Our focus this evening will be on John 3.16. I do want to read the section, John 3, verses 10 to 21. This is the discourse, or 11 to 21, the discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning God's salvation. So beginning in verse 11, "'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, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 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 love 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this Lord's Day.
We thank you for the blessed privilege that is ours to come out of the world and into the presence of the triune God, into the presence of the saints of God. It is a dear and wonderful blessing to gather with your people and to sing your praises. It is a joyful time, Lord God, to worship the one who has saved us, the one who has redeemed us from hell and damnation, from perishing, who has given us eternal life. We would ask now that the Holy Spirit would guide our hearts and our minds and our understanding, that we would consider this subject in many respects we can only touch the surface of, even the love of God.
Truly, that love is amazing, and we would pray, Father, that you would give us just a glimpse of it tonight. We know and have experienced it because you have dealt with us in such grace and mercy. We would ask that the Spirit would help us to consider these things. We pray again that you would forgive us for all of our sins and all of our unrighteousness, that you would grant us help and grace and strength.
And we pray through Christ our Lord, amen.
Introduction
Well, as we saw this morning in verses 1 to 10, Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus. He taught that a man must be born again or he cannot see the kingdom of God. Regeneration is that work of God wherein he makes us alive. It's a new birth, a birth from above, a birth from God.
And this does precede saving faith. And the trajectory in this section shows us that. Christ deals first with regeneration. He highlights the necessity or the efficacy of faith in the cross of our Lord Jesus.
He manifests the love of God and then the condemnation for those who continue to rebel and reject against our God Most High. So as we look at verse 16, it's a very famous verse, a verse I hope that you all committed to memory long, long ago. It is a simple statement, but as I mentioned, it's a very difficult statement. I'm certainly not qualified to speak on the love of God.
When we consider the perfections of God, or the attributes of God, in John's Gospel, or in John's first epistle, he says, God is love. You need to ponder that reality. We love, but it's not the case that we are love. God is His attributes, and it's a very wonderful thing to consider.
And as I suggest, we ought to look at verse 16 and at least try to glean some appreciation. for the great love that our God has for us. And
Scripture Reading: John 3:11–21
I just want to look at the verse and make four observations that kind of run along with the verse.
The Cross Manifests God's Immeasurable Love
In the first place, I want to look at the cross manifests God's immeasurable love. Secondly, the cross displays God's gracious gift.
The Cross: Object of Saving Faith
Thirdly, the cross held the object of man's belief. And fourthly, the cross is the source of God's promised blessing. But note in the first place, it manifests God's immeasurable love.
God's Love and Its Object
Remember that Jesus Christ is speaking in this particular section. As I mentioned this morning, this is as much the Word of God as Leviticus 11.1 is the Word of God. But it does help us to see our Lord's statement, our Lord's declaration concerning the great love of His Father for sinners. Notice verse 16, for God so loved the world.
There is a close connection with the preceding in verses 14 and 15. Jesus describes, explains, and demonstrates what salvation by grace through faith in Christ looks like. He gives this analogy of Moses in the wilderness in verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
There was an instance, an occasion in the wilderness when the people of God complained They grumbled, they murmured, Numbers 21. And so God sent fiery serpents to bite them, to bring punishment upon them for their sins committed against God. And then the Lord God instructs Moses to make this brazen serpent to lift it up into the wilderness and all who looked would live. That is an apt illustration or analogy to the work of Christ.
Christ is lifted up on the cross. We look to him by faith or in faith and we live. He then demonstrates or tells us very clearly in verse 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. So just as they looked and lived at the brazen serpent, so sinners look and live at the Lord Jesus Christ that, verse 15, whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Now, verse 16 essentially restates verse 15, but Jesus puts it in the context of God's love. Verse 15 is the bare fact. Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Verse 16 begins with for.
This is explanatory. This is a reason. This is the context for the cross work of our Lord Jesus. 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.
The for indicates the reason or the explanation or we might say amplification of verse 15. And then as well, note that little word, for God so loved. One of those blessed little words that I hope encourage our hearts. I mean, it would be enough for God to say, I love you.
