Think with me about some of the most important conversations you have ever had for a moment, will you?
For the married men, what’s your reaction when your wife says, “We need to talk”? Yeah, that’s my reaction, too.
More seriously…
What are some of the most important conversations you’ve had in your life? Any discussion with HR is important, right? Or, when you are talking to the doctor about treatment options, you have to ask, “How much time do I have left?” When you are talking to someone that you want to spend your life with, and you are discussing your future together. One more, how about talking to her father for his daughter’s hand?
Some conversations are so important that they linger in your mind for a long time afterward.
Today’s Scripture
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:16-21).
The Gospel of John talks about some big weighty items here, including God’s mercy, heaven, and hell. Have you ever noticed how more people talk about hell outside the walls of the church than inside?
If you are doing your best, you are “Trying like hell." You go to your doctor, and she asks you how much you hurt, and you say, “It hurts like hell.” If you are really thrilled about something, they will say, "I’m as excited as hell.” We describe crazy drivers as “Hell on wheels.” When a violent protest takes place, we will say, “All hell broke loose.” A bad spouse is “Hell to live with.” There are people who drive like “A bat out of hell.” What are your odds of winning the lottery? “A snowball's chance in hell.” We like to say, troublemakers, “Raise hell.” We tell people that, “You will have hell to pay.” And we know that before SMU beats TCU, “Hell will freeze over.”
I hope with all the talk about hell outside the church, you will forgive Jesus for talking about hell inside the church this morning.
1. Why Should I Care About This?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
1.1 How Much Time Should You Devote to John 3
This is the 4th message (with one more coming) focused on a conversation and the aftermath between Nicodemus and Jesus. How much time should we devote to this one conversation? How much time should you read and study this one chapter?
The TV show Simpsons played on Fox from December 17, 1989, to the present. There was a total of 35 years for a total of 765 episodes. With each episode lasting around 22 minutes, you would spend 16,830 minutes, or a little less than 280.5 hours in total, watching every episode of The Simpsons. If you are not a fan of the cartoon but are more a fan of Grey’s Anatomy. The medical drama premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC and is still running. If you were to watch every single one of the 380 episodes, you would have devoted 16,340 minutes or a little more than 272 hours of your life to the personal lives of fictional people at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. You will spend 6 months waiting for a red light to turn green at stoplights in an average life.1
If you wonder just how much time to devote to the conversation found in John 3, you can read the entire chapter in a matter of minutes. If you were here for all 5 sermons on John 3, each one lasting an average of around 30 minutes, and if you were actually listening to all of them, then you would have spent 2.5 hours listening, studying, and reading about Jesus’ famous conversation with Nicodemus. Is this conversation important enough to devote 2.5 hours of your life to? Is this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, where the Son of God says, “You must be born again,” important enough to give 2.5 hours of your time? Before you answer that, consider the following.
1.2 Eternity
The average American’s life is right around 76 years now, per the folks at the CDC.2
Jesus speaks of “eternal life” in verse 16. How do we get our minds around “eternal life” and feel the length and weight of this? In a story called “The Shepherd’s Boy” from the Brothers Grimm, someone asked the shepherd boy an interesting question, “How many seconds of time are there in eternity?” The Shepherd boy says imagine a Diamond Mountain that is 2.5 miles high. Every 100 years, a bird comes by this Diamond Mountain comes by to peck away at this mountain. Whenever the bird has worn away this 2.5 mile of Diamond Mountain at this rate of one peck per 100 years, only one second of eternity will be over.1
How much does eternity matter to you? How much does your personal eternity matter to you?
