"The Ones Whom God Loves"
JOHN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
It’s a wonderful truth. It is gospel truth; truth in a nutshell.
The Lord says He loves the world.
“For God so loved the world.” Some say: "But He does not make it better, he does not stop the evil. If he loves it so much why does he allow all this terrible evil?"
Fair questions.
When it says God so loved the world, it’s a world that you and I know. What world is this? What is in the world?
‘Kosmos’ is the Greek word used here and it means:
Translator’s N.T. says: ‘kosmos’: “The physical world, or mankind. The word is sometimes used, and especially by John, in the sense of mankind in opposition to God.”
(Translator’s New Testament, BFBS, London, p. 579)
Why does God not stop all the evil, such as suffering and death? It says He loves the world...
But the gospel says we are at war with God.
He loves us, but we are at war with Him.
He loves an unworthy people but we do not return the favour, the grace, we turn to our own way:
Isa 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him (Christ) the iniquity of us all.”
We are in rebellion against God.
We oppose God at every turn.
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)
And so Paul’s religion and Jesus’ religion is the same.
No wonder the world is described by a Greek word that shows that we at war with God and that it is not a just place or a fair place or a friendly place or a good place BUT,
and hear me on this, it does not mean that God has rejected His world. Far from it! GOD LOVES US.
Nor does it mean that we Christians cannot ask God to help us make it a better place!! Because we can and we are called to do it and we shall.
William Wilberforce did not fight the slave trade for decades because he believed the world to be a kind, friendly place or because he had a desire to change something out of a political desire or goal. He wanted his fellow men and women to be free and to do this he believed God and followed God’s will for his life.
John Wesley and His brother Charles together with George Whitefield did not think this world would get better on its own.
They knew the gospel and what it could do. They knew the gospel could and would be the only answer to the world’s terrible situation: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
When Jesus says “the world” he means mankind in rebellion.
If you have been converted, changed to Christ by faith in Him, then His anger at your rebellion has been removed, He is not angry with you.
But God will judge the world…
Good news! The gospel in this is that whoever believes in Him will not perish... which implies that Jesus believed that some will be judged and perish.
God cannot have relationship with an automatic being, an automaton. God may as well not have made people if they were only going to be able to do His will.
Think about that…Imagine having friends who could only do what you wanted. How long would that relationship last? Would it be a relationship on equal terms or would it be a slave-owner one? Imagine spouses in such a “relationship” ? Or your children?
As we studied in Romans: “The wages of sin is death…” This implies you can commit sin, can have the freedom to sin, to rebel. And we did, we all did, it’s in our nature.
What makes a dog, a dog? That it has been identified by its DNA as canine. A domestic dog is Canis familiaris (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/domestic+dog)
Is a dog, a dog because it barks? Does barking make any animal a dog? No! Even though it may sound like a dog it is not a dog simply because it barks. Seals bark, so do sea lions.
A dog barks because it is a dog. It is not a dog because it barks.
Even though it is the only being that sounds so completely like a dog when it does bark. It is a dog’s nature to bark, indeed it cannot do other than to bark.
My cat does not bark, it mews. Well it tries to, it certainly does not bark! It is in it’s nature to mew.
A dog barks because it is a dog. It does not become a dog because it barks. Its ‘doginess’ makes it a dog, it’s in its DNA.
Humans are not proved to be human because we sin, it is because we are human that we sin. Though still bearing the image of God, which makes us truly human we are not acceptable to God without radical change because that image is spoiled.
We sin because we are fallen human beings.
Jesus knew that. He says God sent Him, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish.” (16)
We sin, and it is in our nature to sin more than it is in our nature to talk or breathe or eat etc. The young, old, blind, deaf, lame etc all sin.
Eternity
As part of our nature, the image of God is shown in that we all have a soul, we have an eternal destination: Eternity.
So what is eternity? Solomon says:
ECCL 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
In eternity, we are not going to be out there having a good time, with thousands of people having a good time, having a party as some people think that life away from God is like!
Is that what heaven or hell is?
Christ says ‘lost,’ (Mt 15:24) ‘perished,’ (Mt 5:30) ‘condemned, (Mt 12:37)’ ‘hell.’ (Mt 5:30) These are Jesus’ words.
If you sin, you are going to die, you are going to suffer.
Both OT and NT are very clear about that.
ANTS
Look at ants on an anthill. There they are working, suffering, dying, due for death and destruction. But we cannot save the ants...We have no way of making them live forever or of stopping their toil and suffering.
What if the only way to save the ants was to become an ant? (This is turning into an Animal Planet programme!)
But we are too different and far too big to identify with or to be an ant. We would have to be made into an ant to save ants.
Yes, it’s the way God dealt with lost, suffering, sinning, hell-bound mankind.
He sent His Son, His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ. He sent Him into this rebellious world of men, this ‘kosmos.’ What for?
To die on a cross, that is, to come to us, to become one of us, unworthy as we are, that whoever believes in Him will shall not perish but have eternal life. Your Substitute, Jesus Christ has come one of us and died in your place!