But for God to say, I so love you, it's like in our families, you know, you say that to a sibling or you say that, I hope you say that to a sibling, you say that to a parent or to a child, I love you. But there's those occasions or those times where you say, I so love you. It sort of underscores it. It sort of brings it to bear upon the person with a fresh understanding.
And that's the use of the language here. God so loved the world. And that declarative statement itself is filled with a wondrous theology. God so loved the world.
We ought to appreciate the target of His love as we consider this immeasurable love. The sentiment is very similar to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5. Cam read that at the outset of worship. God demonstrates His own love toward us and that while we were still sinners.
Christ died for us. What's the logic of the apostle up to that particular point? In verse 7, he says, for a righteous man, one would scarcely give his life. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The love of God is seen in the object of his love. And it's not because the world is lovely, it's not because the world is wondrous, it's not because the world is good. The stress in the passage is not to cause us to reflect upon the goodness of the world, but on the glory of God's love.
'World' as Men Without Distinction
And world here does not indicate every man without exception, but most likely men without distinction, Jew and Gentile. You see this in John's gospel. I showed you an instance this morning in John 1.10 where the word kosmos, or world, is used in three different senses. Notice in John 4 at verse 42, the Samaritans say, Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him, and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
Again, He doesn't mean each and every human being in the world, but He means Jews, He means Gentiles, He means Samaritans. But we also ought to appreciate that while this text does not set forth universalism, the idea that everybody everywhere will be saved, there is a biblical doctrine of universalism. Not everybody will be saved, but men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. from all over the globe, from all over the earth. Our Lord Christ is the only Savior, and thus He is the Savior of the world.
Back to John 3.16, the glory of God's love is not seen in the goodness of the objects of that love. The world is not loved because it is good. The world is not loved because it is numerous, but because God is love. There's a parallel in Deuteronomy 7 where the Lord says this to Old Covenant Israel.
I love the logic or I love the thought or the sentiment that is expressed in Deuteronomy 7, 7 and 8. It says, Yahweh did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people. For you are the least of all peoples, but because the Lord loves you and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers." Do you see why God loves Israel? Because God loves Israel.
It's grounded in and rooted in His covenant. It's rooted in His faithfulness. It's rooted in His promise, but it's according to His good pleasure. He sets His love upon Israel and He tells them, I don't love you because you're more numerous.
I love you because I love you. That's another wonderful way to express love to another human being. Now, this text gives us a concrete illustration of God's love. He's so loved that He gave His only begotten Son.
But there's those instances within family life when someone doesn't do something necessarily love-worthy, and you say, you know, I just love you. Why? Because you brought me a steak. No, because I love you.
That's a great argument, and I love you because I love you. That's what God says to Israel in the Old Covenant in Deuteronomy chapter 7, and the sentiment is somewhat similar here. Now, world in this context is Jew and Gentile elect, those who are predetermined by God to be saved that He sets His affection on according to His good pleasure. But as I submit, the glory of the statement is not on the loveliness of the world, but on the love of God for a wretched world.
It's not because the world is love worthy, but because God is love. Listen to Thomas Manton. He said, there was nothing in the object, the world, to move him to it. You see, most of the times we love something, it's because it's lovely, right?
We don't love that which is unlovely, we are drawn to that which is lovely. When you met your husband or you met your wife, there were certain qualities or characteristics or attributes, or hopefully you could call them perfections because you love them so much, that endeared you to them. There was a loveliness about them that drew your heart out. But the argument of our Lord Jesus Christ in the passage is not that the world is lovely and that drew God's love.
It's the exact opposite. God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Manton says there was nothing in the object to move him to it. When we were neither good nor just, but wicked, without respect to any worth in us, for we were all in a damnable estate, He sent His Son to die for us, to rescue and free us from eternal death, and to make us partakers of eternal life.
The stress in the text is not on the loveliness of the world. The stress in the text is on the loveliness of God's love.
The Cross Displays God's Gracious Gift
Note, secondly, the cross displays God's gracious gift. We see that, for God so loved the world. Now Jesus fleshes this out. He gives a reason or He gives a concrete application of this love.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. I think in this we see God's initiative, don't we? It isn't our worthiness or our loveliness, but it's God's initiative in salvation. We see that all through the Bible.
Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, after the fall of Adam into transgression, the Lord says, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Another passage that is familiar around this time of the year is the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 9.
Again, it highlights the initiative of God. 9-6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. That's God's initiative. That's God's doing. That's God undertaking on behalf of sinners.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. We ought to appreciate that God's immeasurable love is seen in the giving of His immeasurable, or of His glorious Son. And then, of course, Galatians 4, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son. born of a woman, born under the law. John 3.16 is in that stream of consistency.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. As well, the grace is underscored here. He gave. Man didn't earn.
Man didn't deserve. John 1, 9 and 10, he says that Jesus came to His own, His own received Him not. We rejected Him, we despised Him, we counted Him as an altogether unlovely thing. We do not deserve God's love.
It is by grace. It is His initiative. And this, in many respects, ought to cause us to worship all the more. Again, if you love somebody because they're lovely, that is a consistent response on the part of the lover.
But because God is love, there's nothing lovely in the world. Nevertheless, He sets His affection, He sets His love upon us. But as well as we consider that God displays His gracious gift on the cross, we ought to consider that this is a further demonstration of God's love. Note what the text says again.
For God so loved the world that He gave what? His only begotten Son. God's immeasurable love is further demonstrated by the gracious gift's dignity.
The Dignity of the Only Begotten Son
He is God's only begotten Son. Now, this is a wondrous statement concerning God's love. It's a wondrous statement concerning God's Son. John Gill describes it this way, no other than His Son by nature.
When you read that language, He's the only begotten Son. There's a lot of literature out there today denying what has been historically called the eternal generation of the Son, the fact that Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, God from God. light from light, true God from true God. The doctrine is biblical, the doctrine is historical, the doctrine ought not to be jettisoned, and this is what's in view here. John Gill says, no other than His own Son by nature, of the same essence, perfections, and glory with Him, begotten by Him in a way inconceivable and inexpressible by mortals, and is only begotten One.
You see what I'm trying to submit is that the love of God is further demonstrated in the dignity of the one whom he gave. He didn't, you know, reach down on the bench and go to the second or third string. Okay, you know, you angel that's really struggling back there trying to earn his keep here in heaven, I want you to go down there and redeem the sons of men. That's not what he did.
He didn't go to the second or the third string. He gave his only begotten son. Manton says Jesus Christ is so-called only begotten to distinguish him from the adopted children. You see, we are sons and daughters of God, but we're not only begotten.
He says, "...and to show his personal subsistence, which is by way of affiliation, or being eternally begotten in the divine essence." Now notice what he says, "...so great was our misery, that no less remedy would serve the turn, and so great God's mercy, that He withheld Him not from us." The dignity of the Son, the One who is God's gracious gift, further evidences and further highlights God's immeasurable love.
The Giving as Sacrificial Delivery
And when we read in the text that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, the giving I do not take in the first place as the sending of the Son to the earth. I think the giving there has the language of sacrifice. I think the giving there has the language to Christ being delivered up. Yes, by wicked men, but according to the predetermined plan and counsel of God.
Notice in Acts 2, verse 23, beginning in verse 22. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know. being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. The sending of the Son is a glorious thing to be sure, but the giving in the context of John 3.16 answers analogously to the giving of the serpent in the wilderness.
Just as the serpent is lifted up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. God gave the Son, His only begotten Son, in order to be lifted up, to be delivered up, to be given over as a sacrifice for His people. Notice in Romans chapter 8, the same sort of language. Romans chapter 8, specifically at verse 32.
He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? You see? The judicial. the substitutionary sacrificial language. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
So Christ, in John 3.16, as he highlights the fact that the Father gave him to this world, Christ knew precisely what was in his future. There wasn't a fully developed doctrine of atonement in John's gospel up until this point, but there was always a fully developed doctrine of atonement in the mind and heart of Christ. He knew why He came. He knew what He was doing.
He knew what lay before Him. This is why He sets His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. This is why He says, I must go, I must be tried, I must be crucified, I must be raised up. Christ knew that He came, yes, sent by the Father on a mission of love, but as well sent to be delivered up to the cross.
Go back to the prophet Isaiah where this is illustrated further, specifically Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53, verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord, this is Yahweh, to bruise him. This is the servant. It pleased Yahweh to bruise him.
He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." This giving of the son is a display of God's gracious gift.
The fact that he is the only begotten son, God from God, light from light, further identifies or highlights the immeasurable love of God for this world. The fact that the world is not good, the fact that the world is not numerous, but the fact that the world stands in need of redemption, all underscore the reality of what Christ says in John 3.16, for God so loved the world.
Application: God's Love in the Believer's Struggle
Now, before we move on to our third and fourth point, is it ever the case that we ponder this? I know at times as Christians, we, not at times as Christians, but let's face it, we sin a lot, don't we? As Christians, there's a lot of remaining corruption in our hearts. I think that's why all of us probably like singing hymn number 400, Robert Robinson, when he says, prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love.
I wonder the first time you sang that, you said, can we really admit this? Can we really say this? I mean, after all, we're Christians, right? We're not supposed to wander.
We're not supposed to admit to wandering. We're not to, you know, to admit to being prone to leaving the God that we love. Well, the consistent stream of good theology throughout the history of the church demonstrates that it's okay to sing that. Our confession of faith realizes, recognizes, highlights, and demonstrates the ongoing warfare in the hearts of believers.
The apostle does this in Galatians 5.17, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against the flesh. These two are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you want. The idea of being is that the spirit in you does restrain you from being as wicked as you could possibly be. The idea being that the remaining corruption in you does somehow affect you in such a way that you're never as holy as you would hope to be on this side of glory.
These two are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you want. Paul the Apostle in Romans chapter 7 describes this battle, this turmoil, and we all face it, don't we? I mean, let's embrace Robert Robinson's hymn. Let's embrace the chapters in our confession on sanctification and assurance and those chapters that speak and highlight the reality that the best of believers at times are just struggling, piles of problems.
But brethren, in those instances and in those times and in those seasons, what is it easy for us to dwell on? God's mad at me. I know that's what I do. and we ought not to minimize or remove from our lives the context of a chastening father, do you think God's love changes for us? We're like that, aren't we?
If you're doing the things that I want you to do, hey, we're good. The moment you don't do the things that I want you to do, we're not so good anymore. This is one of the glorious things about the doctrine of divine impassibility. Remember you heard that word a lot, I don't know, 2014, 13, way back then, many years ago.
What does divine impassibility highlight? He's most loving. Realize with God, his perfections do not increase, nor do they diminish. God is always God.
And yes, while we are in the midst of rebellion against God, we ought to ponder the reality that we have a chastening father. But perhaps at times we ought to ponder the reality that we have a loving father. Was it Peyton? I think it was John G.
Peyton. Was he the brother that kept the picture of his father in his wallet? I don't know if it was him that did that. I know his father made a great impression on his life in terms of how he would live his life.
But there's another man somewhere in the annals of history that kept a picture of his father in his wallet. And whenever he was going to do something foolish, he'd take out his wallet and he would look at that picture. And he would think to himself, I never, ever want to grieve a man that I love so much as this, and a man who loves me so much as he loves me. Brethren, it's good to consider the chastening hand of God.
It's good to understand conviction for sin. It's good not to resist the spirit of the living God when he brings that conviction upon us. But in the midst of those seasons, ought we not to ponder the reality that God's love changes not? Now, I doubt in the heart of a truly blood-bought child of God that will promote sin.
I doubt that that's going to promote licentiousness. I doubt you're going to say, well, God loves me no matter what I'm doing, so I'm going to keep on doing it. We've all come to grips with Romans 6. 1, what shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
May it never be. We don't use the theology of God's goodness as a means by which we sin. But maybe in those seasons, maybe in that waywardness, maybe in that proneness to wander, the thought of a loving God and the demonstration of it at the glorious cross will hopefully restrain us and keep us from pursuing those lusts any further. Yes, he's a chastening father, but he never stops being a loving father.
Try that, add that to the repertoire, is that the word, of your dealings with sin. Certainly, fear God. Certainly walk in holiness with the thought that if you do not, God is angry and He will deal with you. But He loves you.
He so loves you. He so loves us. And the ethic, or rather the argument in Romans 5, let's just visit it again. It's just beautiful theology.
