The Greatest Love, John 3:16

Adapted from a Jeff Strite sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?

ContributorID=&SermonID=79901

John 3:16 NET For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him

will not perish but have eternal life.

There’s the story of a man who had been driving on an out-of-the-way 2 lane highway

running thru the rural countryside. He noticed an old tumbledown shack standing

in the middle of an open field.

He had to smile to himself as he read the crudely printed message on one whole side of the shack. Apparently, some young man had scrawled in large letters with a piece of

chalk: "I love you - Kathy."A few weeks later, as he drove down that

same road, he looked in anticipation for that same romantic message. His

disappointment was as great as his surprise.

Not only was the message gone, so was the barn. But his smile returned. Beside that

field, on the back of a large road sign, scrawled in large white letters were the

words: "I still love you - Kathy."

John 3:16 is like that message. It is the message from God that He loves us – and that message seems to show up literally

everywhere.

You’ll see it at football games, basketball games, on billboards along the road, on

bumper stickers of cars, on paintings and statues.

Have you heard about an eye doctor who has an eye chart in his office that – instead

of traditional chart with the E at the top - has John 3:16 in letters with descending

size. “Can you see this?” he will ask. While his patients smile, he sometimes has the opportunity to talk to them about the Lord.

Christians are totally in love with this verse because it seems to sum up so much of

what the Bible teaches about salvation. It’s so popular that - when I visited

sermoncentral.com – I found that there had been around 600 sermons dedicated to this

text.

There’s a preacher who believed that he could preach every Sunday for the rest of

his ministry simply on this text. I could never be that inventive.

Today we’re going to simply look at each part of the verse, and see the power and

depth of what this verse contains.

God loved the World

This is the heart of the Gospel. It isn’t us desiring to find God… It’s God

desiring to find us, to embrace us, to claim us as His own.

1 John 4:10 NET In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for

our sins.

1 John 4:19 NET We love because he loved us first. And notice… John 3:16 says God

loved the WORLDThere’s a commentator I sometimes refer to

by the name of John Gill - but I was shocked by his interpretation of this verse. Commenting on this verse, he stated that “not every man in the world is here meant”

(John Gill’s Expositor). Gill essentially maintained that God only loved the elect and that Jesus was only sent for them.

The problem with Gill’s interpretation is that it robs the verse of its power. It defrauds the

true message of this passage. John 3:16 doesn’t say He loved just the

good looking peopleIt doesn’t say He loved just the rich and

successfulIt doesn’t say He only loved a select few of

us….It says GOD LOVED THE WORLD

That means everyone who is damaged by sin and deformed by the corruptness of the

world around them.This kind of love was beautifully described

in story by Mary Ann Bird. She wrote: “I grew up knowing I was different, and I

hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little

girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and garbled speech.

When schoolmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d tell them I’d fallen and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed

more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. I

was convinced that no one outside my family could love me.

There was, however, a teacher in the 2nd grade whom we all adored – Mrs. Leonard by name. She was short, round, happy – a

sparkling lady.

Annually we had a hearing test… Mrs. Leonard gave test to everyone in the class, and finally it was my turn. I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher sitting at her desk would whisper something, and we

would have to repeat it back – things like “the sky is blue” or “do you have new

shoes?”

I waited there for those words that God must have put into her mouth, those seven words that changed my life. Mrs. Leonard said, in her whisper, “I wish you were my

little girl.”That’s what God says to every person

deformed by sin, every soul damaged by worldliness.

“I wish you were my son”… “I wish you were my daughter.”

God so loved the World…He so loved YOU and He so loved ME…

He gave his one and only Son

God cares what happens to us. He’s not some impersonal force that simply created

the world and walked away.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, as such sciences as astronomy, physics, chemistry,

geology and biology began to germinate and develop, although most scientists were

Christian believers, some started to espouse a Deistic view of the world.

According to Deism, god created the world and then walked away to let it run according to built-in laws. This idea of a self-running, evolving mechanical world gradually took

over astronomy and geology. The idea soon appeared in biology.

http://www.parentcompany.com/creation_essays/essay2.htm

God is not some impersonal force that set the world spinning ages ago and just simply walked away. He is the loving, caring God

who stepped down from the security of heaven…

… became a living, breathing man… knew hunger and thirst… experienced friendship and love… and also the rejection of men and the insults of those He created… ultimately dying a cruel and excruciating death on a cross

Or as Paul writes to the Philippians: Philippians 2:5 NET You should have the

same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality

with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled

himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross!

God didn’t send a servant to perform this task. He didn’t send a prophet or even an angel. This was so personal a gift… that

God HIMSELF came in the flesh.

John 1:14 NET Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the

Father.

Jesus was God in the flesh. As the angel said to Joseph when informing of Mary’s

pregnancy: "Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him

Emmanuel," (Isaiah 7:14) which means "God with us." (Isaiah 8:8,10)

Matthew 1:23 NET

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son

so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John F. Kennedy once said “Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be

solved by man.” Now, I realize President Kennedy hadn’t meant that to apply to our

relationship with God… but that is the essence of all man made religion

All the other religions in the world essentially teach: Our problems are man-

made, therefore they can be solved by man.What are “our problems?” We do sinful

things, think sinful things, say sinful things. And these evil actions, tho’ts and words create damage to our relationships and personal feelings of self worth that can

destroy even the best person’s sense of peace.

