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Verse 16, but I'll read beginning 
in verse 1 to verse 21. 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 is old? Can he enter a second time into 
his mother's womb and be born? 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 hear the sound of it. but cannot 
tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is 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, 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 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, again, we ask for your blessing now as we come to Holy 
Scripture. We pray for the ministry of the 
Spirit who gave us this word. We pray for the forgiveness of 
all sin that darkens our minds and our understanding from receiving 
this word. And we pray that as we consider 
Christ, as we consider the great love of God, that our hearts 
would be drawn out in worship and praise and adoration, that 
we would respond with love, and that you would bless and encourage 
and strengthen each of our hearts. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, amen. Well, remember, Jesus is now 
on his public ministry. So he goes, beginning in chapter 
one, at verse 35, he calls his first disciples. And then in 
terms of his public ministry, he goes to Cana, the wedding 
at Cana of Galilee, and there he changes the water into wine. 
He then goes in to cleanse the temple. So these are sort of 
public settings. But then in chapter three, there's 
private encounter, and as well in chapters four and five. And 
I think that what we see is a display of what John the Apostle tells 
us at the end of chapter 2. Notice in chapter 2 at verse 
25, and he had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he 
knew what was in man. He's able to answer Nicodemus' 
question before Nicodemus even asks it. He knows the Samaritan 
woman intimately when he tells her to go call her husband. He 
knows that lame man at the waters of Bethesda without ever having 
been introduced. The Lord Jesus Christ is the 
one introduced to us in chapter one. He's both divine. and human. He is the God-man. By virtue 
of the hypostatic union, the one person, two natures, we see 
him operate according to those natures. Now here with Nicodemus, 
he gets right to the point. He tells him, you must be born 
again or you can't enter the kingdom of God. This is perplexing 
and puzzling to Nicodemus, who, by the way, isn't legitimately 
seeking out wisdom and knowledge. He's a member of the Sanhedrin. 
He is a spokesman for the Sanhedrin. And Jesus knows this and identifies 
that. Later in Nicodemus' life, he's 
found on the right side. But at this particular time, 
he's trying to trip up the Savior. When he says, well, how can these 
things be? Can a man enter into his mother's womb and be born 
a second time? When Jesus upbraids him and says, 
are you the teacher of Israel and you don't know these things? 
He should have known them. Deuteronomy 10, 16. Deuteronomy 
30, verse six. The prophet Ezekiel in chapter 
36, verses 25 to 27, prophesied concerning new birth by the power 
and the presence of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus is simply teaching 
what the Old Testament had always taught. that those who are dead 
in their trespasses and sins need to be alive by God's grace 
such that they believe the gospel for their salvation. Now when 
Nicodemus voices that concern in verse 9, how can these things 
be? Jesus answers him. in verses 
11 to 15. He answers him by saying, first 
of all, the incarnation of the Lord, verse 13. Secondly, the 
typology of the Bible, verse 14a, the analogy of the serpent. 
And then finally, the crucifixion of the Lord in verses 14b and 
15. Now, when we get to verses 16 to 21, there is some debate 
among commentators as to whether we're dealing with the words 
of Jesus or whether we're dealing with the words of John the Apostle. 
The Greek manuscript didn't have punctuation the way we have it, 
didn't have quotation marks, and certainly it does not contain 
red letters to sort of underscore what was spoken by Jesus and 
what wasn't. So as I said, there is some debate. 
Are verses 16 to 21 extended commentary by the apostle or 
are they the words of our Lord Jesus Christ continuing to respond 
to Nicodemus? In the final analysis, it doesn't 
matter. They say the same thing. The 
words mean the same thing. I think it's best to proceed 
as if it is in fact the words of our Lord Jesus to this man, 
Nicodemus. Now when he comes to verses 16 
to 21, as I said, he is answering, again, Nicodemus' issue. How 
can these things be? He gives us a declaration concerning 
God's love in verse 16, and then the description of man's condition 
in verses 17 to 21. When he gives that description 
of man's condition in verses 17 to 21, he brings the chapter 
full circle. Because man looks like this, 
he must be born again. Because man looks like this, 
he must be regenerated. Because man looks like this, 
he must be made alive by the power of the spirit. And when 
the spirit makes a man alive in regeneration or in the new 
birth, the reflex act on the part of man is to believe the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the overview, but I 
wanna hone in on and focus in on what is probably the most 
popular Bible verse ever. I haven't watched a sports game 
for many, many years, not that I was ever really into that. 
I didn't get that stamp on my man card for some reason, but 
I remember watching and seeing that fellow with the rainbow 
hair behind the backstop with reference to baseball games with 
John 3.16. I don't know if he still does 
that, but I suppose that if you go just about anywhere in North 
America, whether persons can articulate the truth of the gospel 
or not, they've at least heard, at least in some manner, John 
3.16. It's a very popular Bible verse, 
and it's popular for good reason. In fact, when we look at those 
popular verses we find in Scripture, they are so for good reason. Not that the unpopular shouldn't 
be, but nevertheless, we have these summary statements in small 
compass that give us the gist of the Holy Gospel. Luther called 
John 3.16 the Bible in miniature. It is, in fact, the whole of 
the Christian Gospel. So I want to look at the declaration 
of God's love in verse 16. Now, when we do that, we're going 
to notice first the declaration of God's love in verse 16a. Secondly, we'll notice the demonstration 
of God's love in verse 16b. And then finally, the description 
of those who experience God's love in verse 16c. Hopefully you'll see where I 
got those points. So let's just jump right into 
the declaration of God's love in 16a. Notice there is a close 
connection between what precedes and what is here. Verse 16 starts 
with 4. So we have this declaration concerning 
God's love that is intimately connected to the previous verses. 
