Today for our Bible study, I
would encourage you to find your Bible and turn to the book of
John, chapter 3. John, chapter 3, and we'll begin
reading at verse 14. John, chapter 3, at verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And here we see in verse 14 the
remedy for sin. The Son of Man must be lifted
up. And this is talking about Christ
dying for the sin of his people. Dying as the substitute. And
then in verse 15 of John 3 we see the results. We see the remedy,
the results that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, should
not die, should not endure eternal judgment, but have eternal life. And then in verse 16, we see
the reason, the remedy, the result, and in verse 16, the reason for
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. Verse 18, now he that believeth
on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Now let's go back and look at
those three things that describe for us the gospel of God's glorious
grace in Christ Jesus. The remedy, the results, and
the reason. Now back to verse 14. The remedy. Remedy for sin. Sin is very hard
to deal with. Sin is very hard to put away.
I know by my morality and my good deeds, sin cannot be atoned
for, but here we see God's remedy for the sin of his people. Here's
a remedy to put away sin. It's the only remedy that's revealed
in the word of God. And it says here, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be
lifted up. Now this refers back to a story
that happened to the children of Israel back in the wilderness
when God sent fiery serpents among the people because of their
sin. And those who were bitten with that fiery serpent were
sure to die unless they looked to the remedy that God gave.
God told Moses to make a brazen serpent and lift it up on a pole
that whosoever looked to that serpent, and that's typical in
a picture of Christ crucified, would be healed. Now, we see
in that story there in the book of Numbers, chapter 21, there
was just one remedy for the bite of sin, and that's looking to
that designated object of faith given of God. Even so, it says
here, must the Son of Man be lifted up? Now, we're all bitten
with sin. Sin is what we are, born in sin,
shaped in iniquity, and Adam all died. God has just given
one remedy for sin, and that is the blood atonement of Jesus
Christ. Spiritual life comes out of His
death. The Son of Man, and notice it
says here, the Son of Man, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, must
be sacrificed. He must die. Man offended, the
Son of Man must die. Man offended God. We've sinned
against God. Therefore, man must be punished. And God was pleased in His wisdom
and grace to punish the sin of His people in a substitute, the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered once for our sin,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. And
notice it says here, the Son of Man must, must die. There's no other way. nor the
way for law to be satisfied, God's law, nor the way for justice
to be honored. Law and justice demanded his
death, nor the way for God to be a just God and Savior. That's the remedy for sin, the
blood atonement of Jesus Christ, the effectual substitute who
satisfied all of God's precepts and all of God's penalty for
sin. And he did this as a representative
man for his people. But one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of another he became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. By the obedience
of another shall many be made righteous, or justified before
God. Now there's the remedy. Now here's
the result, verse 15 of John 3, that whosoever believeth whosoever
believeth in him, in this one designated sin of God, as a sinner's
substitute, as a sinner's righteousness, as a sinner's mediator, as a
sinner's advocate, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting and eternal life." Now here's the result
of Christ being lifted up, of Christ being That's why Paul
said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Whosoever believeth in Him, in
Christ, has life. Believing in Christ is the gift
of God. It is the work of God. And whosoever
looks to Christ, Trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Receives him by
God-given faith, they do so because God, in his sovereign purpose,
in his sovereign grace, has given them life. He that believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's 1 John 5, verse
1. And there are no exceptions.
Salvation is received by believing, my friend, by God-given, God-wrought
faith, and that is the gift of God. It says in this same chapter,
John chapter 3 verse 35 and verse 36, the Father loveth the Son
and has given all things into His hand. He's the sovereign
Christ. The Father has given Him power
over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father had given Him. He that believeth on the Son
has everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Again, in John chapter 5, verse
24, it says, Verily, verily, which means truly, truly, I say
unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, has everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Salvation is received by
believing God, not by doing, by believing. And I know that
a lot of people put emphasis upon the word whosoever. When
we talk about God's sovereign grace and distinguishing love,
that God will have mercy upon whom he will, a lot of people
want to argue with this word whosoever. My friend, look at
the next word, whosoever believeth. Believing this crucified, risen,
and exalted Savior It's not something that we do naturally. It is something
that God works in us, works in the sinner and gives to the sinner
supernaturally. We believe him because God gave
us faith. The natural man's response to
the gospel is unbelief. Our Lord says in this same chapter,
this is condemnation, that light is coming into the world and
men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. Men by nature are not only in the dark, they love the dark.
And they don't believe the truth until God works life. by his sovereign grace, regenerates
and makes new by the power of God the Spirit through the word
of truth and gives us life in Christ. And the fruit of that
is faith, believing God, looking to Christ. So there's the remedy,
Christ crucified. And the result is his people,
when given faith by the sovereign grace of God, Believe Him, trust
Him, rest in Him. Now here's the reason. God loved,
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. Now here's the reason. The very
foundation of everything in God's purpose and His grace is His
love. God is not a God of love. God
is love, just as God is light. Calvary is not only a display
of God's holiness against sin, but also a display of God's eternal
love for his people. Christ died because God is love. He did not die in order for God
to love us. The atonement was not the cause,
but the effect of God's love. We read in 1 John 4, 10, here
in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his son to be a sacrifice for our sin. Now clearly, let's look at several
things about this love of God. First of all, we know the author
of this love is of God. God is love. The tense of this
love is God so loved. God loved his people when they
were unlovely. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, he chose us and he died
for us. Jeremiah, we read in Jeremiah
31, he loved his people with an everlasting love. God so loved. He's always loved his people
from eternity when he chose them in Christ and predestinated them
to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Something else we see
about this love, the magnitude of his love. God so loved. Now, how can you define this
love? None can define or measure this love of God. It's beyond
our comprehension. Paul talks about the breadth
of it, the scope of it, the depth of it, the height of it. His
love, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. You see,
the magnitude of this love is far-reaching. He's able to save
to the uttermost because of his love. Something else of this
love, we see the scope of this love or the object of his love.
God so loved the world. Now, my friend, don't let this
word confuse you. God doesn't universally love
all men everywhere just alike without exception. That's just
not taught in the Bible. And I'll give you one verse that
disproves the universal love of God. We read in Romans 9, Jacob have
I loved and Esau have I hated. So we can't say that God universally
loves all men alike. Did he love Peter and Judas alike? No, he loved Peter. Judas was
left to his own wicked devices. This love of God extends to all
his covenant people wherever they are in this world, Jew or
Gentile. It's the love of God shed abroad
in the hearts of his people by the spirit of God. God has a
redeemed in this world out of every kindred, tribe, nation,
and tongue, and people under heaven who sang the song of the
redeemed unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin in
his own blood. So the scope of this love and
the object of this love is his covenant people. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. He said, I pray not for the world,
I pray for them that you have given me. Now, the nature of
this love is giving. It's a sacrificial love. To love,
this love of God is unselfish. God gave himself. Now, as the
high priest of God, as our Messiah, the Lord didn't bring the typical
animal sacrifice. He gave himself. He laid down
his life for us. He obtained eternal redemption
for us with his own blood. You see, the nature of his love,
he gave. It's a sacrificial love, the
sacrificial character of his love. He became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. And the design of this
love is this, those who believe and look to Christ cannot perish. There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. And lastly, the benefit of this
love is this, everlasting life. The cross is clearly a display
of God's holiness, but also of God's love. Those in Christ,
he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
that is all his elect, How shall he not with him also freely give
us all things? If you would like a copy of this
message, I have it for you free of charge. You can call me at
631-9053 and just request a message about the love of God. You can
call me at 631-9053, or you can write to me at 6088 Zeppelin
Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky.