THE LOVE OF GOD
John 3:16-20
Introduction: On Friday
morning during my regular exercises at the Gym this news got my attention. “Grinch
Slashes 12 Inflatable Christmas Decorations in Natick. When
Angela Hoyt went to shut them off just before 9 p.m. she noticed almost all of
them had been destroyed. Just days before
Christmas, the family is now struggling to explain why a Grinch made a mean
visit to their house. Angela Hoyt has been adding to the expensive collection
for years. “Heartbroken. My heart sunk,” Hoyt said. “I’m sad for my kids. And
the kids in the neighborhood and the kids in the community who come around the
streets to look at the decorations at night, my spirit of Christmas has been
deflated”
On this fourth
Sunday of advent, I have good news for all those whose spirits may have been
deflated. Some Grinch may slash or steal your Christmas decorations, but he
cannot steal the true spirit of Christmas; Joy, the Hope of Christmas; Jesus
and His message of Christmas; Love. Appropriately the candle we light today is
called the, “Candle of Love.”
Our focus today is on
how God expressed His love to mankind that is so desperately in need of and searching.
I would like to expand on the scope and the purpose of God’s love so that our
Christmas celebrations will be more meaningful, purposeful, hopeful and
enjoyable. Here is the background to our passage.
Background: As Christians, we can all quote John 3:16
by heart, but do we understand in what context those most powerful words were
said? Let me draw your attention to a conversation between a highly learned
Pharisee, in fact a ruler and teacher of Israel and Jesus. The pharisee’s name
was Nicodemus. He came to Jesus at night, that tells us that perhaps he was
afraid of his fellow Jews or to avoid embarrassment of not knowing the answers
to his questions. Nicodemus here is a protype of a seeker with burning
questions searching for answers.
Jesus is the only
one who can answer all of life’s complex questions. While answering Nicodemus,
Jesus was respectful of his position as a teacher of the law. He gently leads
him to a profound truth of being Born Again. Within that context of personal salvation,
Jesus unfolded God’s plan for the salvation of the whole world. Three themes
run through this passage.
I. GOD’S ALL-INCLUSIVE LOVE
Is God’s love
inclusive or exclusive? The answer is not either or but both and. Let me
explain this apparently contradicting statement. God’s love is both inclusive
and exclusive at the same time. First, we want to see, how inclusive God’s love
is. In Vs 16, “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only Son.” This phrase talks about the all-inclusive
love of God. There is no place on earth, and no person living on the earth is
outside the scope of God’s love.
We see this all-inclusive
love of God throughout the scriptures. Consider the call of Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3, “The Lord had said to Abram,
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I
will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you.” From one-man named Abraham, God made a nation of people
called, “Israel.”
As the history
unfolded, we know that the nation of Israel was disobedient to God’s will to be
a light onto the nations (Isaiah 49: 6) So, God had to humble the people of
Israel by scattering them to the four corners of the earth, with a promise to
bring them back into their land. Isaiah 11:11-12, “In that day the Lord will
reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people… He
will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will
gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.” In order to
fulfill this promise when the fullness of time came, God sent his son to the
earth.
That is the essence
of Christmas, on that day God demonstrated His love by giving Jesus Christ his
Son as a gift for everyone. We may argue about the exact birth date of Jesus,
but on 25th December every year, around the four corners of the
earth, over 2 billion Christians (over a third of the world's population), celebrate
the birth of Christ. God’s love is all-inclusive. God loves all people,
regardless, of their race, gender, ethnic, education and economic background.
I Timothy 2:1-4, “I
urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede
on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who
are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by
godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants
everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” What
does this mean for us today when we say God’s love is all-inclusive? It means
loving people regardless who they are. God loves sinners and hates sin.
Therefore, we too are to love sinners and hate sin. During this Christmas how
is your love for others? You may say I can love all people but that one person
I cannot love. Really!
God’s love compels
us to love all people including those who hate us and intend to harm us. St.