For God so loved the world. And I think that connection is 
to give us understanding behind the fact that the Son of Man 
is lifted up like that serpent in the wilderness. Why is the 
Son of Man lifted up like that serpent in the wilderness? Why 
is it that Jesus must go to the crucifixion? Why is it that Jesus 
must stand on trial before the godless Sanhedrin, before the 
godless Pilate, to hear the cries of people say, away with him, 
away with him, crucify him, to have him be delivered up in order 
to stand or go onto that cross and suffer the wrath and fury 
of God? What drives him? What motivates him, we might 
say? What moves him to this particular 
place? Well, 16a describes it for us. For God so loved the world. In other words, the son of man 
must be lifted up because God loves the world. And because 
God loves the world, He can't leave them in their sin and misery 
and depravity. He must send the Son of His love 
in order to redeem, in order to free, in order to save, in 
order to forgive, in order to give them a righteousness. The 
emphasis in the first part of the verse is on the source or 
origin of the atoning work of our Savior. There is this common 
perception out there that has been fed by dispensational theology 
that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the 
God of the New Testament. And we bring that to gospel. 
And we say things like, well, Jesus has come as sort of the 
good version of God to appease the wrath of the sort of bad 
version of God. Nothing can be further from the 
truth. Notice, in connection with the 
lifting up of the Son of Man, which is a reference to his crucifixion, 
what is the context for that? It's the love of the Father! 
One commentator made this observation. He says it cannot be emphasized 
too strongly that God's love is the source, not the consequence 
of the atonement. It's not that Jesus makes God 
loving toward us, but rather God's love toward us is demonstrated 
in the cross work of our blessed Savior who has redeemed us from 
our sins. This man says God does not love 
us because Christ died for us. Christ died for us because God 
loved us. So it was Moses that built the 
brazen serpent in the wilderness. It was Moses who put it up onto 
a pole. It was Moses who directed the 
children of Israel who had been bitten by those fiery serpents 
to look and live. But it was because It's because 
of God's love for the nation of Israel. It's because of God's 
covenant and faithfulness to the nation of Israel that he 
has Moses do that. And the same thing obtains here. Christ has come. He has descended, 
as it were, from heaven. He has taken on our flesh. In 
the language of John 1, 14, the word became flesh and he dwelt 
among us. And we beheld his glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace 
and truth. And he does this in the context 
of redemptive love. The father sends the son of his 
love in order to redeem those whom God set his love upon before 
the foundation of the world. So the context for the cross 
work of our blessed Savior, it's not in order to purchase God's 
love, but it is a reflection of and a result of God's love. 
Now, as we look at this first part of the verse, for God so 
loved the world, we might be inclined to say, wow, the world 
must be pretty lovely. For God to do what He did, it 
must be the case that the world is awesome, the world is fantastic, 
the world is great. Isn't it the case that we love 
those things which are beautiful? Don't we love those things which 
are delightful? Don't we love those things which 
are lovely in and of themselves? So can we say in this passage 
that God loves the world so much because it's so wonderful, it 
is so blessed, it is so beautiful? I want to flesh this out with 
three thoughts. First, the creation of the world itself demonstrates 
God's love. The creation of the world itself 
demonstrates His love. Our confession says, it pleased 
God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the manifestation 
of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness to create 
or make the world and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, 
in the space of six days and all very good. It's a great statement 
concerning creation, isn't it? It's a statement that's challenged 
just about by everybody outside the church and unfortunately 
a whole bunch of people within the church. I don't know, it's 
millions of years old, it's billions of years old, but the divines 
recognize the reality that God made all things out of nothing 
by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very 
good. But what the divines also indicate is that it pleased God. 
God was under no requirement to make us. God was under no 
law outside of himself to create. In other words, God is not tied 
to or fixed upon his creation in some sort of way as to think 
or so that we would think that he needs us, that we complete 
him, that we make him better. Remember Paul at Mars Hill in 
Acts 17, he makes this statement. He says, God who made the world 
and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, 
does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is worship with 
men's hands, notice, as though he needed anything, since he 
gives to all life, breath, and all things. So there are those 
people that say, oh, the creation is because God wasn't complete 
and God needed something outside of himself to sort of pour his 
love into. That's not what this text is 
teaching. That's not what the Bible is teaching. God with the 
world remains God. God minus the world, guess what? Remains God. Now, some would 
be led to think, well, if that's the way it is, then that means 
we're inconsequential. We're not really necessary. We're 
not really special. We're not really important. And 
that's an affront to modern man, isn't it? Whose specialness and 
snowflakeness is just about everything near and dear to his heart. But 
if we listen to the Apostle Paul, he tells us God doesn't need 
us. One man, a theologian, made this 
observation. Think of it in this term or this 
way. So far from diminishing the love shown by God in creation, 
the doctrine that creation is unnecessary to God enhances it. It is precisely because creation 
can give nothing whatever to God, which in any way enhances 
his blessedness, that creation is an act of entire giving on 
the part of God. God would not be lonely or bored 
or idle if we did not exist. His life as Trinity is a life 
of infinite activity, of inexhaustible fullness. In creating the world, 
he gains nothing for himself. That is why creation is an extremely 
awesome example of God's love. So he doesn't love the world 
because he needs it. He doesn't love the world because 
he's dependent upon it. He loves the world out of his 
mere good pleasure, according to his sovereignty. Now a second 
thought relative to this statement that God so loved the world, 
redemption demonstrates his love for the world. If the creation 
of the world demonstrates it, then certainly redemption does, 
right? We know what happened when God 
made the world by the word of His power in the space of six 
days and all very good. What happened? Solomon summarizes 
it well in Ecclesiastes 7.29. God made man upright, but what 
did man do? He sought out many devices, right? And God could 
have left us in those devices, God could have left us in those 
sins, God could have left us to that ruin, and to that destruction, 
and to that disaster. But as early as Genesis 3.15, 
He promises the coming of the Savior to save His people from 
their sins. So redemption underscores for 
us the great love of God that is given to us in this particular 
text. But then thirdly, the identification 
of the world demonstrates his love. The identification of the 
world demonstrates his love. I got three points here too. 
