thing that can happen is for people to simply tune out. This is one of those passages. So, knowing this, I have been earnestly praying for all of you – that God will prepare your hearts to hear this life-giving, life-transforming gospel truth, and that you would respond in this explosive worship to God, humble submission, and renewed devotion for the Lord. Then with this in mind, let’s turn our Bibles to John 3:16. Why don’t we actually read this together?
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.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let me start by giving you the context. This verse is in the context of the conversation that took place between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus explained to him that He didn’t just come to teach people about the Kingdom of God but to make a way for people to actually enter and be part of that Kingdom. Jesus said that He will do this by being lifted up, by dying for people’s sin on the cross. Now, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the conversation actually ends at the end of verse 15. Then verse 16 is John (not Jesus) explaining to his readers why Jesus had to be lifted up, why Jesus had to suffer – and he begins his answer with these words, “For God so loved.” Then the first thing we must notice is that this verse is first and foremost about God. Before this verse is ever about you and me, it’s about God.
Then even before we explore this verse, we must first start by understanding who God is – not how the media or other religions portray Him to be but how the Bible describes Him to be. Now, we’ll barely scratch the surface in this short time we have but we must know these three things about God. First, God is the Creator. The beginning of the Christian message is that “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). We must start here because if we get this wrong, everything else that follows won’t make sense. And this truth has an important implication for us all: that God alone understands the purpose and meaning of life for He created it. Or to put it differently, the life we have is not meaningless. We’re not created by chance. Some of us need to hear this today: your life is precious, significant, and meaningful not because of your performance or things you possess, but simply because you are created in the image of God. The only stipulation is that you’ll only be able to see this in light of Him – the Giver and Sustainer of life.
Second, God is love. Notice that I didn’t say, “God is loving” (though He is), but He is love (1 Jn. 4:8) – which means that He’s not only a channel of love, but He is the source and definition of love in itself. In other words, love is not one of many things that He does, but everything He does reflects what love is. When He created, He did so out of love. When He speaks, He does so out of love. When He rebukes and corrects, He does so out of love. Even when He allows us to suffer, when He closes doors in our lives, He does so out of love. Listen to how God describes Himself in Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.” This is how God loves.
Now, listen to the rest of the passage, “Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” This leads to our third thing: God is holy and righteous. What’s important to see is that God’s love does not cancel out His justice and righteousness. In other words, He doesn’t simply sweep people’s dirt under the rug and hope that no one notices. No, He’s not going to hide sin, but confront it and destroy it. Then the implication is that everything He does is not only loving but also just and right. He will never do things unjustly; He will never leave evil unpunished – and this is comforting for us as we see so much brokenness in the world today.
Friends, God is the Creator; He is love; He is holy. And it’s this God John is talking about in this verse – and he tells us that this God loves. Then there are three things about God’s love that I want us to see from this verse:
GOD’S LOVE IS SURPRISING
GOD’S LOVE IS COSTLY
GOD’S LOVE IS EXTRAVAGANT
1) GOD’S LOVE IS SURPRISING
Let’s go back to the beginning: “For God so loved the world.” In order to see the surprise factor of His love, we must understand the word “world” better. One thing we must keep in mind is that John doesn’t really use this word positively – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. When John uses the word “world,” it’s referring to the created order that has been tainted by sin. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned against God, this world has been fallen – filled with people who are hostile to God, unwilling to submit to God, and rebellious to God. So, for example, John 7:7 says that the world does evil, and it hates Jesus, 15:18 says that the world hates followers of Jesus, and 16:19 says that the world rejoices when the people of God weep. Do you get a sense of the world described by John? It’s pretty much against God and everything that’s associated with Him. And what John is trying to do is help us see that this is actually a description of all of us. You see, when God created us, He intended that we would live under His righteous rule in perfect joy – worshiping Him, obeying Him, and therefore living in this unbroken fellowship with Him. He created us in His own image – meaning that we were to be like Him, to be in a relationship with Him, and to declare His glory to the world. But all of us didn’t just disobey God, we also rejected Him as our King. We traded our favor with God for the pursuit of our own pleasure and glory. Simply put, we wanted to be king – we wanted to sit on the throne of our lives.
The Bible calls this sin, which literally means “to miss the mark.” Now, many of us have this image of ourselves trying really hard to aim for the target (to keep God’s commands) but just missing the bull’s eye by a few degrees – which is why many of us often think that we’re not that bad (“I’m not that bad; I’m relatively a good person. I’m not like him or her. Sure, I do bad things here and there, but who doesn’t?”). But the Bible tells us that we weren’t just a little off from the target; we were literally shooting in the opposite direction. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It’s not that some sinned and some didn’t. No matter who we are or where we’re from, we are all sinful. Think of it this way: we’re not good people who occasionally do bad things; we’re bad people who occasionally do good things. This is so important to understand because sin is much more devastating than we think. Imagine that you have a cup of clean water. But what if someone added just a drop of deadly poison into it? Would you be able to drink it because it’s only a drop? Of course not, it’s been contaminated, defiled – if you drink it, you will surely die. And that’s what God sees in us. Regardless of how small our sin may be, sin is like deadly poison – it will surely kill us.
