1. Intro: My Life Would Forever Be Changed:
* The wood floor crackled & popped like Rice Crispies. My back warmed as the spring sun invaded our home-pouring in through those leaded glass windows after a long, dark winter.
* I thumbed the new book my dad had given me for my 9th birthday with excitement and wonder. I had never seen the ocean or been on a boat or seen a whale but through the adventures of the boy in this book, I would quickly become acquainted with the beauty and simultaneous horrors of the deep blue seas.
* Each day I'd rush to sit in the spring sun by the windows, allowing that light to envelope me as I drank in words and pictures of another world.
* The book, "The Boy that Sailed Around the World by Himself" is no longer in print, it didn't make the best sellers list, it will not be remembered by future generations but for me at was a portal into another world.
* Not long after my birthday we were evicted from that home with the leaded glass windows.
* I remember that morning in high definition-stuffing all our earthly possessions into the garage, piling everything to the rafters before beginning our "adventure" life on the stormy streets of Detroit.
* Whether living in our van, an abandoned building, the basement of a church-I always tried to find a warm window and a swatch of sun to warm my back and to read "The Boy Who Sailed Around the World by Himself."
* I wanted so much to be like him-to take on the dark days and the monsters of the deep with bravery instead of fear, and to return back home after my epic adventure was complete.
* But one of the things we can count on for sure in this world is that our lives will be filled with a constant ebb and flow of dark days and threatening storms on the horizon followed by days of invading light.
* It is this great ebb and flow of invading light into the darkness that frames for us the entire story of God, of things past and grandiose and of things dreadful and yet to come.
* It is this great battle between light and darkness, good and evil, joy and chaos that forms for us the very backdrop of all history.
* In John 3, we are told of the great invading light of the person of Jesus Christ!
2. God-light forever changes our world and brackets all human and divine history.
* In Jesus, the light has come and this invasion of God-light forever changes our world-it brackets all human and divine history.
* God has always used invasions of light to accomplish his plans, his great cosmic plans but also the plans for our lives as well.
* In fact, your very story can only be rightly understood and interpreted by one reality and one reality alone-where you stand in relation to this God-light of Jesus Christ!
* God's invading light provides the framework by which we understand the story of our lives and the story of God's world.
* The story God's been telling throughout the ages has three great bookmarks which all revolve around light invading darkness:
* In Gen. 1, God gives us the first bracket of divine history; "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void...Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."
* This creation light is God's first act of separating and dispelling darkness with God-light.
* But there is a third great invasion of light as well that gives us the final bracket of God's great story.
* At the end of history, while the world is covered in spiritual darkness, while the armies and ideologies of the world collide, while all hope for justice seems dashed, He will appear again.
* "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man...Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear...coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." (Mt. 24:27, 29-30b, NIV).
* The past invasion of creation light points forward to the person of Christ. The future invasion of the judgment light at the end of time points backwards Christ so that all human history revolves around God's great invading light found in Jesus Christ here in John 3.
* The God-light of Jesus Christ stands at the center of all human and divine history but He must also come to stand at the very center of our lives as well.
3. Both salvation and condemnation are accomplished through God's gift of light
* When God sent his light into the world through Jesus, this single action accomplished God's great salvation plan for you and for me as a boy lost on the streets of Detroit-in a boat of suffering, bouncing on the seas of life seemingly by himself.
* Our story intersects God's great cosmic plan in that famous John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
* I want you to know that God loves you, that you are not alone, sailing around the world by yourself-God is with you and God loves you!
* Though we start with the love of God, in John 3 we also see God's judgment.
* Both salvation and condemnation were accomplished through God's gift of light. God establishes his love in the light of Christ but in Christ we also see God in His awful dread-an uncontainable, immutable, transcendent cosmic judge.
* In law-court language, the judge of the universe in one move passes the decision of both pardon, grace, and forgiveness AND condemnation, judgment, wrath...
* In John 3:18 we read, "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
* Just as creation light split the world into two, light and darkness, day and night, so the light of Christ draws a line in the sand and separates all humanity into two-saved and condemned; children of light and children of darkness; free and slave; alive and dead in trespasses and sins-there are only 2 ways.