One religion calls this “bad karma” and proposes that the way to deal with “bad

karma” is to do “good karma” - deeds that counterbalance the wrongs that you’ve

done in the past. In other words, they teach: “we made our own problems and we can

solve our own problems.” All we have to do is do enough good to overcome the past.

Every world religion is build on that idea: If I do enough good deeds, then I can

purchase peace and contentment. I can purchase God’s love. I can purchase God’s

forgiveness.

BUT, the prime message in John 3:16 is NOT that we can purchase God’s love, but

that He loves YOU and He’s willing to purchase you with His own blood.

John 3:16 basically declares: Yes, your problems are man made; and you made

them! BUT you can’t be good enough to be good enough for God. There’s no way you

can make your good deeds balance out that which you have done wrong in your life.

A Boy Scout was studying for his “God and Country” Merit Badge, when this subject

came up. It was explained to him that most people have a picture in their minds of a giant balance scale. In their minds they visualize the weight of their bad deeds

weighing down one side of the balance. And they believe that the only way to bring the scales back into balance is to do enough

good deeds to place on the other side of the scales.

The only problem with that scenario is that the bad deeds - with their baggage of guilt and shame – are still there. They haven’t

been removed. They’ve simply been balanced out. Eventually, the weight of their

evil deeds can begin to break the scales and create moral dilemmas they can’t

escape.

But God says: “I’ve got a better way. Let me remove the weight of those bad thought’s and deeds and statements from your life. Let me clear the scales of the shame and

guilt that have weighed upon your conscience and give you a lightness to your

soul.”But this isn’t something you can purchase

from God. It is freely given. He loves you so deeply and has paid a price so steep that it

defies the very idea that you could ever earn what He wants to give you.

David Morse, an American missionary to India became great friends there with the

pearl-diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he spent in Rambhau’s cabin reading to him

from the Bible, and explaining to him God’s way of salvation.

Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the missionary tried to

get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Saviour he would shake his head and reply, "Your Christian way to heaven is too easy

for me! I cannot accept it.

If ever I should find admittance to heaven in that manner I would feel like a pauper

there...like a beggar who has been let in out of pity. I may be proud but I want to

deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven and so I am going to work for it."

Years later Rambhau invited Morse to his home saying he had something special to

show his friend. There in his house, Rambhau showed Morse a small but heavy

English strongbox.

Rambhau explained: "In a week’s time I start working for my place in heaven; I am leaving for Delhi and I am going there on

my knees."Morse responded "Man, you’re crazy! It’s 900 miles to Delhi, and the skin will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or leprosy before you get to

Bombay."

"No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed Rambhau, "and the immortals will reward me for it! The suffering will be sweet for it

will purchase heaven for me!"The old man continued: "You are my dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse.

Through all these years you have stood by me in sickness, in want you have been

sometimes my only friend. But even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase

eternal bliss....I must go to Delhi!"

"I have had this box for years," said he, "and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will

tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a son..."

“My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had

the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any

man who ever sought for pearls. What joy he brought to me!

Most pearls, as you know, have some defect or blemish only the expert can

discern, but my boy always dreamed of finding the ’perfect’ pearl one beyond all

that was ever found. "One day he found it! But even when he saw it he had been under

water too long.... That pearl cost him his life, for he died soon after."

The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment his whole body shook. "All these

years," he continued, "I have kept this pearl but now I am going, not to return, and to

you, my best friend I am giving my pearl."The old man worked the combination on the

strongbox and drew from it a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the

cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary.

It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India, and glowed with a

lustre and brilliance never seen in cultured pearls. It would have brought a fabulous

sum in any market.For a moment the missionary was speechless and gazed with awe.

"Rambhau! What a pearl!""That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the

Indian quietly.

The missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Wasn’t this the very

opportunity and he’d prayed for to help Rambhau understand the value of Christ’s sacrifice? So he said, "Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me

buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it."

"Sahib! What do you mean?"

"Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it takes more I will work for it."

"Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, "this pearl is beyond price. No man in all the world has money enough to pay what

this pearl is worth to me. On the market a million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell

it to you. You may only have it as a gift."

"No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it

that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it..."

The old pearl-diver was stunned. "You don’t understand at all, Sahib. Don’t you see? My only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I wouldn’t sell it for any money. It’s worth is in

the life-blood of my son.

I cannot sell this but I can give it to you. Just accept it in token of the love I bear

you."The missionary was choked, and for a

moment could not speak. Then he gripped the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he said in a low voice, "don’t you see? My

words are just what you have been saying to God all the time."

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that

everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

What does that mean? How do you “believe” in Jesus?

1st it means that you accept that He is the only Begotten Son of God – God in the

flesh. And you accept that God loves you so much that He wants you to belong to Him.

2nd it means that you accept that YOU yourself can’t be good enough to be good

enough for God. You have to recognize that you are a sinner who needs change in their

life.

3rd it means you must accept Him as the Owner and Master of your life. He now has

the right to decide the course of your decisions.

4th it means that you must be willing to identify with His gift by being buried in the waters of Christian baptism and rise up to

live a new life in Him.

5th Does it not also mean that must continue to be faithful all your years walking this earth? If you believe in Him will you not

do your best to live at He wishes you to.

Ephesians 4:1 NET I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live

worthily of the calling with which you have been called,