I invite your attention to John
3, 16. We dealt with this text this
morning. We're going to look at it again
tonight. too much in this text to tell
in one message. I certainly did not exhaust the
subject this morning. John 3, 16. The title of my message is, For
God So Loved the World. Going to begin reading in verse
number 14. 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. John 3, 16. Probably the most well-known
verse in all of God's word. John 3, 16, for God so loved
the world Many years ago, I had a friend, a very irreverent friend,
a drunkard, but I was religious. I was not saved at the time,
but I was religious, just a young man, early 20s. And his demeanor
would change when I'd come around him. you know, act halfway decent. And one day he said to me, I
know what the Bible says. I says, what? He says, God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He
quoted it verbatim perfectly. And I said, yep, that's true. What else do you know? He says,
nothing else. The only verse he knew. And you
know, that would be true of many people. They know this verse
if they do not know any other verse. For God so loved the world. It is probably the most well-known
verse in all of God's word. It is said by many to be their
favorite verse. The favorite verse. I suppose
I have said that sometime or other. Then I read, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. No, that's my favorite
verse. Then I read, I've appeared abode to you saying
I have loved you with an everlasting love and therefore with loving
kindness I've drawn you. Yeah, that's my new favorite
verse. And if we start looking at favorite verses. Moose, what is your favorite
verse? It's probably the last one I read. which just happens
to be, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son. I do indeed love that verse. In this verse, in this short
verse, and the doctrine in it, we see the glorious truth that
God loved graciously, perfectly, eternally, extensively, incomparably,
sacrificially, effectually, and purposefully. All eight aspects
of God's love are in this one verse. It's a short verse, as
I told you this morning. Short verse, mostly one-syllable
words, simple as it can be. When God expressed his love,
it was not a complicated matter. Let's look at this. God loved
graciously. He loved graciously. This is
indicated by the very first word in this text. That little conjunctive
word for, F-O-R. For God so loved the world at
the beginning of our text. That little conjunctive connects
verse 16 with verses 14 and 15. 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, because God so loved the world. What are we talking about
here? Israel in the wilderness. One of their most frequent pastimes
was murmuring against God. God gave them manna every morning,
opened up rocks to give them water to drink, and all they
could do was murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur. So God sent poisonous
snakes. They were rather abundant in
that wilderness anyway, but he just let them come. And they
came into the camp of Israel and began biting the people.
And the venom of the asps was in their veins and began killing
them. And God, in his mercy and loving
kindness, his unmerited favor, he said to Moses, now take some
brass and make a serpent to look like the one crawling on the
ground, put it on a pole, go to some promontory and lift it
up, and tell the people, look and live. Look and live. That's all you have to do. So
Moses made that serpent. evidently a bright, shining metal. Put it on a pole and lifted it
up. Look and live! Look and live! And people look, people begin
to live. Well, here is a woman. She has looked and she has lived. The venom in her veins has ceased. She runs down to her tent and
there's her husband lying in his bed about to draw his last
breath. She says, husband, Moses has
made a serpent and lifted it up. And all you have to do is
look and live. I'm going to pull the flap of
the tent back so you can see. And all you have to do is look
and you can live. No woman, that's too easy. That's
too easy. There's no way that looking at
a piece of metal being held up on a pole is gonna satisfy for
healing me. I'm dying and looking will not
work. And so he died. He died in his
own obstinacy, refusing to look and live. Look and live. That's all there is to it. Just
look and live. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must a son of man be lifted up. And
he was there on Calvary. God made him to be sin for us
on that Promontory, that high place. Sin represented by the
serpent. The serpent came to Calvary and
bit Jesus Christ on the tree. There is enmity from Eden between
the woman and her seed. That seed was to bite his heel,
and he did there on Calvary. And there are people all around
Calvary and they've been bitten by the serpent. And the venom
of the serpent is in their veins and they're dying. And there
is Jesus Christ on Calvary. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must Jesus Christ be lifted up in
the wilderness there on Calvary, lifted up. And the gospel says,
look and live. Look and live. That's all there
is to it. No, that's too simple. That's too easy. This man, he
just built a pool for water. He says, I can go there and get
healed. No, you cannot. The water will not cure you of
the venom of this serpent. Only looking and living. God
loved graciously. God did not have to provide a
means for the salvation and the physical healing of Israel in
the wilderness. Did not have to, but he did. God did not have to provide a
means for the spiritual salvation of his people of their own Calvary,
but he did. Why? For, because, God so loved
the world. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I am so glad that God loved graciously
because if he loved those who he deserved it, he would have
loved none. God loved graciously. God, second
point, God loved perfectly. Perfectly. How do we know? Because
God is love. He is love. First John 4, 8. God is love. The text does not
say God loves. No, it says God is love. The text does not say God is
loving. No, God is love. Love is his very being. It is
his essence. It is his nature. God is love. What is this love? It's the well-known
Greek word agape. For God so loved Agape the world. God is love, Agape. If you want to know what it is,
you'll find out in 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul gives the best
description of love, Agape, that there is. And if you look at
the characteristics of Agape in 1 Corinthians 13, you'll find
that it describes God who is love. For example, in that text, we
read that love suffers long. Love is kind and love never fails. That's God. That's God. God suffers long because God
is love. God is kind because love is kind. and God's love never fails. Number three, you folks bear with me, I am
losing my vision how close I can, it's going. Number three, God
loved eternally. This may not be so readily apparent
when we read that God so loved the world, God loved eternally.