Augustine once said, “If all mankind had been righteous and only one man a
sinner, Christ would have come to endure the same cross for this one man, He so
loved every individual.” God’s love is all-inclusive but also at the same time
it is exclusive. How could that be? Let me explain. Yes, God loves all people,
and wants all of them to be saved, but would all people everywhere automatically
get saved? Or will only a few be saved?
II. GOD’S EXCLUSIVE LOVE
Vs 16b, “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.” This scripture shows God’s scope of
love and at the same time narrows it down to only those individuals who
believes in his Son
That is what I call
God’s exclusive love. It does not mean that God loves some and doesn’t love
others. But it does mean that there are some who will respond to his love and
others reject his love. The exclusivity here is not so much on God’s part, but on
man’s part. Consider the following scriptures: John 1:9-11, “The true light
that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world,
and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He
came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Salvation came first
to the Jews as promised, some accepted Christ as their savior but many couldn’t
resolve the fact that He indeed was the promised Messiah. So, God extended his offer
of salvation to all who will believe in his Son. John 1: 12-13, “Yet to all who
did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or
a husband’s will, but born of God.”
What does it mean to
receive Jesus the word of God? It means to acknowledge his claim, place one’s
faith in him and thereby yield allegiance to Him. Then God will give them the
exclusive right to become “Children of God.” Romans 8:17, “And if we’re
children, we are also heirs: heirs of God, and fellow heirs with the
Messiah...”
You may wonder why
when salvation is made available for everyone, only those who believe in Jesus
Christ will not perish but have everlasting life? John gives the reason why in
the following verses: Vs 19, “And the
judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people
loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” Even
though God’s light, (Jesus) is brightly shinning in the world, some people are
afraid to come to the light, because they love darkness more than the light. If
that is the case who are we to blame the light, or the people who remain in
darkness because they love it so much? You be the judge.
But those who come
to the light their lives will be transformed and they can get to enjoy life to
the fullest. Are you afraid to come to the light? You may be loving darkness
more than the light and your actions may be evil. On this fourth Sunday of
advent, God’s love is compelling you to come to the light and enjoy all those
exclusive privileges of being part of God’s one BIG family. God’s love is not
only all-inclusive at the same time exclusive, also it is the saving love.
III. GOD’S SAVING LOVE
Coming back to the Christmas
narrative we have been following: Do you remember what the prophet Isaiah said
about the Son that God was going to be sending into the world? Isaiah 9:6 “For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his
shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.”
Or what the angel
spoke to Mary and Joseph saying, that Mary was going to give birth to a son and
they were to call Him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. All
these prophecies and the words of the angels were pointing towards a savior who
would come to save Israel, and all the people from their sins. The scripture
tells us that when the fulness of the time came God sent forth His Son who was
born to Mary, wrapped in a swaddling cloth lying in a manger. The shepherds
were filled with Joy when they saw the baby Jesus. The wise men worshipped and
offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh acknowledging his kingship.
That baby in the
manger did not remain a baby, he grew up to be a man. During his time on the
earth, he loved all people, particularly, sinners, the prostitutes, lepers, and
those who were tormented by demons. He preached the message of love by healing
the sick, feeding the hungry and raising the dead. Finally, he was nailed to
the cross, taking all our sins on Him. He died and was buried in a grave, but
came back to life on the third day conquering sin and death.
John explains the
mission of Jesus on the earth. John 3:17-18, “For 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, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
During this
Christmas as you come around the Christmas tree (if you have one), with your
family or friends or all by yourself and unwrap the gifts, remember to unwrap
the greatest gift of all times, the salvation of your soul by inviting Jesus
Christ to be your savior and lord.
When you do that I promise, that you will find joy, peace, and the
hope of Christmas that can only be found in Jesus the true reason for this
season. Those of you who have already received that gift of salvation, don’t
keep it for yourself but share it others so that they too may receive, Peace,
Joy, Love and hope during this Christmas Amen!