The world hated God and we deserved death – yet John tells us that God loved the world. Most of us love things or people that are worthy of our love. Just think about the people you love. I love my children because they’re incredibly lovable (at least to me). It actually doesn’t matter what they do (eating, sleeping, playing, and even crying) – I just can’t stop loving them. But that’s generally true of the people we love – we love them because, in some sense, they’re worthy of our love. In contrast, it’s really difficult to love those who are against us or those who hurt us. But this is not how God loves. He loves His enemies. He loves those who are unworthy, undeserving of His love. His love is surprising because He doesn’t love like us.
This reminded me of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. In this story, the son was far from home because he took off with the inheritance that he demanded from his father while he was alive. And now, he had squandered everything. His friends have left him. He really hit the bottom – I mean, he was even eating with the pigs because he was so hungry. Then in his misery, he decided to make this long, lonely, humiliating trip back home to ask his father if he could be treated just like one of his hired men. On his way, the son began to come up with this elaborate speech to ask for forgiveness – he thought about what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. He knew the risk of being rejected knowing that he had humiliated his father in front of everyone – but he still went because he had nowhere to go.
As the son was getting closer to home, even when he was still a long way off, the father saw him, which meant that the father was probably looking for his son every day – scanning the horizon, hoping that his son would return. The Bible says that when the father saw him, he was filled with compassion – so, he ran to him. For a man of his standing to run would be considered shameful in their culture – it was a humiliating thing to do. Only servants and children ran. And yet the father ran through the streets, regardless of who was looking, threw his arms around, and kissed him. The father came to the son to take him home. Why? Because the father knew that it would’ve been humiliating for his son to walk through the town with dirt all over his body, to walk through all the hired men who knew exactly what he had done and how shameful his action was. In other words, the father ran to the son in order to spare him the humiliation – to bear the son’s humiliation on himself. If you read the text very carefully, you’ll see that the son began his speech, but he never got to finish it. Why? Because even before he was able to get his words out, the father spoke first – and this is what he said, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Lk. 15:22-24). God’s love is surprising.
Brothers and sisters, do you ever feel like God has grown tired of you and is holding you at arm’s length because you’ve disappointed Him, you’ve failed Him over and over again? No matter how many times you repent, we still find fresh ways to rebel against Him and resist His love. So, you question His forgiveness because you can’t even forgive yourself – you feel like you don’t deserve His love; you feel like you’re unworthy; you feel like the son covered with dirt, which is why you’re hesitant to go to Him. But listen to what Jesus says in John 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Notice that He doesn’t say, “Whoever comes to me feeling bad enough for their sins” or “whoever comes to me with readiness to put in double the effort to fight their sins” or “whoever comes to me after punishing themselves for what they have done” – no, He simply says, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” That’s exactly what we see in this story, that’s exactly what we see in John 3:16, and that’s exactly what we can experience in our lives if we would simply come to Him. Listen to what Dane Ortlund writes, “The sins of those who belong to God open the floodgates of His heart of compassion for us. The dam breaks. It is not our loveliness that wins His love. It is our unloveliness.” Christians, come and swim in His amazing love for you.
Now, if you’re not yet a Christian, here’s why this matters for you: some of you have said Christianity is intriguing but you want to get your act together, your life together before you go any further, before you commit to anything. But do you see what you’re doing? You’re essentially saying to the Father, “Let me finish the speech that I prepared. I know You’re running to me. I know You’re closing the distance. But let me finish my speech. Let me prove that I’m worthy of Your love.” Or you’re sitting there thinking, “I can never come until I’m ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. I don’t have the right words to say.” If this is you, remember that Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Come and receive this wonderful love He has for you.
Now, I wonder if you remember what I said earlier – God is love but He’s also holy, that He won’t leave the guilty unpunished. Then how is this tension resolved? That leads to our next point.
2) GOD’S LOVE IS COSTLY
Now, how we interpret the word “so” helps us understand this verse better. For us, the word “so” often carries a meaning of intensity (“I love you so much”), but this is not how it was used in the original Greek. Rather than intensity, it indicates manner – then we could translate it this way: “God loved the world in this manner.” How? How did God demonstrate His love for us who are unlovable, undeserving, rebellious, defiled, and sinful? He gave His one and only Son. The way we often love is conditional. We get out the measuring stick and we measure the amount of love we received and reciprocate the same amount. But God’s love is never like that. He doesn’t hold back for us. People say that love is measured by the greatness of the gift and by the cost to the giver. Then the Bible tells us that God gave us the costliest gift: He gave Someone who was most dear to Himself – His one and only Son.
Then who is this Son? The Bible tells us that He is the King of the universe, but He entered our world as a humble servant. He is holy, completely without sin, but He became sin for us. He is the only One deserving of praise and worship, but He was humiliated and rejected by all. He alone is the rightful Judge of all humanity, but He was judged by God for us. He is the Creator and the Giver of life, but He gave up His life for you and me. And His name is Jesus – He came to die for you and me.