For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Do you ever ponder that? He died for the ungodly. He didn't die for the righteous.
He didn't die for the holy. He didn't die for the pure. It's the same idea that we find in Romans 4, 5. Notice, "...but to him who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." But back to Romans 5, 6.
"...For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die." Have you ever considered if somebody walked in here and lobbed a grenade in the middle of the floor? Would all of you just jump on it? You'd probably think about it before just doing it.
You know, we count the costs at that moment. If I jump on that grenade, that's gonna be bad. Here's Paul's logic. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die.
For righteous man! You see somebody that's noble, holy, pure, and good, and they're walking in the street, and they're about to get smacked by a truck. For scarcely a righteous man would we die. We're not so quick to run over there and push him out of the way and take that truck in his stead.
The logic of the gospel is simply this, but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Do you think that God does not understand the doctrine of remaining corruption? Do you think that in your life God gets to the point on Thursday and He says, that's it, I'm done, my hands are clean of you? God used Paul to write Romans 7.
God used Paul to write Galatians 5. God is more honest about our sin than we are honest about our sin. Read the Psalms, read David. You see, brethren, I am not suggesting that you ponder and contemplate and dwell on the love of God and use that as an argument to continue in sin.
I am asking you to ponder, contemplate, and consider the love of God and see if perhaps that might not help kill sin. Take the wallet out of your pocket and look at the picture and consider the goodness of the man there. Consider John 3.16 in your warfare against sin. Thirdly, the cross held the object of man's belief.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him. That whoever believes in Him.
'Whoever Believes': The Believing Ones
We ought to deal with the translation issue before we move on. It sounds very universal. You can see why Arminians and Pelagians like the text. That whoever believes in Him.
The text isn't as universal here in Greek as it is in English. It's literally, all the believing ones should not perish. All the believing ones should not perish." Well, who are the believing ones? They are the ones who are made alive by God in the new birth.
They are the ones who are born again. They are the ones regenerate. They are the ones who are responding in faith to the Lord Christ. Now, the first fruit of regeneration, at least visibly, remember the wind blows and you see the visible effects of it?
I think there's other stuff that goes on invisibly that we don't see when God takes out the old stony heart and he puts in the new fleshly heart and he puts in that new disposition, all that stuff. The first visible manifestation of regeneration is faith. It's faith in Jesus. It's not just faith.
That's popular today, isn't it? Oh, he's a man of faith. What does he believe in? Well, I don't know.
That doesn't matter, but it's the faith that matters. Does it matter what you believe in as long as you believe? No, it matters precisely what you believe in. Faith is only as good as its object, and the first fruit, at least again in terms of visibly, of regeneration is faith in Christ.
That faith or
Saving Faith Defined and Focused on Christ
the faith that is instrumental in salvation is not undefined. It is clearly defined. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him. Now, do you understand why Jesus had such problems with the Jews?
I hope you do. I mean, here he is saying that he is the only begotten son of God and that he is the target of man's faith for salvation. You can see by the end of the gospel records why they're crying out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. You see it at the end of this particular narrative.
The darkness hates the light. The darkness doesn't want to come to the light. because its evil deeds are exposed. I mean, look at the claims that Christ is making concerning himself to this man, Nicodemus. Well, in the previous section, I believe he's probably still in earshot at this particular time, but he is the object of man's faith.
The faith that is instrumental in salvation is not undefined, it is in him. I love our confession, chapter 14, paragraph 2, talks about saving faith. That's the object of the title of the particular chapter. And the last statement in paragraph 2 says, but the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ.
You see, saving faith believes that there was an ancient people called the Hivites. You realize that people used to mock the Bible because of the reference to the Hivites? There were no Hivites, either Hivites or Hittites. But in the 20th century, they uncovered, archeology uncovered this ancient civilization.
I didn't make the Bible true. Archeology is not the final arbiter of what is true. But it is intriguing. All that people never existed, the Bible's just full of so many fables.
No, that was really there. You need to believe that there were Hittites. Not the way you believe that there was Jesus Christ and is Jesus Christ. You need to believe what the Bible says.