* Because of this we see the exclusivity of Jesus Christ-not Buddha or Krishna or Allah, not Scientology or Shamanism or Mormonism or any man made or demonically inspired philosophy can occupy the center of history-only Jesus Christ.
* Jesus alone stands at the center of human and divine history-all that has come before him points forward to him and all that happens after him points backwards to him.
* Throughout time and space, the entire world revolves singularly around this one God-man and his vision of another world!
* In John 3:19 we read, "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world..." (2X)
* In Jesus Christ, the light has come! The message of the gospel is not merely a message about how to be saved from the hell to come but also about how to be included in the Kingdom that is now.
* The gospel is our great portal into the vision of another world.
* In this great vision of a light-invaded world, we see God's great plan to cause all things to flourish.
* We see the slaves set free, the evil cycle of poverty forever crushed, the crops of the world bearing good fruit for all, the oceans alive with health.
* In the light, we see the peoples of the world made right with one another and made right with the creation.
* In the light, we see African-Americans celebrating the gifts and accomplishments of their Asian sisters and brothers.
* In the light, we see Palestinians celebrating the life of a new-born Jewish boy.
* In the light, we see French-Speaking Canadians celebrating the beauty of the Guajarati tongue as Indian fathers lead their children in songs to the true God of the universe.
* In the light, we see every tribe, tongue, and nation set free and gathered around the throne.
* This is what we see when we peer into the portal to another world.
* Don't you want to be a part of this great vision of Christ? Don't you want to be saved into his Kingdom and not merely from his condemnation?
* For millions of Christians, this vision of Christ's Kingdom seems alien. "What does Jesus have to do with the environment or slavery or racial healing? The answer is absolutely everything-Jesus Christ is both personally relevant and He is globally relevant.
* It isn't that the definitions of salvation or Christian or Church have changed, it is just that our definitions of those concepts were always too small.
* We see this in our text in verse 16, that in him we may not perish but may have "eternal life," or elsewhere translated a "whole and lasting life," a three-dimensional life, an organic life, a Kingdom life-this is the vision of Christ and His better world!
* The gospel is an invitation into a Kingdom, a vision of another world!
* Now, make no mistake about it-the gospel is also that bloody message of judgment that saves us from the awful storm that looms on the human horizon.
* Jesus Christ is able to save the world from the hell that is now but He alone is able to save us from the hell to come.
* We've lost sight of this as global Christians. We fight for clean drinking water, to provide medicine to AIDS orphans, to punish slave owners-but we must ask ourselves as Christians-how does the atoning work of a mangled Christ hung in the salty Jerusalem sun form our view of man?
* How can a woman be saved from sin? How can her wrong-doing be erased? How can she stand before a holy God who has the power to banish her with the rest of the injustice, corruption, and evil in a lake of fire?
* What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
* These are antiquated words of a Christian mythology that is being put into the appendix of a Christian world-view in favor for a more hospitable faith, dignified and cooperative faith.
* But I want to tell you that this was not God's word to the world then and it is not God's word to us today.
* God's message of the Gospel is a warning as well as an invitation. There is a sobriety in John 3:18, "...he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (NASB)
4. God's gift of light stands at the center of the universe, dividing humanity into two
* God's gift of light stands at the center of the universe, it divides humanity into two.
* Jesus is the means by which we understand the difference between light and darkness, good and evil-we would not know what darkness was if it were not for Christ.
* I believe we are convinced these days of the existence of absolute evil.
* As we read of so-called African Witch Children in Angola, we do not need to be persuaded long of the absolute evil of a father injecting battery acid into his son's stomach or a mother blinding her own daughter to prevent them from feeling or seeing evil spirits.
* This is not mere ignorance or superstition, this is the face of absolute evil, sin and the presence of the evil one who comes to kill, steal and destroy.
* We understand God's wrath and the eschatological storm on the human horizon as we hear the defeated whimpers of children in sex brothels who should be learning to play the flute or read and write. Such whimpers allow us to feel the density of darkness.
* We need so much more than religious platitudes to deal with this darkness, we need the power of God-light to invade our world, to invade our story again!
* And this is exactly where we see Him, the one who the creation light streamed across the eons to shine upon that Sunday morning.