1.3 The Four Quarters of Life
Again, the average American’s life is right around 76 years now, per the folks at the CDC. Let me press eternity on you a little with a metaphor I’ve used in the past. Some of you find this funny and few may find it even offensive. I don’t intend to either but I share this for personal reflection. If you live the average life expectancy, high school seniors have 60 more years to live – if you’re average! Think of it this way: you’ve completed your first quarter. While some of you are in life’s first quarter, most of you are living somewhere between the second quarter of life. You are between 20 and 40 years of age; you haven’t reached halftime just yet. You are in the 2nd quarter of life. Some of you are between 40 and 60, and you’re in the 3rd quarter of life. Some of you and I love the ones who are here, you are between 60-80 – you are in the 4th quarter. Truthfully, some of you are living in sudden death over time! Given where you are in life, I want you to soberly assess your life and your eternal future. Let me ask you again: how much time should you devote to thinking and praying about this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, where the Son of God says, “You must be born again?” Here is a conversation that is so important that the Gospel of John begins to reflect on it. From verses 16-21, John is reflecting on an eternally historic conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. By verse 16, it’s highly likely that Jesus and Nicodemus are no longer speaking.
1.4 If This Were a Film
If the Gospel of John were a filmmaker, then verses 16-21 would be a voiceover. Imagine if the Gospel of John were a filmmaker, then the camera’s focus would be moved away from Jesus and Nicodemus. John is doing a monologue or a voiceover if this were a film. In effect, John says, “What we have heard is so vital, so important that we need to reflect on all that we have heard.”
1. Why Should I Care About This?
2. Why Did Jesus Come?
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17-18).
The Bible says Jesus was sent into the world not to condemn it but to save it. Jesus was sent to save the world and not condemn the world.
2.1 The Mirror Image
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).
Notice something John loves to do: he gives you the mirror image of a truth. In verse 16, John states the positive, while in verse 17, he states the same truth but negatively. Positive: God gave His only Son to you would have eternal life. Negative: God didn’t come to condemn; He came to save! It’s the mirror image. It’s the other side of the coin. But John expands further.
2.2 No Judgment/No Condemnation
Does this mean that no one will be condemned? Will everyone be saved? No, as verse 18 tells us, condemnation is unavoidable. Judgment is unavoidable, and here’s why: “Whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18b).
Jesus believes in a place called hell. In contrast to the majority of Americans, Jesus believes there is a place of eternal hell.
We have a saying today: “Don’t Go There.” Have you been given a stern look, and somebody has said to you, “Don’t Go There?” For many, you’re saying, “Don’t Go There.”
Nearly two-thirds of Americans in a national survey said that they believe they will go to heaven. Only one-half of 1 percent said they are bound for hell.4 Maybe the majority of people in our church believe in hell just as Jesus did. But we know a belief in hell is mocked by those in America.
2.3 Bernie Sanders and Hell
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was questioning Russell Vought, who was nominated for office when Trump served as President. Sanders had a line of attack based on Vought’s Christian belief. Vought had written a blog post defending his alma mater. Wheaton College, a Christian school, suspended a tenured professor for saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Vought wrote, “They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.” Sanders brought up the passage, again and again, in the hearing. He asked Vought if he thought his statement was Islamophobic. Vought said, “Absolutely not, senator.”
“Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned, too?” Sanders asked. “I’m a Christian,” Vought repeatedly responded. After a minute of this, Senator Sanders was frustrated and said, “I understand you are a Christian. But there are other people who have different religions in this country and around the world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?”6 Again, Vought faced backlash for writing about Muslims: “They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.” How would you respond if you were questioned on your belief in eternity?
2.4 An Apparent Contradiction
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17-18).
“Wait a minute, I thought Jesus just told us He didn’t come to judge us. Now He’s judging us? I don’t understand.”
From verse 18, we learn that when Jesus came, the world was guilty because of their failure to believe. c
The Bible repeatedly says we are guilty by default. Despite our guilty status, Jesus was sent to the world in love for us. Seeing our need, God sent Jesus to reverse our problem. God’s purpose wasn’t to destroy us but to save us.
