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JOHN 3:16

"GOD'S LOVE"

Intro: This is perhaps the greatest text in the Bible. The whole gospel is declared in a few
       simple words. Yet so profound few have dared to preach from this text. To do so is to
       court failure, no way can we ever fathom the depths that are here.

I. THE TEXT COMES AS A PART OF THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF NICODEMUS "HOW CAN THESE THINGS
   BE?
        A. Jesus had said to Nicodemus "You must be born . . . " to enter the Kingdom of  God.
                1. You have to be born of the Spirit.
                2. Men are not children of God naturally. It takes a new birth.
                        a. Don't allow any man to deceive you on this point.
        B. Man born of the flesh is dominated by his flesh.
                1. Man born again by the Spirit is ruled by the Spirit.
                2. The life of the Spirit is superior to the life of the flesh.
                        a. This is a point of argument for many.
                        b. Life is intended to be much more than eat, drink & be merry.
                        c. The true purpose of the life not discovered until a man comes into
                           fellowship with God by the new birth.
                        d. So here I am, I have followed the wrong path, I am wasted. I have
                           indulged my lusts but I still thirst. How can I be born again?

II. "AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS, EVEN SO MUST THE SON OF MAN BE LIFTED
    UP".
        A. In Numbers 21, we read of the people murmuring against Moses and God.
                1. God had sent deadly fiery serpents among them.
                2. The people confessed their sin.
                3. Moses made a brass serpent and put it on a pole in the midst of the camp.
                4. "Even so must the Son. . ."
                        a. Jesus is saying that the cross is a divine imperative.

III. "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD. . ."
        A. Consider the world that God loved:
                1. Not the beautiful world He had created.
                        a. A pure world of beauty.
                        b. A world in harmony with Him.
                2. A world in rebellion against Him, who hated Him.
                        a. A world whose beauty had become marred by curse from sin.
                        b. A world of greed, strife, hatred, wars.
                        c. Yet God loved it.
                        d. "For God commended His love towards us . . ."
                3. Love must be measured by the obstacles it overcomes.

IV. "SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE. . ."
        A. Love must be measured by its gifts.
                1. God gave His only begotten Son.
        B. The purpose for which He gave Him.
                1. "Must the Son of Man be lifted up."
                2. He gave Him to suffer and die for man.
                        a. I could understand Him giving His Son to wear a crown encrusted
                           with diamonds and rubies.
                        b. But not a crown of thorns.

V. THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM.
        A. "Who So ever."
                1. Tired of sin, frustration, emptiness & hopelessness.