First of all, the world does not mean all men without exception. It doesn't mean every single 
human being. The Bible does not teach universalism. This text 
does not teach universalism. The text is literally translated 
that all the believing ones shall not perish, or should not perish, 
but have everlasting life. There are a multitude that don't 
believe. There are those who reject Jesus Christ. There are 
those who resist the proclamation of gospel truth. Well, what happens 
to them? Are they all magically transformed 
at the last day and brought into heaven? Some have taught that. 
It is the doctrine of universalism. And again, that's wrong. It's 
incorrect. The Bible is very clear at that point. But in terms 
of the use of the word world, It doesn't always mean all men 
without exception. It at times means all men without 
distinction. And that's what I suppose the 
apostle is speaking of, or Jesus is speaking of here in John 3.16. 
Let's just look at the way the world is used in John up to this 
point. Go back to John 1.10. For those 
who say, wow, I never thought of it that way. World always 
means world. It means everybody that happens 
to populate the world. No, it doesn't. It absolutely 
positively doesn't. It does at some times, but not 
in every time. And John 1 10 gives us three 
uses of the same word world. Notice, Jesus was in the world. That certainly means the earth, 
right? He didn't go to Saturn. He didn't go to Neptune. He didn't 
go to Pluto. He came to earth. Now notice 
verse 10, and the world was made through him, not just the earth, 
but he made all things by the word of his power in the space 
of six days and all very good. He made Neptune. He made Pluto. He made all of the planets. He 
made the entirety of the cosmos. So you have world identified 
as earth in the first place. You have world identified as 
cosmos in the second place. But then notice the third referent 
in verse 10, and the world did not know him. The apostles at 
times used the word world in an ethical way. The rebels, the 
sinners, the despisers, the rejecters, the transgressors, the wicked 
ones, they are constituted as world. Now notice, as we move 
or proceed in John's gospel, turn to John chapter 4. We'll 
see this, God willing, in the coming weeks. Jesus' interaction 
with that Samaritan woman. Remember he says, go and call 
your husband. Sir, I don't have a husband. You're right. You've 
had several. And the one that you're with is not your husband. 
So then she goes back to her village to report, come and see 
a man who told me all things that I ever did. And then those 
men come to Jesus, and they listen to Jesus, and they hear His testimony. 
Now, remember, Samaritans weren't considered alongside of the Jews. They weren't looked at as faithful 
Israelites. They were not looked at as those 
part of the covenant community. At the division of the kingdom, 
back in 1 Kings 12, there was a breach, northern tribes, southern 
tribes. Samaria was the capital of the 
Northern Kingdom, and it quickly devolved into idolatry and rebellion 
under Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He became the benchmark of wicked 
idolatry in the context of the Northern Kingdom. So the Samaritans 
were not looked at as fellows. They were not looked at as equals. 
They were not looked at as comrades. They were looked at, forgive 
that last reference, but notice in John 4, verse 39, And many 
of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the 
word of the woman who testified. He told me all that I ever did. 
So when the Samaritans had come to him, they urged him to stay 
with them. And he stayed there two days, 
and many more believed because of his own word. Then they said 
to the woman, now we believe, not because of what you said, 
for we ourselves have heard him and we know, what? That this 
is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. They're not confessing 
universalism. They're confessing without distinction. He's not only Israel's Messiah, 
but he's also come for Gentiles. We saw that in the reading at 
the outset of worship. Yahweh says to the servant of 
the Lord, it's too small a thing for you simply to recover the 
lost tribes of Jacob. I'm going to give you as a light 
unto the Gentiles. And so these Samaritans recognize 
that. Turn over to John 12 and notice 
a fear of the Pharisees. because of Jesus' increasing 
popularity. John chapter 12. I think I've 
told you before that in the history of the church, not a few men 
who preached regularly from Christian pulpits had a little placard, 
a little stamp, a little sign in their pulpits that contained 
the language of verse 21. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. That's the preacher's task, is 
to show, demonstrate, and proclaim the Word of God so that sinners 
can see Jesus. not the preacher, not the hobby 
horse, not the celebrity, but that they may see Jesus. Now, 
let's look at that context. Verse 18. For this reason, the 
people also had met him because they heard that he had done this 
sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, you see 
that you're accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after 
him. Do you think the Pharisees met 
every man without exception? No. They meant what we see in 
verse 20. Now, there were certain Greeks 
among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came 
to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, 
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, 
and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered 
them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be 
glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat 
falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, 
it produces much grain, not just among the Jews, but also among 
the Greeks or Gentiles. Now turn over to John's first 
epistle, just to get, again, what he's doing in John 3, 16, 
and that he doesn't mean every single human being without exception. 
