John 3:14-21March 26 & 27, 2006
Malady: All people are condemned to hell by their sins.
Telic Note: The Holy Spirit reveals the heart and core of God's gospel, that Jesus came down from heaven to carry out our salvation, and secure eternal life for us.
Propositional Statement: God loved the world, sent his Son who died, and sealed eternal life to all who believe in him.
Theme: Jesus Did It For Love
I. Not to condemn the world
II. But to save the world
Introduction: It was the day before Christmas. Richard's mother was busy wrapping packages and asked her young son to shine her shoes. Soon, with a proud smile that only a seven-year-old can muster, he presented the shoes for inspection. His mother was so pleased that she gave him a quarter. On Christmas morning as she put on the shoes to go to church, she noticed a lump in one shoe. She took it off and found a quarter wrapped in paper. Written on the paper in a child's scrawl were the words, "I did it for love."
In the most well-known passage of all of Scripture, God says the same thing, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." Jesus came into the world, lived, suffered, and died to rescue us. Jesus Did It For Love.
Jesus did not come into the world in the hopes that his Father would give him a reward, just as Richard didn't shine his mother's shoes for a quarter. Jesus did not come into the world for any selfish reasons, what he might get out of it. Jesus did not come into the world to convict and condemn people.
Jesus came to save all the people of world. Jesus came to win salvation for you and me and everyone else. Jesus came into the world to save it. Jesus Did It For Love not to condemn the world, but to save the world.
Today you will hear the simple message of the gospel; there's nothing complicated about the way to heaven. Jesus saves us. Those who believe are saved, those who don't believe remain condemned. Right in the middle of the Lenten season, God gives us this clear reminder of what Jesus did to save us. Jesus Did It For Love.
I. Not to condemn the world
Judas was hired to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins by the ruling Jewish council. This council was called the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the same council that sentenced Jesus to be crucified. The Sanhedrin was made up of all the VIP's from the Jewish political and religious scene. You could say that the Sanhedrin was Jesus' arch nemesis.
Nicodemus was a member of this council. He was an influential man with a good reputation around town, and his conscience was bothering him about Jesus. "What if this was the long-promised Messiah?" Nicodemus had to find out; he had to talk to Jesus. He came to Jesus one night so no one would see him. That evening, this member of the Jewish council learned about salvation firsthand from Jesus. As the oil lamps flickered late into the night, Jesus talked about God's love, his reason for coming into the world, about heaven and hell, and Nicodemus listened.
What Jesus talked about is recorded in our text. Through Scripture we have the same words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was Jewish so Jesus talked about things familiar to any faithful Jew. He begins with the account of the bronze snake in the desert. Our Old Testament Lesson tells us this story that Nicodemus would have learned as a boy: how the people grumbled, how God sent the poisonous snakes, and how God saved them with a bronze snake on a pole.
Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." Jesus told Nicodemus that he would be lifted up on a cross to save people from death, just as the bronze snake had saved the people from death. But Jesus would save the people from eternal death in hell.
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn people. Our verses plainly say, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world." "But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Sin condemns, Jesus does not. If hell is full, it's because people did not trust in Jesus to wash away their sins. And if they are still in their sin, they are still condemned. Jesus says, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."
Application: We don't like to hear about our sins. As long as the sermon is directed to a nameless, faceless "them" it's great, but when it hits too close to home we start to squirm. God is getting personal. We somehow get the idea that we're not sinners, at least not bad sinners. We fear, just as Jesus says, that our deeds will be exposed.
Jesus didn't come to condemn you. God doesn't talk about your sins to make you feel guilty. Jesus points out your sins to show you your NEED for a Savior. The preaching of the Law shows you how many sins you have committed, and that you certainly need Jesus. Jesus didn't come to make you squirm, but before you hear about God's solution, you need to acknowledge the problem. When the sermon gets personal, instead of getting defensive, admit your sins to yourself and God, in other words repent. Turn from your sin and turn to Jesus for full and free forgiveness.
Transition: Just as a farmer first plows and prepares the soil before planting, the law prepares hearts to hear the gospel, the good news of God's solution to the problem of sin. Jesus Did It For Love to save the world.
II. But to save the world
"For God so loved the world." God loves individuals. God loves you personally. We tend to take that love for granted. Since we can't see God, it's easy to forget the deep personal love he has for each of us. God's love is intentional, deliberate, and steadfast. God doesn't waver in his love for us. He doesn't love us any less when we sin, or any more when we obey him. His love endures constant forever. This is undeserved love, this is amazing grace, this is love for seemingly unlovable, wretched sinners.
This intentional love of God, causes God to act. "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 us Jesus to save us from our sins. He gave Jesus completely. God sent Jesus all the way to death on the cross, "to save the world through him."
God's justice demands that no sin go unpunished, but God's love does not want us to suffer that punishment. In Jesus, God's love and God's justice are both reconciled. Our sins are paid for by Jesus' sufferings and death, and our souls are spared from eternal death in hell.
Jesus earned our salvation. The Holy Spirit created our faith that we trust Jesus completely, and, "whoever believes in him is not condemned." "Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." God accomplished our salvation in Jesus. We believe in Jesus, and we will have eternal life because of what God has done for us.
Application: This good news has a profound affect on our lives. No matter what the devil throws at us in this life, we know that our eternal salvation is secure already in Jesus. Jesus is our comfort in times of trouble, our strength in times of weakness, and our balm when we are wounded. Jesus is our refuge when the world, Satan, and sin assail us. There is no end of trouble in this world: disease, pain, toil, and temporal death, but the real trouble--eternal condemnation in hell--is already remedied by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Conclusion: I would venture to say that Richard's mother was very pleased with her son when he shined her shoes. He helped his mother, not for any reward he might receive, but simply because he loved his mother and wanted to help her.
Jesus wants to help and save us. Jesus loves each of us personally. He willingly went to the cross and died for each of us. He washes away our sins, and ushers us all into heaven. Jesus' Father is pleased with his Son too, because, Jesus Did It For Love. Amen.