Scripture: John 3:16
Sermon Series: John 3:16 – God’s Love Language – Sermon 01

Do you have a favorite love song? As a couple, do you have a special song? For Jane and I, it’s: Could I have this dance for the rest of my life? by Anne Murray.

How well do you know popular love songs? Let’s find out. I have six of them. First one to get their hand up – well, it’s February and Valentine’s Day, so you’ll win a heart. Just name the artist. Are you ready?

• Wise men say, only fools rush in, But I can’t help falling in love with you – Elvis Presley
• Something in the way she moves. Attracts me like no other lover – The Beatles
• I want to know what love is – Foreigner
• I will always love you – Whitney Houston
• Cause all of me loves all of you, – John Legend
• When the rain is blowing in your face. And the whole world is on your case I could offer you a warm embrace. To make you feel my love – Adele

The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. In many ways it’s a love song. It’s God’s love song to us and our lost world. We’re beginning a study on John 3:16, what we’re calling God’s Love Language. John 3:16 is the greatest, most concise statement of God’s love and the Gospel. It’s a 24-word sentence of love and hope. It begins with God and ends with everlasting life. It’s brief enough to write on a post it note or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather 2,000 years of storms and questions. If you don’t know anything about the Bible, start here. We all need these reminders: For God, So Loved, The World, He Gave, His Only Son, that Whoever Believes in Him, Should not Perish but have Eternal Life.

During the 2011-2012 playoffs for the National Football League, then Denver Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow, captured media attention when he led the Broncos to an amazing overtime victory against the favored Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only was the victory remarkable, but stories quickly surfaced calling attention to the numbers 3-1-6 in Tebow’s game statistics.

Tebow passed for a total of 316 yards during the game. His average pass completion was 31.6 yards. The overnight TV rating for the last 15 minutes of the game was 31.6. What makes those stats more than “coincidental” is that in 2009, Tebow played in the NCAA football national championship game. On his face for all the world to see, he’d written “John 3:16” in the black smear beneath his eyes. It stirred up a lot of curiosity and over 90 million people googled the definition of John 3:16. Long before Tim Tebow, zealous Christians have displayed “John 3:16” in public places. It’s the best-known Bible reference in the world, even if people don’t know what the verse actually means.

Recently, I read of a heartbroken Sunday School teacher. A little girl had come to her class with a friend. The story that day was about Jesus. In the story the teacher had been saying “Jesus did this” and “Jesus said that” — until finally this little girl who was visiting interrupted and asked: Who is Jesus? The teacher was stunned. This child didn’t know who Jesus was. It’s a reminder to never assume everyone knows about Jesus. We may think everyone knows John 3:16, and that they’ve sinned, and God loved them anyway. And they know that God sent His only Son to die on the cross for them so they can be forgiven and have eternal life…but they don’t!

If you want to know what God is telling you through this verse, and why it’s so life-changing, we’re going to spell it out very simply phrase-by-phrase over the next 7 weeks. If you know someone: a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or a co-worker who may not be familiar with the simple truth of John 3:16, please invite them to come with you during these next few weeks.

Like all of the Bible, John 3:16 has a context. It’s important when studying Scripture that we don’t pull out a verse here or there, but study them in their context. John 3:16 was part of a conversation Jesus had with what would be a theological professor, Nicodemus, who came to talk to Jesus one night. If you want to remember what John 3 is about think of Nick at Night.

Our Savior is our model on how to talk to people about spiritual matters. He’s kind, gracious and not condescending. Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus has come from God, based on the signs he has witnessed. Jesus tells him about the new birth, that without being born-again, no one can see the kingdom of God. In verse 14 Jesus tells the reason that He came into the world. He compares it to the events of Numbers 21. The people of Israel rebelled against God, so the LORD sent venomous snakes as judgment upon them. Some were bitten. Some died. But some who were bitten confessed their sin and pleaded to Moses to pray to God for them.

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live’ (Numbers 21:6-8). It was a symbol of what Jesus would do when He was lifted up on the cross. But it wasn’t clear to Nicodemus what Jesus was saying. It only became clear later Jesus was speaking of His crucifixion.

That’s the reason Jesus came. He would be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:15). Jesus’ mission is explained in John 3:16. It’s in those two words, For God. That’s what we want to work through today. If you’re taking notes…

1. “For God” declares that God is. 