Notice in 1 John 2, at verses 1 and 2, my little children, 
these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And 
if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, 
and not only for ours, or not for ours only, but also for What? 
The whole world. Again, John's not a universalist. 
John does not think every man, woman, boy, and girl will enter 
into heaven. John rather understands that 
the gospel is not only for apostles, but to those whom the apostles 
write and those who believe their writings, whether they are Jew 
or Gentile. And then a final passage, one 
that I think is fundamental to understanding John's use of world 
in John 3.16 is in Revelation 5. Revelation chapter five, you 
can turn there. Specifically at verse eight. 
Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and 
the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each having a heart 
and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the 
saints. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take 
the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed 
us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people 
and nation. That's the world in John's theology. It is persons from every tribe 
and tongue and people and nation. God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten son. He doesn't simply come as Israel's 
Messiah, he comes as the world's Savior. Not the Savior of everybody 
in the world, but the Savior of those in the world that God 
had purposed to redeem by the blood of His precious Son. So 
going back to John 3.16, the world does not mean all men without 
exception, but all men without distinction. As well, the world 
is not loved because it is populous or righteous. There's an analogy 
here in God's love for His covenant people in Old Testament Israel. 
In Deuteronomy 7 at 7 and 8, the Lord did not set his love 
on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than 
any other people. For you were the least of all 
peoples, but because the Lord loves you, and because he would 
keep the oath which he swore to your fathers. Isn't that beautiful 
logic? He didn't set his love upon you 
because you were more numerous. He set his love upon you because 
he loves you. Oh, great, it's awesome. And then in Deuteronomy 
9.6, therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving 
you this good land to possess because of your righteousness 
for you're a stiff necked people. And this brings us to the third 
observation. God loves the world, not because it's good, not because 
it's beautiful, not because it's lovely. And it is beautiful and 
good in the sense of the creation itself. I'm talking about men, 
the objects of redemption. We're not beautiful when it comes 
to our heart issues. We're not beautiful in Adam. 
We're not beautiful or lovely. There's nothing in us that would 
say to God, oh, I just love that guy, he's awesome, he's wonderful. 
No, he loves us, not because the world is good, but in spite 
of the fact. He loves us even though the world 
is bad. And Paul picks this up in Romans 
5 at verse 8. God demonstrates his own love 
toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for 
us. Thomas Manton said, 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." So it's not because we deserved 
it. It's not because we're lovely. It's not because we're righteous. 
It's not because we're popular, more numerous. It's because God, 
in his grace and in his mercy, set his love upon those who didn't 
deserve it. God, in His mercy and grace, 
sent the Son of His love in order to be lifted up, not on a throne 
of glory, but on a cross of shame. God so loved us that He gave 
His only begotten Son. That is the declaration. Now look at, secondly, the demonstration 
of that love. I'm sure that you have struggled 
at times with persons that say, well, you know, I love you. And 
then they treat you like garbage, right? Oh, I just love you. Or 
sometimes people say, you know, there's just nothing to back 
it up. Husbands, we don't want to fall 
prey to that. Just saying I love you without giving any action 
or any evidence or any demonstration of that, it's pretty empty and 
hollow. And ladies could do the same thing. Well, I love you, 
dear. Well, there's no sort of action to back that up. God doesn't 
just say, I love you, God doesn't just declare, for God so loved 
the world, but it's demonstrable, it's demonstrated, it's tangible, 
and that's what John 3.16 underscores. Notice, for God so loved the 
world that He gave. He gave His only begotten Son. Two things we should observe 
here, the initiative of God and the dignity of the Son. This 
further evidences, it further demonstrates that love that God 
has for us. Now brethren, I hope you'll see 
how this is practical. It is the case that there are 
discouragements among the people of God. It is the case that there 
are trials and hardships for the people of God. It is the 
case that we We get sick. It is the case we contract serious 
disease. It is the case that we see loved 
ones die. It is the case that we live in 
a world that at times just seems so riddled with tribulation. 
But brethren, in the midst of all that, we have something that 
no one can take away from us. It's God's love. Isn't this Paul's 
point in Romans chapter 8? There is nothing that shall separate 
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
We need to ponder and meditate and think upon that great love 
that God has for us. This is Paul's point in Ephesians 
3. He prays for the saints there 
that you may know the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why is that? It steadies us, 
it stabilizes us, it encourages us, and it helps us to press 
on and persevere. We're not involved in a slugfest 
here. We're not involved in just a 
pull up your bootstraps and knuckle under and do what you're supposed 
to do. No, we've got God on our side. We've got the love of God 
that motivates us. We've got the love of God that 
no man, no government, no foe, no enemy, the devil himself cannot 
strip from us. Jesus likens that or mentions 
that in John chapter 10. There is no one who can pluck 
you out of the hand of the Father and the Son. There's nobody who 
can come along and say, oh, this is what's going to happen to 
you. You're going to go into prison. Read the history of the martyrs. 
Read the history of the confessing church. Read the history of those 
people that have suffered everything for the Lord Jesus Christ. Were 
they miserable beings all of the time? No. They had love. They had a heartbeat full of 
joy and affection for the God who loved them and who gave himself 
for them. Brethren, this is most necessary 
in these days that we contemplate the great love of God. And when 
we read, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
son, notice the initiative of God. This isn't a new thing. 