I think a lot of times when we have these discussions of faith, and perhaps with our children, you know, as they start getting older and they hear pastors preaching, you need to believe. And they start asking, am I believing? Am I trusting? It's sometimes hard. to concretize or to make not abstract this idea of faith.
Certainly it means believing everything God's Word says. The Scriptures are trustworthy in all that they affirm concerning history, science, doctrine, ethics, religious practice, or any other topic. The Scriptures are inspired of God, are inspired by God, and that doesn't mean he got an inspirational thought. It means the Scriptures are God-breathed.
They are inerrant and infallible. The debate over inerrancy The idea that there are errors in the Bible and persons who say, well, it doesn't matter. It does matter. And faith lays hold to the whole of God's Word.
But as we move through the confessional statement, it highlights, it isolates, it pinpoints a primary object with reference to saving faith. The principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon Him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. In other words, if our children say or anyone says, what is faith? What is belief?
What does all this mean? A good follow-up to that might be, what think ye of Christ? Do you believe what the Bible says concerning Christ? Do you believe that He lived, that He died, that He rose again?
Do you believe His self-testimony, that He is the great I Am? Do you believe He's the only begotten of the Father? Do you believe that He is the one who alone can take away sin? If a child, an adult says, yes, I believe, praise God Almighty, because dead men don't believe such truths, pagans don't celebrate such realities, this is a mighty demonstration of the work of regeneration.
And then notice, the emphasis of the entire Bible is justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ, that whoever believes in him, not believes and does, not believes and goes, not believes and enters, but believes. It's by faith. Grace through faith. Ryle has a way of putting things at times that are just beautiful.
He says, he that has faith has life, and he that has it not has not life. It's pretty simple, isn't it? He that has faith has life, and he that has it not has not life. John 3.36 says the same thing.
He says, nothing whatever beside this faith is necessary to our justification. But nothing whatever except this faith will give us an interest in Christ. We may fast and mourn for sin and do many things that are right and use religious ordinances and give all of our goods to feed the poor and yet remain unpardoned and lose our souls. But if we will only come to Christ as guilty sinners and believe on him, our sins at once shall be forgiven and our iniquity shall be entirely put away.
Without faith, there is no salvation. But through faith in Jesus, the vilest sinner may be saved. That's a passage, not Ryle, but John 3, 16 to hang our souls on, isn't it?
The Cross: Source of God's Promised Blessing
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, now notice fourthly, the cross is the source of God's promised blessing, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. You see, there's a negative involved in a positive. He shall not perish. What's the reference?
The reference is simple. We are dead in Adam. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We have rebelled against a holy God.
We have violated His law. We have refused Him and rejected Him and resisted Him every step of the way. And God's promised judgment upon such sinners is hell. This is the should not perish in the text, because by the grace of God, according to the power of the Holy Spirit who regenerated us, who gave us the faith to look unto Jesus the way those persons looked unto that brazen serpent, we are not going to perish.
When that man in the wilderness, rubbing his leg that had just gotten bit by that snake, looked up, he lived. He didn't perish. He didn't die from that snake venom. He didn't go to hell at that particular point.
And this is the promise of our Lord. We're not going to perish. Do you ever ponder that? Do you ever consider that reality?
What do we deserve? We deserve hell. I love the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It asks the question, what does every sin deserve?
It's a good question to ask, isn't it? I hope we've all asked that question at one time or another. We may not have answered it the way the assembly did, but we ought to ponder that answer. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
Now, the world will say, that seems a bit unfair. There are the sorts of people that say, well, you know, all they did was eat the apple in the garden. Ever notice how everybody's convinced it was an apple? I mean, it was one bite.
The older authors showed how in that one bite, there was a breach of every one of the Ten Commandments. That one bite was a rejection of the living and the true God Most High. It was to assert independence from the Creator that made the creature. You see, brethren, we deserve God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
Our sins have piled up, and even if it was just one, we deserve it, because an infinitely holy God is a God who punishes sin. Do you see what we've been spared from? Do you see where you're not going as a result of Christ's work at Calvary? We're not gonna perish.
We're not going to end in hell. We're not going to suffer the judgment and the condemnation of God Most High. It's a beautiful thing. Someone might say, do you know where you're going?