So how does Jesus say, “I’m not here to judge you, but then go on to tell us He’s judging us?” When you reject Christ’s saving work, Jesus says judgment is the result. The Son of God came into an already lost and condemned world. He did not come into a neutral world in order to save some and condemn others. No, He came into an already condemned world in order to save some. Anybody He does save is one less person to condemn. Since we were all lost and condemned to hell, any of us He saves is one less to judge. Jesus came to save, redeem, and rescue us.
2.5 Offered to Any and All
Notice that John uses the term “world” in both verse 16 and verse 17.
The news that Jesus came to save the world would have shocked the average religious person in Jesus’ day. Consider this: the Jewish people thought the Messiah was coming to save them but would judge all the other races.7 The people at Qumran, a community of strict religious people down by the Dead Sea around the time of Jesus, felt God was going to save them alone and judge everyone else. Now, that may mean next to nothing to you, but when John said Jesus is coming to offer the whole world an opportunity to believe in Him, it was shocking.8 Jesus offers Himself to the world, to any and all.
1. Why Should I Care About This?
2. Why Did Jesus Come?
3. Why Does Jesus Judge Any of Us?
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).
Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus famously says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
3.1 Light Is the Judgement
So, when Jesus says light has come into the world, He’s talking about Himself. When light came into the world, the Bible says people strongly preferred darkness. Not only do we naturally hate the light, the Bible says we refuse to come to the light because our evil thoughts and actions will be exposed.
When you think, “I don’t believe because of intellectual reasons.” Jesus says our problem is ALWAYS moral.
None of us truly comprehend the full extent of the evil in us and in our world. In one of the earliest parts of the Bible, God tells Cain, who was just about to murder his brother, that evil was crouching like an animal, ready to pounce on him. Sin was crouching at the door waiting for us (Genesis 3:7). Jesus says darkness dominates us. And Jesus calls all this “the judgment” in verse 19.
3.2 Condemnation
When the Bible talks about God’s condemnation and judgment, it simply means he is a God of standards. Scottie Scheffler just won the famed Masters golf tourney. If you were in charge of the private golf course called Augusta National Golf Club, you would be discerning. You would know that whatever landscaping you sculpted for the course would need to be picturesque. You wouldn’t just place any azaleas and dogwood on the famous 12th hole; you’d place beautiful azaleas and dogwood. Because Augusta has standards. Again, if you were given the responsibility of decorating the historic clubhouse, you’d be super discerning because this is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world.
Again, you’d have standards.
Our God has standards, and you have them inside of you roaming around, too. Every one of us has a sense of justice crying out from inside of us. Do you remember when that evil man ambushed police officers in Dallas in 2016, and killed five officers? You felt an inner sense of justice crying out for his punishment. When an elderly person is taken advantage of by some crooks in a fraudulent scheme where thousands are taken from them… you feel this inner sense of justice that they need to be judged.
God condemns because He has standards. God judges because He has standards. Our God is against evil. I am thankful to stand here and tell you there’s coming a day when God will finally, once and for all, put an end to evil.
One day, the Bible pictures this judgment: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:12). The judgment that is coming at the final days will separate us for all of eternity.
3.3 Believe
Look back at verse 18: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).
Jesus says belief equals no condemnation, and nonbelief equals condemnation. Unbelief is the major sin, the mother sin, the father sin. Unbelief is the one sin out of which all other sins grow. Unbelief is the one sin that will damn you and send you to hell.9 Not believing in the Son of God is self-condemnation.10
God isn’t to blame for your condemnation. If you refuse to believe, the blame is squarely on you and you alone. The Bible says God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). He would rather any one of us turn and live than refuse to believe and be judged. Friend, you’ll never be able to point a finger in the face of God and say, “God, if I go to hell, it’s your fault.” Friend, if you go to hell, it’s your fault. God put His darling Son on the cross, and God, in infinite love and mercy, sent Jesus Christ.
1. Why Should I Care About This?
2. Why Did Jesus Come?
3. Why Does Jesus Judge Any of Us?
4. What Should I Do?
“But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:21).