The text does not say God loves the world, though he does. The
text does not say God will love the world, though he will. The
text says that God loved the world. He loved it. Loved it how? Loved it when?
Loved it from all eternity. He says in Jeremiah chapter three,
Yes, I have loved you with an eternal love. Our English text
says everlasting, and it is. It is everlasting all the way
back into the past. It is everlasting all the way
into the future. God's love is eternal, without
beginning, without end. He loves me now because he loved
me before time began. He will love me in eternity to
come because he loved me in eternity past. God so loved the world. This is an eternal love. Therefore,
those whom God loved are never hated by him. I repeat, those
whom God loved are never ever hated by him. Third, God loved
extensively. For God so loved the world. God so loved the world. We dealt
with this aspect this morning, looking at this word world. Some
say it means all without exception, universally. When you see the
word world, it means all without exception, universally. Cannot
be true. Jesus in his high priestly prayer
said, I pray not for the world. God says, do not love the world.
Well, God, you do. No, two different worlds, two
different worlds. God so loved the world and it
was an extensive love. Consider this about this love. Who is this world? What is this
world? This is the world to whom God
gave his only begotten son. And this is the world that believes
in him. All three things are found in the text. Consider,
God's love is so extensive. The most extensive love this
world has ever known. God loved people regardless of
their ethnicity. Man, he's one of the few that
does that. People hate one another simply
because their skin's a different color. Or you're from a different place.
You're different from the rest of us and we just don't like
you. The world is full of that kind of hatred. People hating
one another because of their ethnicity. Not so of God. His loved ones comprise a great
multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes,
peoples, and tongues. Revelation 7 verse 9. All ethnicities
Let me tell you if you cannot get along with people on this
earth because their skin color is different thing Don't go to
heaven because they're gonna be there and you won't be able
to get along with them there either God's love Goes beyond
ethnic boundaries. I'm so glad I'm so glad God loved
people regardless of their gender Some men hate women because they're
different, and some women hate men because they're different,
and God's love has gone to both. The same. God loved people because of their
earthly status, both high and low, both poor and rich, both
tortured and barbaric, both slaves and free men, and wonder of wonders. God loved outcasts and untouchables. There are people in most societies
who are untouchables and outcasts, people we must have nothing to
do with. And God says, go ahead, have
nothing to do with them. I love that sort of people, and
he does. His love is so extensive that it extends to even outcasts
and untouchables. He loves people regardless of
their sin. I've heard people say, my sin
is too great for God to love me. No, it's not. No, it's not. God loved the world, his love
was so extensive that it includes the sexually immoral, drunkards,
idolaters, coveters and lusters, thieves and robbers, murderers,
and even the chief of sinners. God loved him. The chief of sinners,
the highest of them, the lowest of them. God's love is so extensive
that it goes to all. If God loved even one sinner,
even one, that would be more than our entire race deserved. God loves a whole world of them
from all eternity. Loved the whole world of sinners.
This is how extensive the love of God is. No one should despair of being
saved because you're too far away from God's love. Number
five, God loved incomparably. Now look at that third word.
For God so loved the world. So loved. That's a tiny word. Two letters. Just about half
a syllable. A little tiny word, oh, but there
is such great import in this word. It is so tiny, but its
import is so very great. It seems to define meaning. God
loved the world so greatly, so magnificently, so marvelously,
so wondrously, so gloriously. It's like everything else God
does. And it is no wonder that we sing. Could we with ink the ocean feel? And were the skies of parchment
made? Were every stalk on earth a quill? And every man a scribe by trade
to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor
could that scroll contain the whole, though stretched from
sky to sky. God's love, it's incomparable. God so loved
the world. You cannot describe this love.