He gave. We didn't. He gave. We didn't 
initiate. He came after us, just like in 
the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sinned. And what 
do they do? They run from God. They make fig leaves. They hide 
among the trees that God himself had made, as if somehow God, 
the omniscient, couldn't see through those trees, couldn't 
see through those fig leaves. It wasn't them running back to 
God in repentance and faith. It was God who initiated. It 
was God who came. It was God who killed the animals 
and covered them with those skins. It was God who gave that first 
gospel promise in Genesis 3.15, I will put. See again, divine 
initiative. 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. On the heels of man's 
fall, on the heels of man's rebellion, on the heels of man's sin, God 
comes to announce to them the gospel of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ. The same thing happens as you 
move along in the narrative. You get to Genesis chapter 11. 
What do you find there? You find a bunch of utopia seekers 
on earth. We're going to build a tower 
up into heaven. We're going to make a name for 
ourselves. We're going to unify together 
under the common band of humanitarianism. And God confounds their lip, 
and God disperses them. God creates the nations at that 
point. But on the heels of that, what 
does He do? He calls Abram, out of Ur, of the Chaldeans. And 
He says to Abram, that in your seed, all the nations of the 
earth will be blessed. Brethren, as you search the Scriptures, 
it isn't man trying to get God. It is God coming after man. And that divine initiative is 
seen in the prophet Isaiah. We celebrate this verse, unfortunately, 
one time a year. Isaiah 9, 6, for unto us a child 
is born. Unto us what? A son is given. Not because we deserved him, 
not because we're more numerous, not because we're righteous, 
but in spite of that, a son is given to us. The government will 
be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful 
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. See 
a theme, Genesis. We've got the prophets, the Psalms 
testify as well that God is giving the gift of salvation. Paul picks 
up this motif in Galatians 4, 4 and 5, not just in Galatians 
4, 4 and 5. You've got that bit in Romans 
chapter 3 as well where he starts to deal with justification by 
faith alone. And he speaks about Christ's 
cross work, how God through the cross can be both just and the 
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. But it tells 
us that God set forth His Son as a propitiation. Yes, the wicked 
Jews set away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Yes, the 
wicked Pilate gave the kill order. But it was the predetermined 
plan of God. This wasn't an accident, this 
wasn't a plan B, this wasn't an afterthought in the mind of 
God, this was always the purpose and plan. For in the fourth servant 
song in the prophet Isaiah, at chapter 53, we read that it pleased 
Yahweh to do what? To crush Him, to bruise Him, 
to put Him to grief. Why? Because God so loved the 
world that He gave His only begotten Son. But in Galatians 4, the 
apostle says, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent 
forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem 
those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption 
as sons. And in our own book, in John's 
gospel, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
son, we see the mission of the word in chapter 1, verses 10 
to 13. We see the incarnation of the 
Word in chapter 1 at verse 14. And then we see the function 
of the Word according to His humanity, as surety, as mediator, 
in John 1.29, when the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God 
who takes away the sin of the world. This is the purpose for 
which the Son was sent. This is the purpose for which 
the Son came. This is why when we moralize 
the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus, we're 
engaged in a serious injustice. When we just take it as an example, 
it is that brethren, but it's far more. Paul said the Jews, 
they seek after signs and the Greeks, they want wisdom, but 
we preach Christ and Him crucified. See, that's the emphasis that 
needs to obtain in every single Christian pulpit on the face 
of the earth. When you pray for Surrey, when 
you pray for Vernon, when you pray for Dryden, when you pray 
for Carlos and Luis, the pastors in Honduras, when you pray for 
men that are preaching the Word of God, they must preach Christ 
and Him crucified, Christ and Him resurrected, Christ and all 
of the benefits accruing from gospel work on His part. We have the redemption accomplished 
by the word. Now that brings us to consider 
the dignity of that word. Notice verse 16, for God so loved 
the world that he gave what? His only begotten son. I don't 
like the translations that drop that. I'm not going to tell you 
to throw your Bible out, but you might pin to the side this 
language of only begotten. It has stood the test of time. 
It is language that is essential in the maintenance of the Christian 
doctrine of the Trinity. We have not only one God, but 
in this divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences. 
There are three persons. What distinguishes those persons? The Father is unbegotten, the 
Son is begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and 
the Son. And so this language in verse 16 underscores the dignity 
of the Son. In other words, who is it that 
the Father gave? Who is it that the Father gave 
to wretched, hell-bound, defiant, rebel sinners? It is His only 
begotten Son. You see that in chapter 1. Notice 
in verses 1 to 3. In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. See, it's John 
the Apostle. Nicaea just sort of puts it in 
a summary statement, but it's John the Apostle who teaches 
us that Jesus is co-eternal with the Father, that he is distinct 
from the Father, and that he's consubstantial with the Father. Again, at Nicaea, they put a 
good summary statement together to reflect what the Bible teaches. It wasn't Constantine who developed 
the doctrine of the Trinity. It wasn't the Nicene theologians 
that developed the doctrine of the Trinity. The Nicene theologians 
undertook to protect the doctrine of the Trinity that is revealed 
clearly in the Word of the Living God. Notice, in the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through 
Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Now drop 
down to verse 14. And the Word, that same Word 
that's been identified in the previous verses, and the Word 
became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. Notice verse 18. No one has seen 
God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. So we get to 
John 3.16 and we don't leave John 1. We consider the dignity 
of the son. You mean the word who became 
flesh was given by the father to be lifted up in crucifixion 
for us men and for our salvation? Yeah, that's what he means. That's 
what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to praise. We're 
supposed to worship. We're supposed to glorify and 
adore him. And we are to express that thanksgiving 
that Paul appeals to the Colossians to give to God. Why? Because he transferred us from 
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his 
love. How does he do that? by the crucifixion 
of the Son for us men and for our salvation. The eternal generation 
of the Son is given, not only to distinguish the Father and 
the Son, but to underscore the divinity of the Son. The Nicene 
Creed, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son 
of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, 
light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being 
of one substance with the Father. Again, They didn't make that 
up. They recognized that that's the theology of the Bible. That's 
the theology of Holy Scripture. One glorious, true, and living 
God in three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So when we understand that God 
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, when it 
came for God to deal with us, He gave us His best. He didn't 
shrink back, he wasn't stingy, he wasn't like old covenant Israel. Remember there were laws about 
that, weren't there? When you bring sacrifice to God 
in the tabernacle or temple, you're not to bring the worst 
of the flock. You're not to find the loser in the barnyard fight. 
