The Greatest Explanation
John 3:14-21
v 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Have you ever found something hard to believe?
There were two gentlemen were traveling on a plane and were seated next to each other. One turned to the other and asked, “What do you do?” The gentleman replied: “I am a minister.” “Oh,” said the first man. “I don’t believe in that religious stuff. It’s for kids, you know, ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…’” The minister politely laughed and asked the other man what he did for a living. “I am an astronomer,” said the first man. “Oh, that stuff,” said the minister. “I thought it was just for kids, you know, ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star…’”
Sometimes, we find more substance than what we initially thought.
I am willing to bet that there are some former sceptics here today that are now true believers.
As you explored for the truth, you discovered that there was more to Christianity than you initially thought.
The setting of today’s text revolves around a sceptic of sorts.
The story of Nicodemus is our setting.
Nicodemus, a Pharisee, has come to Jesus at night.
He is on a mission—a personal one it seems.
He has come to Jesus in an attempt to figure Him out.
He has come to the conclusion that Jesus cannot do what He does unless He has come from God.
It is a good conclusion, yet in the conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus found that…
Believing in Jesus can be very difficult.
Ironically, it is difficult only because Jesus made it simple.
He said, “You must be born again.”
“You need to be born of the Spirit.”
For Nicodemus, who thought that because He was Jewish and was publicly dedicated to following the Ten Commandments, he was already in.
His whole worldview was being turned upside down.
John 3:14-21 describes three reasons to believe in Jesus.
Firstly, Jesus becomes our SIN (14-15).
In verse 14 we read,” Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (15) that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
This is the story that is found in Numbers 21:
The Israelites had been complaining against God, grumbling about the journey and their apparent lack of food and water.
They did not like the manna God gave them day after day.
And so God had enough, and He sent fiery serpents among them, and many of those who were bitten died.
But God provided a salvation for this disobedient people, so that they might survive the divine judgment.
He instructed Moses to make a serpent of bronze and to set it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten by one of the serpents could merely look up at the serpent and be healed.
And this is precisely what happened.
All who were bitten and looked up were healed.
The point is that serpents are symbolic of sin. After all, it is the serpent that lies to Eve in the garden.
And you know, when God looks at our world, he sees what we often try to ignore.
He sees the hurt, shame, misery and the meaninglessness of life.
He watches the murder, violence, hatred, bitterness, anger, and greed.
He observes child abuse, famine, death, tears, and fear of every kind.
And as He watches, He notes that the anguish we have in life is often self-caused.
We have ruined the gift He has given.
Most of the agony we suffer is directly related to the choices we have made.
This destruction of His design is sin and it is ugly to God.
But the great thing for us is that His reaction is not one of anger, hatred, or ruthless justice. Instead, it is love.
He reaches out to us and takes on Himself the just result of sin—death.
Jesus becomes sin for us as we can read in 2 Corinthians:
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In the story in Numbers, no matter how horribly they were bitten, how many times they had been bitten or how sick they were, the opportunity for salvation was there.
In the very same way, even the most degraded and miserable sinner who looks to Christ will be saved.
As a result, new birth comes through the simple gaze of faith.
Just as the Israelites were instructed to gaze in faith at the serpent, so are we to gaze at Jesus on the cross in faith.
It does not have to be perfect faith.
You don’t have to work up your faith to some standard.
You just need to have it.
The second reason to believe in Jesus is that Jesus becomes our SALVATION (16-17).
In verse 16 and 17 we hear, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Martin Luther called verse 16 the miniature gospel.
What he meant by this is that no verse condenses the whole gospel as cleanly and understandably as John 3:16.
This is the way God loved the world…He gave His Son…
For Nicodemus, he was being introduced to a whole new thought process.
Salvation was not a matter of birth.
Salvation was not even a matter of being good.
Salvation comes through the Messiah.
And though the Jews were God’s chosen people, they were God’s chosen people so that the world might know God.
Salvation was to be for the Gentiles as well.
And this had been God’s purpose all along: Salvation was for everybody.
Not only that; Salvation came in time and space.
Jesus came in time and space.
It was a specific act in history.
God loved the world. The tense of the verb is written is to make sure that we understand that this happened at a definite point in time.
When Jesus came to earth, this was the proof that God cared for and loved the entire world.
It was the best gift that could ever be given.
And it was needed…
As George Bernard Shaw once said,
“The statistics about death are very impressive. One out of every one dies!”
A politician awoke after an operation and found the curtains in his hospital room drawn. “Why are the curtains closed?” he asked the nurse. “Is it night-time already?” “No,” the nurse replied. “But there’s a fire across the street, and we didn’t want you to wake and think the operation was unsuccessful.”
While we may laugh at that, there are some awful consequences to dying if we do not believe.
There is eternal judgment and we perish.
The Bible speaks of hell over and over again so that we will be determined to avoid it.
And John tells us here that it is everlasting, irreversible, and most importantly, avoidable.
God has demonstrated His love to us, but it is a love that can be received or rejected.
The third reason for us to believe in Jesus is that Jesus becomes our SEPARATION (18-21).
In verse 18 we read, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
The text is clear here to tell us that Jesus did not come to judge the world, but at the same time, judgment does come.
Condemnation and judgment come passively.
For if we do not believe and take hold of the salvation that comes through Jesus, it is a decision that we will have to live with for eternity.
Light (motion-sensor)
One night, after he had got ready for bed, a man went out to the front of his house to retrieve some work papers from his car. Since it was dark, he decided no one would see him make the quick run in his underwear and he probably would have made it, too—if it had not been for the motion-sensor light, which illuminated him, just as he reached the car door.
How careful we need to be of light.
Light reveals the righteousness of righteous men.
But for those who are unrighteous, they hate the light because it exposes their sins
But light is more powerful than darkness.
And love is stronger than hate.
Salvation (Lucado)
There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to himself, to appease his justice, to demonstrate his sovereignty. But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because he is fond of you. He likes having you around. He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while… If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you!
Do you believe in God in a baby?
Incredible the sound of it, isn’t it?
How could God become a baby?
Yet, every Christmas, we celebrate this tremendous truth.
For this is the way God has shown His love for the world.
Do you believe in God on a cross?
Incredible—the sound of it, isn’t it?
How could God go to a cross and die?
Yet, every Good Friday, we celebrate this tremendous truth.
For this is the way God has shown His love for the world.
Do you believe in Life after death?
Incredible—the sound of it, isn’t it?
How could anyone believe that someone lives after he dies?
Yet, every Easter, we celebrate this tremendous truth.
For this is the way God has shown His love for the world.
So we
Believe in Jesus…for He who knew no sin became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Believe in Jesus…for God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Believe in Jesus…for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
And that is the Greatest Explanation:
God – The greatest Lover
so loved – The greatest degree
the world – The greatest company
that he gave – The greatest act
his one and only Son – The greatest gift
that whoever – The greatest opportunity
believes – The greatest simplicity
in him – The greatest attraction
shall not perish – The greatest promise
but – The greatest difference
have – The greatest certainty
eternal life – The greatest possession
Amen.