Let’s play a little game. Who can recite the passage
John 3:16? Who can tell me who said these words? Who can tell me to whom
these words were spoken?
Yes, these words were spoken to Nicodemus. But in a
very real sense they were spoken to each of us. They are words for us,
and words that we need to hear this morning. Every one here, each
individual, needs to hear these words, “God so loved the world that He
gave His one and only Son that who ever believes in Him shall not perish
but have everlasting life.”
We need to hear these words personally. Let’s not
think of these words impersonally, thinking that God loves the mass of
humanity – indeed that truth is in this verse. But understand that these
words are for you, the message is for you – God loves you.
Allow that to sink in this morning.
God loves you. It is an astounding truth, it is a
marvelous truth. To know that God thinks of us at all is amazing enough.
But then to know that He not only thinks of us but that He thinks
lovingly of us is astounding. The great God of the universe with all
that He has to do, with all that is involved with being God – doesn’t
ignore you, doesn’t turn His back on you but in fact thinks of your more
often than you think of yourself, with every second of the day, with
every heart beat of the world He thinks of you with love in His heart.
I sometimes think to myself, that there isn’t a better
word to hear than to hear Janet say to me, “I love you.” Sometimes she
says it to me right out of the blue and surprises me with the words and
it makes me feel pretty special. Sometimes she says it when I’m down and
depressed and it picks me right up, knowing that there is someone who
believes in me. And I think that there can’t be a better word to hear.
But of course there is a better word to hear, as sweet
as those words are and as much as she means to me – there is a better
word – it is a word from the ever living God saying “I Love you.” And
sometimes He’ll say it to you right out of the blue and will surprise
you with it and in that instant you know that you special. Sometimes it
comes to you when you are depressed and down and you think no one is
caring and you wonder if anyone could possibly love you and all of a
sudden you hear God’s voice in your ear saying “I love you.” Could there
be anything more wonderful than to hear the Creator of the universe say
that He loves you?
He loves you as an individual. God so loved the world
- that means each one of us individually.
But there is also this amazing fact – God loves us
even though we are very much unlike Him. I think of who I am and even
though I sometimes pretend to be God I am not like God in the least. I
know who I am I know what I have done, I know the thoughts that I think
and I know how often they are not His thoughts, or even like His
thoughts. And I know that my actions are not like His actions. I am
temperamental, selfish … the list could go on and on YET God loves me –
God loves you.
And I think of how unlike God we are in our loving. I
think of how often my love depends on circumstances. How it grows strong
and then how it fades.
Reverend Michael Quicke tells of a time when he and
his wife were still dating. He loved her so much that he wanted to give
as much of his first pay check to her to buy her the most beautiful
dress there was in the world. And he set the time and he told her what
he was going to do, and they went off to the mall and he was determined
that this was going to be the biggest act of love, Carol had ever known.
However, he states, there were a couple of
disappointments. First there was the fact that she didn’t find the dress
she wanted in the first shop they went into. The second disappointment
was they didn’t find the dress she wanted in the first hour they were
looking. And as Michael tells the story you can tell that all the love
that Michael quickly drained and turned into impatience and his loving
enthusiasm faded.
But how unlike God’s love - God’s love is constant and
strong and consistent. There is no waning in God’s love. Turn you back
on Him, spit on Him, ignore Him, despise him, don’t follow His Word for
you, do what you like to Him but His love for you does not change, it
does not grow dim with time. But His love for you is a strong for you
now as it was the day you were born. Even though we are so unlike Him,
in our character and in how we love, He still loves us.
How do I know? What is the proof? The verse continues,
“God so loved the world that He gave…”. There is the proof. Someone once
said, “You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.”
We know that. If you really want to love somebody then you show it in
the way that you give. No giving, no loving.
A child knows that he is loved by his parents because
they give to him, time, attention, praise, discipline, care, direction,
love, an allowance. A wife knows she is loved by her husband because he
gives to her time, support, encouragement and affection. A person knows
that he or she is loved by God because He gives.
What has He given? The text tells us, He has given His
one and only Son. Now that has two dimensions, doesn’t it? There is
“gave to be born” emphasizing the miracle that is Christmas. But there
is also this - God gave His son to die.
Why that? Because we are so much unlike Him. We are so
unlike Him in character. So unlike Him in the way we love. There had to
be a change. And we could not make the change on our own, no matter how
we try, we always fall short. We need someone else, a representative to
live life perfectly in obedience to God and offer Himself as a sacrifice
for our failings.
And God, in His great love for us gives – He gives us
His son as a sacrifice, so that whoever believes in His Son shall not
perish but have everlasting life.
The good news is that God loves you. If you are
waiting to give your life to God in love and surrender because you are
waiting for God to show His love toward you, you don’t need to wait any
longer. God has shown His love for you once and for all – God has given
His Son, Jesus died, and Jesus rose from the grave and Jesus is alive
forever more. It’s happened.
Whoever believes, says the text, that is in the
present tense. It’s for today, it’s for this day, it’s for right now.
And when we believe God continues to give, He gives us a quality of life
that is eternal, it is the life of God Himself, deposited in you so that
you can be Godly.
One day Henry Moorehouse asked if he could preach in
Moody’s church in Chicago. Thinking he would never make the trip from
England, Moody agreed. Wouldn’t you know it - Moorehouse showed up!
Henry Moorehouse preached five nights in a row on the
text, John 3:16. On the last evening. He said this, “Suppose I was able
to climb a ladder (Jacob’s) up to heaven itself. And while there I met
the angel Gabriel. I would ask Gabriel, 'How much does God love me?' and
he would respond, 'Henry Moorehouse, God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but
have everlasting life.' ”
Thanks be to God for His great love for each one of
us.