A little boy was drawing a picture. His mom asked him what he was drawing and the little guy responded, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The mother informed him that no one knows what God looks like. The little boy retorted, “They will when I get through.”  

What kind of mental picture do we have of God? Our danger is that we tend to recreate God rather than seeing God as He’s revealed Himself to us in the Bible. Often our thoughts about God are adjusted to our own perspective. When we adjust our concept of God to conform to our own thinking, we end up with a distorted view of God.

A 2018 study was done of 511 American Christians on what they think God looks like. The end result was picture of God as white, young and clean cut, a bit like someone from an 80s boy band. All 551 had some kind of bias. Those more liberal imagined God as “more feminine, younger, and more loving.” Conservatives imagined a white guy who was “more powerful.”

Chip Ingram is right: What you think about God shapes your whole relationship with Him. What you believe God thinks about you determines how close you will grow toward Him.

Each of us carries around a mental picture of who God is. It often doesn’t line up with how God has revealed Himself in His Word. It tends to be a collage of our experiences, impressions and assumptions. The process begins early as we observe our parents – those seemingly all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present beings who rule the cosmos of our home. As children, we instinctively project our view of our parents onto our view of God. As we grow up, other information is added to our view of God.  It includes our experiences with churches. We’ll update our deity database with inferences from teachers, movies, music, current events, and personal experiences.

Some view God as a robocop God with a club who goes around policing the universe. Others envision a Mr. Goodwrench God who just fixes problems. Some imagine a Grandfatherly God, from whom is never heard a discouraging word. Others see God like a vending machine, thinking He’s there just to give us what we want.

Our distorted view of God is the root of most of our problems.  We’ve created a god in our minds who only faintly resembles the God of Scripture. Our mental idols may comfort us yet are powerless to deliver us from sin or transform our lives. We tend to reduce God to manageable terms.

The awesome, all-knowing, all-powerful, holy God of the Bible makes us so uncomfortable that we turn on our mental compactors and shrink God. We try to tame or manage Him. We make Him accountable to us rather than humbly realizing we’re completely accountable to Him. When we rely on imagination alone, we deceive ourselves into thinking we really know God, but we don’t. For example, Halle Berry said, I believe in God. I just don’t know if that God is Jehovah, Buddha or Allah.

As you seek to share your faith, you’ll have conversations where you may be challenged to authenticate your faith. We’re asked to somehow verify the existence of the God with something like, “How do you know God is real?”

John 3:16 begins with God because everything begins with God. It’s so appropriate that this verse begins, For God. Half the problems of the world — or more — would be solved if we’d just understand this basic fundamental – everything starts with God. It never begins with us. We’re not the center of the universe; God is. This world is not about us; it’s about God.

It’s the first message the Bible gives us. The very first words are: In the beginning, God (Genesis 1:1). It’s no accident that John 3:16 begins with, For GOD… because everything starts with God. It reminds us that philosophically – and practically – all is centered around God. It’s a very specific God; One Who is glorious, worth being with for all eternity; who loves and made us to know Him and be satisfied with Him.

It’s significant that it doesn’t start with man.  It doesn’t say, “For MAN …”, but “For GOD.”  It’s the problem too many of us have.  We want everything to revolve around us. It doesn’t.  It revolves around Him, For God!

Centuries ago, when nations would make a map of the world, they had an interesting and revealing habit. They’d always put their own country in the middle of the map. All of the rest of the world revolved around them. They did this because they felt like they were the most important people.

It’s called ethnocentrism. That simply means that you think your particular group is at the center of history. The ancient Chinese called themselves the “Middle Kingdom.” They believed they were the center of the universe. “Ethnocentrism” has been around a long time and it’s still with us.

The problem of humanity is that not only that we are “ethnocentric,” we’re EGOcentric! The “ego” of course is the “I.” We think everything is all about US and the whole world must revolve around US!  Or, if we’re honest, it should revolve around ME. It’s selfishness and is the root of most of the problems we face in our marriages, families, economy, politics and in our churches…every sphere of life.  “Egocentrism” or selfishness is the root of sin. We want everything to revolve around us, as if we’re God but we’re not.

Most believe (or at least live) as though everything revolves around them. But this world is not all about us. This world was created by God, for God and His glory. That’s the biblical outlook. For the Christ-follower, it all begins with God.