You're not to find the one that's blind. You're not to find the 
one that's lame. You're not to find the one that's 
maimed. You're to take the best of the flock, because you're 
bringing to the best of gods, and you present it. And I don't 
mean that there's a plurality of gods, but Old Testament scripture 
speaks like that at times, to show the futility of these rivals, 
or these false idols of men. We bring the best. Remember Malachi, 
the prophet, he condemns the nation of Israel at this very 
point. They were on their way to the 
sacrificial system. They were on their way to the 
temple. And if they brought their own, it was lame. If they brought 
their own, it was blind. If they brought their own, it 
was sort of hobbling along. That was what they were offering 
up to God. God, through the prophet, says, offer it to your governor. 
Do you think he'd be pleased with that? Try to pay your taxes 
to Revenue Canada. with what you'll bring to God 
at times and see if Revenue Canada is okay with that. That's precisely 
what God through the prophet says. But any insult to injury, 
they not only brought lame and blind ones, they'd steal them. 
Now brethren, I've said this before, if you're stealing a 
sacrifice on your way to church, you've hit the lowest of the 
lows. You're at rock bottom. I don't know what else to tell 
you. You need to repent. You need to believe the gospel. If 
you are stealing a sacrifice, you are in a bad place. That's 
what they were doing at the time of the prophet Malachi. So for 
man, we'll try to, you know, we'll try to get the worst. We'll 
try to, you know, just get the bare minimum. But when God comes 
to deal with us, he sends the son of his love. He sends his 
only begotten. He sends the one who is co-eternal, 
distinct from, and consubstantial with him. John Gill describes 
it this way, 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 expressible by mortals, and his only begotten 
one. So the dignity of the Son, the 
initiative of God is the demonstration of that love declared to us in 
the first part of the verse. And that brings us thirdly and 
finally in terms of the description of those who receive God's redemptive 
love. Now, there is a sense wherein 
God loves his creature as creature. There is a benevolent love of 
God. That is certainly something to 
pursue, but not right now. It would take us too far afield. 
This is the redemptive love of God, the special love of God, 
wherein he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 
He predestinated us unto adoption as sons. That's simply Ephesians 
1, 4, and 5 language. He sends the Son of His love 
on this mission to redeem them. And the way that the Son does 
that is by living for them, by dying for them, and by rising 
again. Don't miss the living for them. We always know that 
we need the blood of Jesus Christ's Son to cleanse us from all sin, 
but we need the righteousness of Jesus Christ in which he obeyed 
always the law of God, such that when we by grace believe, we're 
not only forgiven, but we receive a righteousness that avails with 
God. We are clothed in the righteousness 
of another. Luther referred to it as an alien 
righteousness. We see it in 2 Corinthians 5, 
verse 21, God made him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for 
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 
You see in Galatians 2.21, I don't set aside the grace of God, I 
don't nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes to 
the law, then Christ died in vain. What's Paul telling us? He's telling us that we not only 
need forgiveness, but we need a righteousness by which we can 
enter in to the presence of God Almighty. If you're not a believer 
here today, you've got big problems. You're a sinner. You not only 
need to be forgiven of that sin, but you also need a righteousness 
by which you can enter into the kingdom of God. And Christ fulfills 
that in the gospel, his life, his death, his resurrection. So the redemptive love of God 
is seen in verse 16. So he so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten son. Now notice two things we ought 
to observe here. First, the recipients, and secondly, 
the gift. Notice the recipients, that whoever 
believes in him. Again, we've dealt with this 
sort of relationship to the new birth. It's not that I believe 
and then God makes me alive. It is very conspicuous in the 
flow of the chapter that the new birth comes first. As I said, when he describes 
man's condition in verses 17 to 21, you will see that man, 
apart from God's grace, doesn't come to the light. Who's the 
light? It's Jesus Christ, as we learned 
from the prologue. So if man, in sin, won't come 
to the light, how's he ever get there? You must be born again. And when by God's Spirit you 
are born again, when by God's grace you are made alive, when 
by God's grace you are regenerated, guess what the first thing is 
that you do? You believe the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. It is most blessed, it is most 
wondrous, it is most awesome. So back to verse 16, that whoever 
believes in him, Think back all the way to last week, and even 
further, all the way back to Numbers 21. Think of that analogy 
of the serpent. Because Jesus does, just as Moses 
lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted 
up. When Moses lifted up that serpent, 
the instruction was not, suck the venom out of your bite, drag 
yourself to the pole, and kiss it. The instruction to the Israelite 
was not pray to the Lord for a new heart before you look at 
that brazen serpent. The instruction was to look and 
live. The instruction was to look and 
live. The same thing is true of the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're not told to suck the venom 
out of our wound. We're not told to drag ourselves 
to the cross with all of our virtues and all of our works 
to add them to the finished work of our blessed Savior. We're 
not even told to pray to the Lord for a new heart before you 
look and live. We are told to look and live. We are told to believe. Acts 
16, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you shall be saved. It is most blessed, it is most 
wondrous, it is most glorious, and it most wonderfully, or demonstrates 
rather, the graciousness of God's gospel. We don't bring anything 
to the table. We don't barter with the Lord. 