I know where I'm not going, and I praise God for that. But it's a positive as well. not only should not perish, but have everlasting life. See, it's not just a place of neutrality. Well, I'm not in hell, and I'm just going to sort of float around clouds.
No, we have everlasting life. We inherit the new heavens and the new earth. We get God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are in the presence of this God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
We are in the presence of the God whose love does not diminish, it doesn't increase. He is most loving. He will always be that way for His people, and we will enjoy Him world without end. Amen.
The thought of that, the amazing reality of that, I think is what leads John in his first epistle to say, behold, what manner of love the Father has given to us. That we should be called the sons of God, and we are. It's an amazing thing, brethren, what the Lord has spared us from, what the Lord has saved us from, and what the Lord has saved us unto. If you finished your Bible on December 31st, you got a glimpse of that in Revelation 21 and 22.
John sees this new heavens and this new earth come down, this holy city that's the very temple of God. What's temple? In fact, in the book it says, there is no temple there. God and the Lamb are the temple.
Do you know what temple existed for? Do you know why the tabernacle in the wilderness and then the temple under Solomon? Temple is a place where God and people dwell. That's the goal.
That's the beauty. That's the glory. That's the reality. We get to be where God is.
We were created for this. It is what makes our hearts beat. But in Adam, we lost it. We sacrificed it.
We gave it up. But in Christ Jesus, it's there. And the worst saint, on his worst day, if asked, will say, I want to be with Christ. That's the goal.
That's the beauty. That's everything. It's not the gates of pearl. It's not the streets of gold.
That's all background. The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. And this is what Christ held forth.
Application
Well, brethren, in summary, the blessing of the text ought to be obvious. Luther called John 3.16 the Bible in miniature. I quite like that. The Bible in miniature.
One small Bible within. we ought to consider the wonder of the text. I think John's first epistle sort of parallels the thought. He says, in this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God.
You see, brethren, it is our duty Our responsibility. It is as consistent as, you know, birds flying that the creature loves its God. It ought never surprise us that some creature loves God, the Creator. That's a given.
That's just the way it ought to be. All right, we don't get extra points. That's just the bottom line. It says, in this is love.
Not that we love God. That's not the amazing thing, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Sounds like in 1 John 4, 9, and 10, he has John 3, 16 in mind. He's reflecting upon his Savior's words, and he's elucidating this for his people, for his hearers, to understand the greatness of the love of God.
He sent him to be the propitiation for our sins, the wrath bearer, the curse sufferer, the one who stood in our stead to satisfy divine justice. And as well, we ought to appreciate the promise of the text. It is for believing ones. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that all the believing ones should not perish, but have everlasting life.
If you have faith tonight, and you can taste and see that the Lord is good, and you eat the bread and you drink the cup, rejoice in God, because that faith is not from you. Rejoice in God, because the Spirit of the living God has made you alive, has given you the grace of faith, and has pointed you to the Son of God, who was lifted up, just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. If you do not have faith, if you are not in Jesus Christ, may I encourage you, and may I say to you, look and live. Look to the one alone in whom there is forgiveness.
That means believing what the Bible says concerning him. As the Confession says, as it highlights, as it pinpoints, as it narrows it down, specifically the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation If you don't have faith, read of Christ. If you don't have faith, listen to the preaching concerning Christ. You need to get Christ.
It's not a blind leap. Faith is looking to Christ. So listen, believe, and come to the one alone in whom is forgiveness of sins. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this Bible in miniature. We thank you for this wonderful declaration concerning your love. It doesn't just say that you love, but you so love. And it demonstrates that love, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
You set your affection upon us in eternity past. You covenanted with the sun to save, the sun covenants to come and to live and to die and to rise again. Certainly all of this theology, in some sense, as heady as it is, is so wonderful and so heartwarming and so glorious, God. May you grant us grace to ponder the great love of God, not just in church when we're about to eat the bread and drink the cup, but on Thursday when we're struggling against sin.
May we ponder your goodness, may we ponder your kindness, may we ponder your graciousness and your mercy, and how we praise you and thank you for that great love demonstrated at the cross, known to us even now, and we trust and know that it will never ever dissipate. We ask that you would just bless our time together and we pray through Christ Jesus our Lord, amen.