The first thing that needs to happen to each of us to get right with God is to repent of our self-centeredness and confess, “Lord, I’m sorry I’ve tried to run my own life and made it all about me. I’ve only hurt myself and others trying to go my own selfish way. Please forgive me.” That’s what true repentance is – turning back from your self-centered life, and putting God as the center of your life, the way He’s supposed to be.

John 3:16 reminds us from the beginning that it’s all about God. You and I were created to know and love God. Sin is self-centeredness. It separates you from God. When you come to Christ, you don’t just pray a prayer, you ask for His forgiveness and put God in the center of your life where He belongs. You make your life revolve around Him. And one day when we get to heaven, we’ll spend all eternity around the throne of God, where He will be the glorious center of our attention, awe and worship. It will all be about Him forever. For God reminds us that it’s all about God!

2. “For God” declares that God is the Creator. 

On Christmas Eve of 1968, the three astronauts of Apollo 8 circled the dark side of the moon and headed for home. As their tiny capsule floated through space, they gazed at planet earth. What do you think they did? They didn’t quote Einstein, Shakespeare or Darwin. There was only one statement that could capture the magnificence of that moment. As billions all around the world listened, an astronaut acknowledged God as Creator reading these words: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God’s fingerprints are everywhere. Have you heard about the world’s greatest camera? It automatically aims and focuses in half a second and automatically adjusts in even less time. The color film on which it records is stereoscopic and self-renewing after every exposure. The development time is a fraction of a second. Expensive? It’s priceless…and you and I own two of them. I’m talking about the human eye.

Even Charles Darwin was impressed as he considered our eyes. In his book, The Origin of the Species, he wrote, To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations, could have been formed by natural selection seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.

The early church viewed the doctrine of Creation as the beginning point of theology, the bedrock of biblical belief. I wish I had the time to share with you all the exciting recent developments in science as scholars are discovering what the Bible has always said: The universe was made by an Intelligent Designer! Evolution is just a theory. Many of those who’ve argued for it now admit that it doesn’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. 

For example, Anthony Flew, who was a leading champion of atheism, concluded that a super intelligent being is the only good explanation for the origin of life and complexity of nature. He said, DNA has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life, that intelligence must have been involved.

The pinnacle of God’s creation is us, human beings, Imago Dei. When God created Adam and Eve, He made sure that they literally had everything that they needed. It was like God bringing them to live in a fully furnished home.   

Have you ever realized that of all that God has created, humans are regarded as the most special? It’s why when Adam and Eve sinned and brought death upon themselves and every descendant, God had a rescue plan.

“For God” reminds us that God loves His creation – US. Back in the early 90s, Bette Midler had a popular song entitled “From a Distance.” The refrain goes like this: “God is watching us…from a distance.”

John 3:16 reminds us that God isn’t watching us from a distance. The Bible tells us that God is present and involved with His creation. He’s involved with us, with you and me! The Bible tells us that when we’re conceived in our mothers’ wombs, it was because of God’s involvement. Anytime a human being comes into existence, God is present and working. 

Recently, Ben bought a new car – new to him. It’s his baby. Remember your new car? You’re so careful. You park at the end of the parking lot at Walmart rather than risk a dent. But God the Father’s children, Adam and Eve, didn’t just get a dent…they totaled it. Yet, God still loved them and had a rescue plan! God is not only the Creator; He’s also the rescuer! Why?

Because God loves the poor and loves the rich. He loves men and women, boys and girls. God loves the older person using a walker and the newborn dozing in her mother’s arms. He loves the strong and healthy, and loves the weak, sick, and broken. God loves the educated and illiterate. He loves those from every people group. He loves the Amish and the transgendered. God loves liars, thieves, hustlers, adulterers, pimps, prostitutes, rapists, pedophiles and the victims of sexual predators. God loves murderers, gang bangers, and those who abort babies. God loves dead-beat dads and loves the abandoned. He loves the happily married, the miserably married, the single, and widowed. God loves those who bow down to idols and those who bow down to sports teams. God loves atheists, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. God loves His enemies and those who hate him. He loves the gentle soul that wouldn’t swat a fly. He loves selfish, mean, vicious people. God loves everyone and He loves you no matter who you are or what you’ve done.