It's not a mixture of faith plus works in order to be saved. We're 
justified freely by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ 
alone, and that for God's glory alone. Not that any man could 
ever have any cause whatsoever to boast in his position in our 
blessed Savior. Justification by faith alone 
is underscored in our passage. The ones believing in Him. Notice, not a generic faith. 
You'll meet that sometimes. Well, it really doesn't matter 
what you believe, just so long as you believe. Really? Is that 
what the Bible says? To Him, all the prophets give 
witness that through His name, everyone who believes in Him 
shall receive forgiveness of sins. Acts 10, 43. The Apostle 
Paul, in the book of Acts, as he goes about preaching in Jewish 
synagogues, doesn't preach a gospel of faith plus works. He preaches 
justification by faith alone. I shared our confession last 
week, it bears repetition. 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. Those 
believing, again, by God's grace, through the power of the Holy 
Spirit, from whom we are born again, those are the ones who 
receive that blessed gift of God's redemptive love. And then 
notice how it's teased out in our text, or how it's specified 
in our text. There's a negative and a positive. 
Notice verse 16, he gave his only begotten son that whoever 
believes in him should not perish. That's good news, brethren, because 
you know what that means, right? Perishing in the context of gospel 
proclamation, perishing in the context of spiritual reality 
doesn't simply refer to the physical death. We know we're all going 
to die, right? Can't avoid that. We're not Elijah. We're not Enoch. We didn't walk with God such 
that he took us from the face of the earth. You've got Enoch 
and you've got Elijah that were bodily transported into the new 
Jerusalem. A wonder of wonders, right? That's 
not us. We're going to die, for the wages 
of sin is death. No one here gets out alive. I 
don't want to give any credence to the hippie from the 60s, but 
he was right. No one here gets out alive. It's not going to 
happen. But in these contexts, should not perish doesn't simply 
mean physical death. It means eternal. It means hell. It means destruction. It means 
that God, in his grace and in his mercy, spares us from what 
we deserve. Don't we all deserve it? The 
wages of sin is death. The Westminster Shorter Catechism 
asks the question, what does every sin deserve? Every sin 
deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which 
is to come. You see, God in the gospel is 
sparing us from what we deserve. God in the gospel is sparing 
us from everlasting torment. And when persons, the opponents 
rather, of the doctrine of hell, they say, well, that doesn't 
seem legit. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. We rebels 
have offended and transgressed against a holy God. It is most 
right. It is most just. It is most fair. But the text goes on. It's not 
only that we should not perish, but have everlasting life. So we're not only transferred 
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of 
His love, not only are we spared from the wrath and fury and judgment 
of God to come, that is well deserved by us because of our 
sin, we actually inherit eternal life. We're going to be in the 
presence of the God of absolute glory and majesty. All the things 
that are true in Revelation 21 and 22 are going to be true for 
us. No more sorrow, no more pain, 
no more hunger, no more thirst. That doesn't come from 21 and 
22. It comes back in chapter 7. And again, I don't think we 
feel that text the way that our brethren in Ethiopia or Sudan 
know it. I mean, we have an abundance 
of food, brethren. I mean, that may change. They 
keep messing with these supply lines. That may change. But for 
the most part, I don't think we resonate with the promise 
of God that in the new Jerusalem, there'll be no more hunger, no 
more thirst. I bet our brothers and our sisters 
in Ethiopia love that passage. But it's not only that, it's 
no more sorrow. It's no more pain. We read that 
God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes. And guess 
what? There'll be no more death. Death is the last enemy conquered 
by our Savior according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. There's no death 
in the New Jerusalem. There's no abortion. There's 
no euthanasia. There's no drive-by shootings. 
There's no death in old age. There's no cancer. There's none 
of that. So not only do we not perish and get what we deserve, 
but we get everlasting life in the presence of God Almighty. 
We will lay eyes upon the Savior of sinners who is spoken of in 
this passage. God so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son that whoever, for all those believing 
in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus 
later in John's gospel will say, do not marvel at this, for the 
hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his 
voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the 
resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection 
of condemnation. It's not isolated in the teaching 
of Jesus. One has, I haven't ever taken 
out my concordance. I guess I mentioned to the brethren 
at theology yesterday, you know, I don't even walk the five steps 
to my concordance anymore. I just look things up on my phone. 
The point and the context was it really, we have really no 
basis to say, well, that's just too hard for me to understand. 
I don't know what that word means. You got a phone in your pocket 
that'll tell you exactly what that word means. It'll tell you 
what it means in the legal realm. It'll tell you what it means 
in the political realm. Most often, it'll tell you what it 
means in the theological realm. But with reference to this idea, 
some have said that Jesus taught more on the doctrine of hell 
than he did on the doctrine of heaven. Again, whether that's 
true or not, that wouldn't surprise me. But the reality is, is that 
for those who continue in unbelief, for those who continue to resist 
the Savior, for those who continue to reject the Savior, it's not 
just a dreamless sleep that's at the end of this highway. It's 
not just a lack of consciousness that defines the age to come. Rather, it is punishment. Rather, 
it is eternal torment. Rather, we find in the pages 
of Holy Scripture that that place will be a place where there is 
weeping, and washing, and gnashing of teeth, and wailing against 
God. We learn in the book of Revelation that they're not remedied. They continue to blaspheme. They 
continue to curse. They continue to gin up the fires 
of hell itself in their rebellion against the living and true God. 
