John
3:14-21
Fourth
Sunday in Lent
March 22,
2009
|
|
All of us need to be loved. Romantic girls of years gone by used to pick
the petals off flowers while noting, “He loves me; he loves me not,” as they
thought of their heartthrob. The Apostle
Paul, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, instructed husbands to love their
wives as Christ loved the church. We
know the problems that result when children grow up in a home where love is not
experienced—and that may have nothing to do with the level of earthly wealth or
poverty there.
Love is not just for women and children. Guys need it, too. In the musical Fiddler on the Roof the man Tevye
quizzed his wife, “Do you love me?” She
gave him answers like, “For 25 years I washed your clothes, cooked your meals,
cleaned the house, gave you children, milked the
cow.” “But do you love me?” pressed Tevye. “I’m your
wife,” she responded. Eventually he
concluded, “Then you do love me.” “I
suppose I do,” Golde admitted, and they both agreed,
“After 25 years it’s nice to know.”
There is no question or hesitance or dodging the issue on
the part of God when it comes to that question.
Jesus made it clear in the words He spoke in this conversation with a
man named Nicodemus.
GOD LOVES YOU
I. He gave His Son to save you
II. He calls you to believe
III. He changes your life
God’s love for you was evident as He gave His Son to save
you, as pictured by the brass serpent.
Jesus took Nicodemus back to an event familiar from Israelite history
that foreshadowed what He came to do. We
heard it in the First Lesson today. The
people grumbled against the Lord as they did repeatedly during their trip to
the Promised Land. He sent poisonous
snakes into their camp. The snakes bit
the people and many died. They repented
and called to God for help. He
instructed Moses to forge a brass snake and fasten it to a pole in the middle
of the Israelite camp. Everybody who
looked at it with faith in God’s promise recovered. That snake had no medicinal properties. It was the word of the Lord that provided the
cure and by faith in that word the people received the benefit.
The incident provided a picture of the work of Jesus. He would be lifted up on a pole, the cross on
which He died. As we look to Him in
faith, we are rescued from the snakebite of sin. We are forgiven. That example then led to the most well known
verse of the Bible, John 3:16. It
presents a marvelous statement of the gospel message, sometimes called “the
gospel in a nutshell” because it packs such a complete summary into one sentence.
A key concept that stands out in the verse is that God
loved us. Jesus used a special word that
shows God acted with knowledge and purpose.
His love was not based on what its object deserved but was generated by
the giver or holder of that love. It was
unlimited and unconditional.
God’s love was more than an emotion. His love took action. That action showed the supreme quality of
God’s love. “He gave his one and only
Son.” Remember who that Son was: His beloved Son, His only, one-of-a-kind Son,
who was eternally bonded with Him in the Holy Trinity. That Son Jesus did not merely lend a helping
hand or donate a few hours to charitable work.
He died a most horrible death on the cross, but worse than the physical
torture, He suffered the pains of hell.
For whom did Jesus make that sacrifice? For the world, a rejecting,
disobedient bunch of sinners who deserved God’s anger and punishment. He had every right to say, “Outta my sight! I
never want to look at you again” or to fire volleys of fire and brimstone to
wipe us from the earth. That world
(that’s us) was corrupted with evil desires from birth. We are by nature selfish, thoughtless and
cruel. We are guilty of impurity and of
unkind treatment of our fellow residents of this planet and of elevating our
own desires and opinions over the God who made us and loved us. We act that way even after God fulfilled
these words and sent His Son to die for us.
There’s another aspect of this statement that God loved
the world. It declares He loved
everybody. Not one person is
excluded: not the Pharisee Nicodemus to
whom Jesus was talking, not Judas who betrayed Him, not Hitler, not Osama bin
Laden, not mass murderers or people guilty of despicable crimes like the man in
Austria who pled guilty this week to imprisoning his daughter, fathering seven
children by her, one of whom he left to die without medical treatment. Most of
all, God did not exclude you or me. He
loves each one of us.
