John 3:16

Opening Remarks

Every preacher hopes to preach a great sermon – A great sermon is one that compels a response in the listener – Great sermons fail when they work apart from the Holy Spirit.

A preacher should always preach a Biblical sermon – That is what he says is consistent with and read out of the Scripture – Then he can speak with true authority.

Pastors should come to a church seeking to develop a people who love the preaching of the word more than ritual; biblical preaching more than sermonizing; the God who is proclaimed more than the sermon itself. This is what I see your pastor seeking to do in you, and I think he has found good soil for such a work.

My intent today is to preach a passage usually reserved to very young preachers. There are two such passages of the Bible that they often proclaim and the hearer goes away impressed with the shallowness of their remarks. This is because these simply stated passage have such depth to them that they cannot begin to be understood in their fullness without years of contemplation. I must confess to you, I do not know how many years it would take to fully consume the richness of the passage.

The Text

For God – He is the prime cause as in the Creation itself where it reads “In the beginning God.” Many a preacher falter here thinking only the Father is in sight because of the latter half of the verse, but they err. Present are all three Persons of the godhead. The triune God is moving to make a new creature with all the force and creative power He originally invested in His first creation.

So loved – Here is the expression of what God is in action. The Bible says God is love. In the recreation of man through redemption we find the highest expression of love in action. Here is the height, depth, and breadth of love on display. No better picture of love has ever been made than what was presented on Calvary when my Lord Jesus Christ stretched forth His arms and was lifted up that He might draw all men unto Him.

            Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a poem with the famous lines ‘How do I love thee?” At the cross Jesus showed the how and the how much. She said, “Let me count the ways.” At the cross we began counting the ways of the love of God, and though two thousand years have passed we have yet to find the end of it.

            Would that all men would come to see what is the height, and breadth, and depth of the love of God.

The world – Here is the focus of God’s love. At the pinnacle of God’s love is man; at the focus of God’s love is man, but God’s love is so great it is not confined, nor limited, to man. It takes in His whole creation.

(Cmt- Mark’s Gospel, presence of the animal kingdom at the temptation of the Lord.)

The whole earth does grown and travail because of the weight of sin.

That He gave His only begotten Son – the Triune God in action.

He – the Father – The divine plan is from the Divine Planner.

Gave – the Spirit – It was the Spirit who wove the love knot in Mary’s womb.

The only begotten Son –the Lord Jesus Christ – He is unique and there is none like Him. He did not come into being when born as a baby. He is the pre-existent Son of God from all eternity. So He proclaims “Before Moses was I Am.”

That whosoever – The unlimited accessibility of atonement. God never predestined anyone to damnation. Because God in His omniscience knows the course each man will take and might use is for His divine purposes does not mean that any man is predestined for hell.

Believeth in Him – The foundation for redemption is the Lord Jesus – The first line of construction upon that foundation is true belief. Belief is an action word. It does not require merely an assent, but a response. People who truly believe something act upon it. People who say they believe and do not act do not truly believe.

Should not perish but have everlasting life – It has been truly said that where the Son is there is life. (there is light too, but that is the subject of another sermon) We get all caught up on the subject of physical death when the real problem is spiritual death. This body has the curse of sin on it, it must die, but it must die so that which is redeemed might put on immortality. One garment must be exchanged for another. You see the secret is in the having. A Person who is saved does not find immortal life being made available to them. No, they find immortal life, everlasting life is a possession. But immortal life is not a mere thing but a Person. That is why we are told in 1John that the Lord Jesus Christ is eternal life. When we receive Him as our Savior He just moves right in to abide in us and we to abide in Him. We have Him, but more importantly He has us. We need to lay down this old body at some point because it is getting in the way of the glorified Jesus being truly revealed in us. To enter fully into the dwelling in  eternal life, we need to get rid of the dross that cannot handle the presence of Jesus nor eternal life.

In this sermon I have presented a very brief overview of what John 3:16 is all about. A person without Jesus cannot experience the power of this passage in the fulfillment of its promise unless that come by the plan that is in it.

The giving of the atonement for sin by the great love of God requires the receiving of redemption through the Son, no other way.

The person who does not faithfully follow the leadership of love in abiding presence of the Lord Jesus Christ will not full experience the victory of this passage in this world.

Do you need to accomplish a transaction with God this morning?

Do you need to allow God to accomplish a transformation in you?