Now that’s got to be good news!
Ray Comfort used to preach the gospel in NZ. He found that many did not stay on the Christian way if the soft, easy gospel was preached. He gives this illustration of gospel preaching:
“Two men are seated in a plane. A stewardess gives the first man a parachute and instructs him to put it on because it will “improve his flight.”
Not understanding how a parachute could possibly improve his flight, the first passenger is a little skeptical. Finally he decides to see if the claim is true. After strapping on the parachute, he notices its burdensome weight, and he has difficulty sitting upright. Consoling himself with the promise of a better flight, our first passenger decides to give it a little time.
Because he’s the only one wearing a parachute, some of the other passengers begin smirking at him, which only adds to his humiliation.
Unable to stand it any longer, our friend slumps in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart because as far as he is concerned, he was told a lie. (The parachute has not improved his enjoyment of the flight)
Another stewardess gives the second man a parachute, but listens to her instructions. She tells him to put it on because at any moment he will be jumping out of the plane at 25,000 feet.
Our second passenger gratefully straps the parachute on. He doesn’t notice its weight upon his shoulders nor that he can’t sit up upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without it.
When other passengers laugh at him, he thinks, "You won’t be laughing when you’re falling to the ground!"
Inoculated Backsliders
Let’s now analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience.
The first man’s motive for putting on the parachute was solely to improve his flight. As a result, he was humiliated by the passengers, disillusioned by an unkept promise, and embittered against the stewardess who gave it to him.
As far as he is concerned, he will never put one of those things on his back again.
The second man put the parachute on to escape the danger of the coming jump. Because he knew what would happen to him without it, he had a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart. Knowing he was saved from certain death gave him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude toward the stewardess who gave him the parachute was one of heartfelt gratitude.
Now listen to what the contemporary gospel says: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ; He will give you love, joy, peace, and fulfillment.” In other words, He will improve your flight. In an experimental fashion, the sinner puts the Savior to see if these claims are so.
What does he get? Temptation, tribulation, and persecution. The other passengers mock his decision. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ; he is offended for the Word’s sake; he is disillusioned and embittered, and quite rightly so.
He was promised peace, joy, fulfillment, and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed at those who gave him the “good news.” His latter end is worse than the first - another inoculated, bitter backslider!
The apostle Peter acted in misguided zeal when he tried to dismember the Roman servant in the garden of Gethsemane. Many misguided Christians are also cutting off ears - the ears of potential hearers. Once sinners think they have given it a try, they no longer have an ear for the gospel.
Why are sinners turned off and tuned out? Because we no longer preach the full message of the gospel. We have omitted the key to genuine repentance - the Law of God. The apostle Paul said, "I would not have known sin except through the law" (Romans 7:7, italics added).
Listen to these words from Spurgeon:
“Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt. This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion …I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ…they will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose and it must not be removed from its place.
When the sinner sees the awful consequences of breaking the Law of God - that he cannot escape the certainty of judgment - he will see his need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we preach future punishment by the Law, the sinner comes to Christ solely to flee from ‘the wrath to come.’
Instead of preaching that Jesus “improves the flight,” we must warn men about the inevitable jump. Everyone must pass through the door of death.
It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment - Hebrews 9:27.
But doesn’t Christianity offer the abundant life? You bet it does! Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of the Spirit. But we do sinners an injustice by enticing them with only the benefits of salvation. Our misguided efforts only result in sinners coming to Christ with an impure motive void of repentance.
Remember why the second passenger had joy and peace? Because he knew what that parachute was going to save him from. In the same way, the true convert has joy and peace in believing because he knows that the righteousness of Christ will deliver him from the wrath that is to come. "The kingdom of God is …righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). Why is righteousness coupled with peace and joy? Because "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death" (Proverbs 11:4).
RAY COMFORT: http://www.christiananswers.net/evangelism/methods/law.html
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on John 3: 3 where Jesus said: “I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Henry says:
“Regeneration is absolutely necessary to our happiness here and hereafter. Considering what we are by nature, how corrupt and sinful, - what God is… and what heaven is… - it will appear… that we must be born again, because it is impossible that we should be happy if we be not holy; see 1Co_6:11, 1Co_6:12.”
C.H. Spurgeon says our lives are like gardens, lovely, beautiful, after you have cut the lawns and weeded the flowerbeds, but if left alone they grow unkempt and weeds grow so thoroughly well as to spoil all your good work. He says: “Men do not get better if left alone. It is with them as with the garden: if you let it alone, and permit weeds to grow, you will not expect to find it better in six months—but worse.” (http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0039.htm)
Do not put off the day of salvation. Soon the seeds and roots of the weeds will grow more and more in your hearts…
2COR 6:2 “For God says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Will you not come now before it is too late?
Spurgeon: “I thought I had so much to do, but God said to my heart ‘Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other.’
So, “look to the brazen serpent” and the Bible says “when they looked they were healed.”
You are lost, God is not asking you to find yourself, for He has found you today and you must come to look to Him in faith and be saved.