* Do you see Him now? In your mind's eye? Do you see Him twitching to consciousness as the wrappings fall from His limbs in the tomb? The stone now rolled away, he steps out to greet the creation light he himself set into motion for that very moment?
* When Jesus rose from the dead he rose in victory over sin and suffering, over ignorance and arrogance, over condemnation and judgment
* Jesus is alive Urbana, Jesus is alive!
* The Scriptures tell us that this in itself is not good news to all.
* John 3:19 says, "and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."
* We understand absolute evil in light of the absolute righteousness shone in Christ.
* What shall we do...what shall we do?
* The Scriptures say we either run and hide in futility, only to be eventually condemned by this light or we step into the light and embrace God's love.
* As Jesus stands at the center of human and divine history, he must also come to stand at the center of our story as well-of my story, the story of a boy by himself.
5. Salvation comes when we embrace God's gift of light by believing in Jesus Christ
* John tells us that salvation comes when we embrace God's gift of light and we do so by believing in His only Son.
* This was God's intention, to save us from the storm to come as John says here in verse 17, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
* Believing in Jesus is our entry into this vision of another world and our escape from the danger looming on the human horizon.
* I believe that this day, many of you are being called to come-to come to Christ and to Christ's Kingdom.
* You are being called into "A whole and lasting life."
* We come to Christ when we declare him right, when we come to submit all to him and recognize his irresistible right to rule.
* As the light streamed forward from before time to Christ and now streams backward from beyond time to Christ so Jesus Christ stands at the center of all human and divine history but this is not enough for God.
* God's great conquest, his great prize, the longing of God's heart is for women and men everywhere to come and submit all to Him.
* In just a moment, you are going to have that opportunity, the opportunity of a lifetime, the opportunity to give it all to God-to repent of your sin and to come to Jesus Christ.
* Stepping into the light means that you are recognizing that Jesus died your death on the cross, taking on himself all you've done and all you've left undone-that Christ died for your sin.
* Stepping into the light means that you are recognizing that Jesus is alive, that this God-light streamed forth into the world and into your life and couldn't be extinguished-not even by the grave.
* In God's view, we are like lost children being tossed on the life threatening seas of darkness, just a wave away from being dashed to pieces.
* Stepping in to the light means that you are recognizing Christ's right to rule your life, to lead your life, to become your ship's captain.
* We must give full control over to God who alone is able to lead us into another world.
* That time is now. Christ is calling many of you to embrace the decision to become a true Christ follower.
* For most of us here today, we've made this decision already but I believe there may be hundreds and hundreds of you here who have yet to embrace the light of Jesus Christ and this is your opportunity.
* In just a moment, I am going to ask hundreds of you to embrace the light of Jesus Christ and we will do this in a symbolic way as a community.
* My friends are coming now with a symbolic gesture of your willingness to embrace the light of Jesus Christ.
* It is nothing more than a simple, inexpensive glow stick but today it represents for those who are coming to Christ their entry into another world.
* In just a moment, I'm going to ask you to raise your hands so that my friends can see you and give you this simple symbol of your decision.
* Now, for some of you, you've grown up religious but you aren't a true Christ follower. For you, raising your hand is your way to say to God, "I want to step into the light and become a real Christian, a true follower of Jesus Christ."
* For some of you, you have been hanging around Christians, you may be here with a community but you know you are not living in Christ's Kingdom. Today is your day of salvation both from God's wrath and into His community.
* For still others of you, you have never thought to give your life to Christ. You may be wondering what you are doing here at all. I want to say that Christ has brought you here for this very moment-to surrender all to Him.
* Right now, if you want to become a Christ follower, to be saved from the wrath to come and to be saved into Christ's vision of another world, right now where you sit I'm asking you to raise your hand and raise it high. Keep it raised so that my friends can see you and get to you this simple symbol of your decision today.
* As they come, I want you to take this glow stick and crack it, shake it and hold it high so that all in the stadium can see you have surrendered to Christ.
* After all things, God ends his grand story of invading light by forever ending the darkness.
* At the end of time, John tells us of another world-a nightless world, a world that has no darkness, no suffering, no injustice-a world of light. John tells us in Rev. 21:23, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there."