Then why did He have to die? Answering this is so important because it will help us understand how the tension between God’s love and His holiness can be resolved. In order to understand this, we must look at the history of Israel – especially how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. You see, each time Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, as a judgment against the Egyptians, God sent ten plagues on them. Now, the last one was the most terrible of all as God told the Israelites that an angel of death would sweep through the land of Egypt, killing every firstborn child and animal in the country. But it’s important to note that this horrible judgment would include the Israelites as well – unless they carefully obeyed God’s instructions. You see, God told them that each family was to take a lamb without any defect or blemish and kill it. Then they were to put some of the blood around the doorframe of their house. And God promised that when the angel of death sees the blood, he would “pass over” that house and spare them from the judgment of death.
What this incident teaches us is that the penalty of death for one’s sins could be paid by the death of another. And this idea of substitution is at the heart of the gospel message. Then listen to how John the Baptist described Jesus in John 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In other words, Jesus Christ came as the Lamb of God to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for His people. You see, Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death” which means that it was right for the angel of death to strike us – but Jesus on the cross meant that through His blood that has been put on the doorframe of our hearts, God’s wrath passed over us and it landed on Him. You see, that’s why Jesus cried out in agony (Matt. 27:46). God His Father, who is holy and righteous, looked at His Son, saw the people’s sin resting on His shoulders, turned away in disgust, and poured out His wrath on His own Son – and He did this intentionally, knowingly all because of His love for us. A righteous and holy God can justify the ungodly because in Jesus’ death, both God’s love and holiness beautifully yet painfully came together. The curse was righteously executed, and we were mercifully saved. God’s love is costly because He gave us His Son; Jesus’ love is costly because He gave up His life for us.
Of course, all this is true only because the crucified Jesus is no longer dead. If Christ had remained dead like any other, His death would’ve meant nothing more than yours or mine. Every claim He made would’ve sunk into nothingness, and humanity would still be without hope of being saved from sin. But when breath entered His lungs again, when life entered His body again, everything Jesus claimed was fully, finally, and unquestionably fulfilled. He rose from the grave. And that’s what we’re celebrating today. Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Isn’t that amazing? Jesus not only sits in splendor at the right hand of God, reigning as the King, but He’s also interceding for His people as we wait for His final and glorious return. Think about that: He’s praying for you right now.
3) GOD’S LOVE IS EXTRAVAGANT
Let’s look at the whole verse again: “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.” God gave His Son to whoever believes. I won’t spend too much time here since I touched upon this idea in my first point – but this means that God grants forgiveness and life to all who trust in Jesus for salvation. God’s love is extravagant and generous in that it’s available to all those who would simply believe. Then let me ask you: Are you part of the “whoever” or are you still part of the world?
In fact, here are some things I want you to think through: first, if you’re not yet a Christian, thank you for listening to this message. I hope that it clarified your understanding of what the gospel is but more importantly, provoked a response from you, namely, to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus – which basically means that you’re recognizing your spiritual bankruptcy, acknowledging your complete inability to save yourself, and coming to Jesus as your only hope of ever being forgiven and right before God. It’s to say, “Jesus, I know I can’t save myself; so, I’m trusting You to do it for me.” You see, becoming a Christian is not difficult. There’s nothing for you to earn. Jesus has already earned everything you need. All you need to do is believe. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Would you do that today? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me.
Second, if you’re a Christian, I pray that your hearts will overflow with joy and praise toward Jesus for what He has accomplished for you. A diminished view of the gospel diminishes our worship – it cheapens what God has accomplished for us in Christ and causes us to shift our eyes from God to self. But the deeper we know and experience the power and implications of the gospel, the more we will adore and treasure God with all of our hearts. Then let’s do exactly that: rest in Him today as we respond in praise.
Lastly, I pray that we will talk to others about the gospel. Realize that we hold in our hands the only true message of salvation the world will ever hear. There will never be another gospel, and there is no other way for people to be saved from their sins. This is why Jesus commissions us to go into the world, preaching and teaching this good news to the nations. There are many good things that we can do as Christians, but the fact is that most of those good things can also be done by people who are not Christians. But if Christians fail to proclaim the gospel of Jesus, who else is going to do that? No one. Then I pray that as a church, we would continue to shine the light of Christ wherever we are – we are being sent to shine in the darkness. Then let us do just that.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Pastor Tim Keller said, “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” This is what’s at the heart of the Christian faith. We have no reason to doubt the love of God – we only need to ask, and He will give it to us generously and unconditionally. John 3:16 tells us of the great message of the gospel – that this holy God loves these unlovable sinners by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Then let us cherish this gospel as we faithfully proclaim it to the world.
Discussion questions
How would you answer if someone asked you today, “What is this gospel that you Christians go on and on about? What’s so good about it? Better yet, do you truly believe that it’s good? Why should I believe it?”
What part of God’s love is surprising for you? How will that truth impact your relationship with Him today?
Who is it that needs to hear the gospel in your life today? Spend some time praying for them and one another.