“For God” reminds us that God planned our rescue. It wasn’t Plan B. God knew that we’d blow it. There are two attributes about God that we must know – God is holy and God is love. Because He is holy, God can’t close His eyes to sin. Because He is love, God won’t close His eyes to sinners. He longed to rescue us! It’s why He sent His only Son, Jesus…He came for us.

For God reminds us that salvation is from God. Jesus doesn’t begin His explanation of salvation with man; He begins with God. Salvation always begins with God! If God hadn’t done something for us, we’d all be hopelessly lost forever. Salvation comes from God! We must look to Him for salvation. Unfortunately, that’s not what most people do.  Most people look for something they can do to save themselves. 

An example of that is found in the story of what happened on a jet a few years ago. Pete Rose was on a flight with the Cincinnati Reds, and the plane flew into a terrible storm. It was so bad that even the flight crew was rattled. Pete Rose’s teammate, Hal King was sitting by Rose. During the storm Rose turned to him and said: If this plane goes down, I am taking a .300 lifetime batting average with me. How about you?

Now most people wouldn’t claim their sporting skills would justify them before God and earn them a place in heaven. But many look to their own good works and deeds to justify themselves before God. They think things like: “I’m a good person; I went to church; I gave money. I cared about people. I haven’t sinned like others have.” But Romans 3:20 says: By the works of the Law, no flesh shall be justified in His sight. Friend, you must look to God for your salvation. It can’t come from yourself. For God! 

Conclusion

Bill Tucker was sixteen when his dad suffered a health crisis and consequently had to leave his business. Even after Mr. Tucker regained his health, the Tucker family struggled financially, barely getting by. Mr. Tucker, an entrepreneurial sort, came up with an idea. He won the bid to reupholster the chairs at the local movie theater.

It stunned his family. He’d never stitched a seat and didn’t even own a sewing machine. Still, he found someone to teach him how and located an industrial-strength machine. The family scraped together every cent they had to buy it. They drained savings accounts and dug coins out of the sofa. Finally, they had enough.

It was a great day when Bill rode with his dad to pick up the equipment. Bill remembers a jovial, hour-long trip discussing the bright horizons this new opportunity afforded them. They loaded the machine in the back of their truck and secured it right behind the cab. Mr. Tucker then invited his son to drive home. I’ll let Bill tell you what happened next:

As we were driving along, we were excited, and I, like any sixteen-year-old driver, was probably not paying enough attention to my speed. Just as we were turning on the clover leaf to get on the expressway, I will never ever, ever forget watching that sewing machine, which was already top-heavy, begin to tip. I slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. I saw it go over the side. I jumped out and ran around the back of the truck. As I rounded the corner, I saw our hope and our dream lying on its side in pieces. And then I saw my dad just looking. All of his risk and all of his endeavor and all of his struggling and all of his dream, all of his hope to take care of his family was lying there, shattered.

You know what comes next don’t you? “Stupid, punk kid driving too fast, not paying attention, ruined the family by taking away our livelihood.”

But that’s not what Bill’s Dad said. He looked right at me: Oh, Bill, I am so sorry. Then, he walked over, put his arms around me, and said, “Son, this is going to be okay.”

My friend, God is whispering that to you, “This is going to be okay.” Those are His arms you feel. Trust Him. That’s His voice you hear. Believe Him. Allow the only decision Maker in the universe to comfort you, to rescue you.

Life at times appears to break in pieces and seems irreparable. But it’s going to be okay. How can you know? For God so loved the world.

If God can make a billion galaxies, can’t He make a good one out of our bad one and sense out of our broken lives? Of course He can. But you have to know Him. J.I. Packer wrote: It is possible to know about God without knowing God intimately. This is the danger of sterile intellectualism. It’s easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that since we know a lot of things about God, that we must know Him well.

Do you know God? I’m not asking if you know about God. I’m asking do you know Him? Does He know you? Are you one of His blood-bought children? If you don’t, do you want to know Him? Do you have a heart longing to know Him?

Why not stop resisting that heart longing and decide to become a Christ-follower? Why not let Jesus lead you into the presence of God right now?

Pray—and admit that you’re a sinner. Confess your belief that Jesus is God’s Son and that He died for your sin. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and then commit your life to Him and let Him be the Savior and Lord of your life. My friend, what are you waiting for?

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.