John keeps turning the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus over in his mind. It’s like it's keeping him up at night; he’s so focused on its eternal, historic importance. Rather than telling us what Nicodemus does, John probes at you. He’s asking, “What are you going to do?”
4.1 Light Lovers
John closes with an invitation for light-lovers and truth-doers. Truth-doers and light-lovers come to Christ because, in their own honest conviction and not just as “humble praise,” …they really believe that the credit for their lives coming towards God should be given to the Lord who drew them.11 Verse 21 says God deserves the credit for the believers’ life.
4.2 Two Alternatives Only
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Would you please notice Jesus gives only two alternatives here? Two and two alone. We are told that computer languages are translated into binary code. Binary code is the primary language that computers understand, as it consists of only two digits: 0 and 1.
Jesus says eternity is binary. Friend, you will either perish or experience eternal life.
4.2 Albert Einstein and a Train
Albert Einstein, the well-known Physicist, got onto a train going from Princeton, NJ to Boston. Soon after he got on the train, he began searching for his ticket. When the conductor arrived at Einstein’s seat, the conductor said, “Mr. Einstein, I, and everyone else on this train know who you are, and I am sure you have a ticket; rest assured that you have a seat on this train.” Einstein was relieved momentarily but then continued to frantically look for his ticket. When the conductor had finished checking everyone’s tickets, he noticed Einstein still trying to find the lost ticket. The conductor walked down the aisle, tapped Einstein on the shoulder. and said, “Dear sir, I have total faith and confidence that you have a ticket. Please take your seat and be sure you can ride this train.” To this, Einstein replied, “Thank you again, kind sir, but I need to locate that train ticket to find out where I am going!”12
Do you know where you are going in life? My dear Christ-believing friends, do you care enough about your loved ones, neighbors, and coworkers to find out where they are going? a minister at the Encourager’s Room, or texting what you see on the screen.
EndNotes
1 https://vocal.media/fyi/the-average-person-will-spend-months-of-their-life-waiting-for-red-lights-to-turn-green; accessed April 24, 2024.
2 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220831.htm; accessed April 24, 2024.
3 https://fatheredwardbarlow.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/the-little-bird-and-the-diamond-mountain/; accessed April 24, 2024.
4 https://www.deseret.com/2003/10/25/19792181/most-believe-in-heaven-and-think-they-ll-go-there/; accessed April 28, 2024.
5 https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/11/23/views-on-the-afterlife/; accessed April 28, 2024.
6 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/09/532116365/is-it-hateful-to-believe-in-hell-bernie-sanders-questions-prompt-backlash; accessed April 28, 2024.
7 Ta’an. 1:1; cf. Num. Rab. 16:23; Andreas J. Kostenberger, John, Zondervane Illustrated Backgrounds Commentary (Zondervan, 2002), 38.
8 Omitted in the interest of time: Think about the United States Constitution by comparison for a moment. The Constitution says three-fifths of slaves were counted in Southern states when determining how many representatives the Southern states received in Congress. The Southern states were arguing at the Constitutional Convention that slaves should not vote because they were property like farm animals. Yet, these same states wanted the slaves to count as humans so the southern states could have more representatives in Congress. You may be thinking, “Pastor, why would you offend a Southern state by bringing this uncomfortable fact up?” I bring this up to remind everyone that Jesus’ offer to save any and all is something to marvel at. Not even in recent days, do we feel any and all are welcome. Not even in recent days, do we feel any and all should be given full voting privileges. Marvel at Jesus’ offer to any and all with me. Marvel that Jesus didn’t offer His love on the cross to the Jews, the good-looking, or the Ivy League. https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/4/elector-qualifications; accessed April 25, 2024.
9 Adrian Rogers, “Lifting up Jesus,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017).
10 Andreas J. Kostenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Baker Academic2004), 130.
11 Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Eerdmans, 2012), 209.
12 https://www.quora.com/Did-Albert-Einstein-once-forget-his-address-when-going-home-from-work-by-train; accessed April 25, 2024.