What does that all-embracing love give us? We “shall not perish” as we deserved, that
is, we will not have hell eternally.
Instead we have eternal life.
That means heaven with all its glory and joy, beauty and pleasures that
never end. Possession of that future is
fantastic, especially in comparison with the alternative we should have. No wonder we cherish this verse. Rejoice in the gift it announces and praise
the giver who loves you.
II.
In that love He calls you to believe. That’s how the gift becomes your own. Coming to this earth to be lifted up on the
cross was not a task undertaken for the health of Jesus, to make Him feel good
about Himself. He wants you to have and
enjoy the results of His work. Trust in
Jesus receives the full benefits. By
faith we are forgiven and welcome in God’s heaven. The Lord doesn’t leave it to you to bring about
faith in the Savior. That’s a good
thing, because we can’t come to faith on our own. We’re spiritually powerless by nature, lost
in sin. But God sends the Holy Spirit
into our hearts through the gospel to knock down our rejection and objections
and to plant faith. Many of us had that
happen in baptism. Then God keeps
reassuring us through the gospel taught to us and shared with us in Holy
Communion that it is all true: that we
are forgiven for all sins and have heaven waiting for us. He supports and strengthens our faith to
withstand the doubts that Satan raises or the legitimate questions that arise
because of our continued sinning.
Jesus calls the world to believe in spite of the rejection
He encounters. His purpose was not to
condemn the world. There is a natural
recognition that something is drastically wrong with life and man’s
relationship with the divine. We are
accountable to Him. Fear results. The gospel proclaims, “God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him. Whoever believes in him is not
condemned.” Jesus came here to save us
and has done all it takes. His gospel calms
our fearful hearts and comforts us with His forgiveness.
Yet there is also the other side of the issue. “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Reject Jesus and you are on your own. There is no way you can make it to heaven by yourself. It is not God’s fault. He did everything to avoid that result. He provided Jesus who did all the work and He sends His Spirit to you through the gospel. Suppose someone discovered a cure for a dreaded disease like cancer. It had no harmful side effects and was 100% effective, and they distributed it for free. Anyone who refused the treatment and contracted the disease would have no room to complain. That’s really the way it is regarding us and the salvation Jesus brings. If we refuse to believe we are lost by our own fault. Sadly, that happens. “Men loved darkness instead of light.” Don’t be among them! It is not too late. God is calling you to believe. Repent and trust Jesus as your Savior from sin.
III.
Then, touched by God’s love, you will be one of whom it is
said, “He changes your life.” We were in
darkness. Every child born of sinful
parents started out the same. We were
lost. We loved the darkness, our deeds
were evil, and we hated the light. But
light came into the world. Jesus, the
light of the world, shined into our hearts and brought us salvation.
Now we live by the truth.
“Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen
plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” Faith in Jesus as Savior prompts a new
life. As our status before God has
changed and our eternal destination has changed, so God has transformed our
attitude and behavior. We strive to obey
Him rather than serve ourselves. We
pursue a holy lifestyle, doing what is right and good. God is number one on our priority list, with
the result that we honor His name, we hear His Word gladly and we put it into
practice in our lives. Our faith will be
evident in deeds of love and help to those around us: our family, our neighbors, people we don’t
know, even our enemies and those who irritate us. We stand in the light.
Such actions are not natural. They are done through God, by His power and
in thanks to Him for the sacrifice of His Son.
They are also not done perfectly by us. We must admit we slip back into the old ways and
fail frequently in living the Christian life of thanks to God. We keep coming back to the Son who was lifted
up on the cross and cling to that Savior.
There we see again that God loves us and has forgiven us. That’s why every service centers on the gospel
of Jesus. It’s also why we observe Lent
each year. What a relief we feel each
time we hear the good news of Jesus!
That wonderful gospel comforts us and picks us up and we start all over
again, aiming to serve Him in thanksgiving.
Yes, we all need love.
We have it. God loves you. Never doubt that fact. Rejoice in that love, believe in Him and love
Him back.