So we've been saved from much and we have been saved for much. Praise God almighty. In conclusion, A couple thoughts 
and then we'll go. For those of you who are new 
to our church, that usually means quick. First, the blessing of 
the text. As I mentioned, Luther said the 
heart of the Bible, the gospel in miniature. That's not a stretch, 
brethren. If you have one text to communicate, 
when you're in a plane full of sinners and you're about to hit 
the earth, you do well with John 3.16. You do well with Romans 
5.8. You do well with these short 
statements concerning gospel truth. Romans 4.25 is another 
beautiful one. Jesus was delivered up, why? 
Because of our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. That is gospel. That's what we see as blessing. And in this text, the love of 
the Father is the source of Christ's redemptive work. The cross is 
the means of Christ's redemptive work. And sinners like us chosen 
by God in a gracious manner are the objects of that redemption. Think it's stuff like this that 
led this apostle to write in 1 John. 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 love God, but that He loved us and sent His 
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. See, the amazing thing 
in this world isn't that we love God, we should love God, right? The creature should love its 
creator. That's just a no-brainer. That's just, that's an axiomatic, 
that's an assumption. Of course the creature's supposed 
to love the creator. So that you and I love God presently, 
that's not mind-blowing. What really is is that he first 
loved us and that he sent his son to be the propitiation for 
our sins. It's a unique word the Apostle 
uses a couple of times in the New Testament to demonstrate 
something concerning God's holiness and His justice and His righteousness. Propitiation has the idea that 
Christ took in Himself the wrath and fury of God that we deserve. 
And for John, that was mind-blowing. For John, that was amazing. Back in 1 John 3, behold what 
manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we are the 
children of God. See, for the people of God who 
accurately reflect on who God is and who they are in relation 
to Him, when they come to that place of redemption through blood, 
when they come to that place of a good footing before a holy 
God, they stand in awe. They are amazed. They sing amazing 
grace and it's not a fake. They really mean it because it's 
an amazing display of God's goodness to His people. Now, in terms 
of some of the teaching of this text, we see the doctrine of 
the love of God. We talked about this a bit yesterday 
in our theology meeting. In 1 John 4.8 and 1 John 4.16, 
the apostle says, God is love. He couldn't say that of us. We 
can love. We have the capacity to love. There is a sense in which we 
love, but to define us as love, he couldn't do that. But you 
see, God is his perfections. All that is in God is God, and 
God is love, and that love has been demonstrated, not simply 
declared, but demonstrated in the gospel. you see the doctrine 
of the depravity of man. We'll see it in more detail in 
verses 17 to 21. But if we stand back for a moment 
and ask the question, well, why did this God send his son into 
this world so that those who believe in him should not perish 
but have everlasting life? What necessitated that? It was 
our sin, it was our wickedness, it was our rebellion, it was 
our evil. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness 
comes through the law, then Christ died in vain, and Christ didn't 
die in vain. He came to save sinners. We see 
the doctrine of justification by faith alone. If you're a sinner 
here, and by sinner I don't mean you sin, I mean you who are outside 
of a relationship with Jesus, because we're all sinners. Every 
person in here is a sinner. Some, by grace, have believed. Their sins are forgiven. They 
have a righteousness imputed to them, such that if they breathe 
their last right now, God would bring them into His heavenly 
glory. So we're all sinners. There's no sort of, well, if... 
The point is, is that there are some sinners that haven't looked 
to Jesus. They haven't believed the gospel. What's the answer? Go out and fix yourself? What's 
the answer? Go out and try harder? What's 
the answer? Go get debtor? No. It's to believe 
on Him and you shall be saved. That's the promise of God's Holy 
Scripture. Please take that home. Please 
think through that. Please consider this particular 
text in light of the fact that we're all going to die. We're 
all going to stand before this God. We're all going to give 
an account to this God of deeds done in the body, whether good 
or evil. The one way of salvation, the 
one way of hope, the one way of blessing, is, by God's grace, 
believing on Jesus for salvation. Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for 
the clarity of John 3.16 and the fact that it so wonderfully 
displays to us your love, the dignity of your Son, and the 
redeeming work that he accomplishes through the cross. And God, as 
we stand in awe of this, I pray that we would worship and praise 
you, that this would never lose its wonder or amazement in our 
own hearts or in our own minds. And we do pray, most high God, 
that you do that which is impossible with us, but is possible with 
you. Awaken sinners, cause them to 
see Christ as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, and may 
they by grace believe on him. And we ask in his most blessed 
name, amen. Well, let us stand and sing 568, 
568, and our hymn of praise to God, our triune God. ♪ Praise Him all creatures here 
below ♪ ♪ Praise Him above the heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
all. Amen. Lord God Almighty, we bless you, 
we praise you, and we thank you for your great grace, your great 
mercy, and your loving kindness to us. Thank you for the gospel 
of our salvation, for the reality that Jesus came down from heaven 
for us men and for our salvation. May you go with us now, help 
us to enjoy this Lord's day, help us to make much of Christ, 
not just today, but each and every day. And may we glorify 
and honor you, and may we know your peace and your protection 
over us. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, please be seated 
for a brief time of meditation.