It goes beyond our description. Furthermore, God loved the world,
number six, sacrificially. He gave his only begotten son. Now observe. He did not give
any son born to him. All God's born sons are adopted. Here we read of his only, and
he has only one, his only begotten son. The begotten son was never
born. When was he begotten? He himself
says, this day you have begotten me. What day? It's not any day. It's back in eternity before
there was a day in old eternity. Jesus Christ was begotten spiritually
of the father before time began by an eternal generation. He
is the eternal son of God and therefore the father is the eternal
father because he has an eternal son. There never was a time when
The father did not have the son, and the son did not have the
father, his only begotten son. Now, when a man gives his only
begotten son, he gives one who may be very dear to him and near
to him, but nevertheless is separate from him. Jehovah says to Abraham, Abraham,
Take Isaac, now notice in Genesis 22 what he called him. Take Isaac,
your only son, whom you love. You wanna see the gospel? Go
to Genesis 22 with Abraham on Moriah. Take Isaac, your only
son, that's what God called him, whom you love. Take your only
begotten son. Yes, he had Ishmael, but Ishmael
was not a legal son. Take the son you love. take him
up to Moriah and sacrifice him. Abraham did. Abraham took him,
sacrificed his own son, his only begotten son, right there on
an altar. Pull that dagger back and ready to plunge it into the
breast of his only begotten son and Jehovah says, wait a minute,
pull it back, okay? There's a ram right there before
you in the bush, get it. And Abraham and Isaac walked
down that mountain together, even though Abraham, according
to God, had sacrificed his only begotten son. But observe, Isaac
was near and dear to Abraham, but he was separate from Abraham. He was from Abraham, but he was
not Abraham. Are you following me thus far,
okay? When God gave his only begotten
son, the relationship was much more intimate. Jesus says, I
and my father are one. Are you following me now? I and
my father are one. We are two separate persons. but of one essence, of one Godhead,
of one divine nature. We are one. If you have seen
me, he says, you have seen the father. Therefore, I say to you that
when God gave his own begotten son, he gave himself. He gave the one who was one with
him. God gave all and there was nothing else left
to give. He gave himself. We therefore read in the scripture
When Jesus speaks of this glorious work that he did, we read that
God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we
were still sinners, Christ, who is God, died for us. God gave the greatest love gift
the world has ever known. the greatest love gift this world
has ever known, given by God when he gave his only begotten
son. Number seven, number seven, God loved effectually for God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He did
not merely offer his son in the hope that the world would accept
him and live. He gave his son. and nothing
is given until it is received. I can hold up currency all day
long. Who wants it? I can hold it up
all day long. I can offer it to people all
day long. I have never given it until somebody
walks up and says, I'll take it, and the exchange is made. Nothing is given until it is
received. I can offer all day long. Nothing
is given until it is received. God's son was not given until
he was received. He came into his own and his
own received him not. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. If his own would
not accept him, then surely no one else would. But no, there
is a whole world of sinners who did. God says, I'm giving my son and
you will receive him. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. God loved
effectually. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. And there with loving kindness,
I have drawn you. God's love is effectual. when my granddaughter Kate was
about, I guess, two years old. We were at your house one day,
summertime, around the pool. And we adults are talking, sit
around talking. And Kate, she's, you know, she's
about two, one and a half or two. And here she goes, trotting
off toward the pool. No life vest, no nothing. She
cannot swim. And here she goes, trotting off
toward the pool. And her mother saw her. Now,
what do you suppose Kate's mother said? Now, Kate, Kate, listen
to me now. I don't want you to drown and
that pool is gonna, if you step into that pool, you're gonna
drown. And I don't want you to drown, but I'm not gonna violate
your free will. I mean, if you're gonna go into
that pool of your own free will, you go right ahead, but I don't
want you to, I don't want you to. No, that is not what a loving
mother says. That mother was up out of her
seat in an instant and ran toward Kate and grabbed Kate before
Kate could fall into the water. You want to know why? Love saves. Love saves. God does not say,
now you're gonna perish if you just fall over the chasm and
into eternal death, but I'm not gonna violate your free will.
No, God says, I loved you, a whole world of you before the foundation
of the world, and therefore with love and kindness, I have drawn
you. And God takes his love and makes a lasso of it, and he starts
pulling him one by one, come to me. Yes, Lord, draw me and
I will run. God loved effectually. Number eight and last, God loved
purposefully. And his purpose was the salvation
of the world that he loved. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that, notice, 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. Now, to believe in
Jesus Christ is explained in the two verses before, 14 and
15. When Moses says, look and live,
what he's saying is believe and live. Looking, not with just
the eyes of the flesh, but with the eyes of the heart, the eyes
of faith, Look and live. Whoever believes in him should
not perish. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so was Jesus Christ lifted up in the
wilderness. And the gospel says, look and
live. Look and live. Look out with the eye of faith. That's what I'm doing here tonight. I have come I have come to the highest point
in this building, the promontory of this hall. I'm holding up Christ to you.
Look and live. Look and live. 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. Well, once again, John 3, 16
is my favorite verse. It's the one I read last. I love
this. I love it. The truths that are found therein
in which God so loved the world. And once again, I'm going to
say to you, Don't walk through those doors until you have believed.
Do not walk through those doors until you have looked to Jesus
Christ and seen God's love manifested toward men. Seen the purpose
of it, seen the effect of it, and seen him who is God's love. Believe and you will be saved.