Sermon Central
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John's Story 3 (God's Love) Series
Contributed by Steve Meenho Kang on Dec 17, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: John was one of the original Twelve Disciples of Jesus. He spent more than three years with Jesus. He realized why Jesus came. And He wrote the reason why Jesus came in his gospel. In John 3:16-17, he said that God sent Jesus into this world to love us. This is why we must celebrate His birth.
John's Story 3 (God's Love)
Christmas Story Part 3
Today, we will continue our Advent message series.
During this series, we are thinking about the significance of the birth of Jesus that happened over 2,000 years ago.
Today, we will think about the fact that Jesus came to love us.
Why does an event that happened 2,000 years ago still cause traffic jams?
Why is Christmas the most celebrated holiday?
Why do billions of people shut down stores, go to church services, go to parties, and have family gatherings to celebrate Christmas?
What makes Christmas so special?
The birth of Jesus is the most significant event in history.
It splits history into B.C. and A.D.
Every time when we use a date, we are using the birth of Jesus to measure years.
However, we can get caught up in all the distractions of the Christmas season, and miss the real purpose of Christmas.
This is why we must know and remember the real purpose of Christmas.
So, what is the real purpose of Christmas?
Many think that the purpose of Christmas is to get together with family to reconnect and exchange gifts.
Others think that the purpose of Christmas is to enjoy oneself and go to parties.
Still others think that the purpose of Christmas is to just relax.
Some of these answers may be right and some of them are way off.
I believe that it is important to understand what the Bible says is the purpose of the Christmas.
After all, Christmas was God’s idea.
He planned that it will happen.
He planned when it will happen.
He planned where it will happen.
He planned why it will happen.
Since it was God’s idea, we should find out what He had in mind.
So, what was God’s purpose for Christmas?
Why did He send His Son into the world?
John was one of the original Twelve Disciples of Jesus.
He spent more than three years with Jesus.
He realized why Jesus came.
And He wrote the reason why Jesus came in his gospel.
In John 3:16-17, he said that God sent Jesus into this world to love us.
This is why we must celebrate His birth by remembering these three things.
I. We must remember that He loves us (v. 16a).
Verse 16a says this.
16 For God so loved the world…
Perhaps, this is the most famous passage in the Bible.
The first thing that God told us by sending His Son into this world is this: I love you.
His purpose in sending Jesus into the world was to show His love to us.
By doing that, He would draw people to Himself.
The Bible says, “God is love.”
It does not say, “He has love.”
But He is love.
Love is His nature.
Love is His character.
The Bible also says that God made us to love us.
He loves us on good days, and He loves us on bad days.
He loves us when we feel it, and He loves us when we do not feel it.
He loves us when we think we deserve it, and He loves us when we think we do not deserve it.
God’s love is not based on what we do, but it is based on who He is.
God is love.
Perhaps, we can never fully comprehend how much God loves us.
We do not have the mental capacity to fully comprehend how much God loves us.
But God is love.
And because of that, He loves us.
He can never hate us or love us any less than He does.
There is a passage in the Bible that I go to whenever I want to remind myself of His love.
This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.
Romans 8:35-39 say this.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God loves us so much.
Nothing can separate us from His love.
It is because not only does God love us, but He is love.
His love for us originated from His nature and character.
This is good news.
So, why did God send His Son into this world?
