For God So Loved
September 1, 2024

Today, we’ll be covering one of the most familiar passages in the Bible: John 3:16. One of the reasons this verse is so widely memorized and deeply loved is that it is a remarkably full summary of the gospel. In it, we learn of danger, design, duty, and destiny.

I. The Danger: Apart from Jesus — We are Perishing

A. John 3:16: For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not

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but have eternal life.

B. What Does It Mean to Perish?

1.More than just death. It is to be under the wrath of God.

a)John 3:36: The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God

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.

  1. Separated from God. 2 Thessalonians 1:9: They will pay the penalty of

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    destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength.

  2. The opposite of eternal life. It is eternal and irreversible, Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:26.

C. Why Will We Perish if We Don’t Believe?

  1. We are frail, decrepit sinners. Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The one who sins, dies.

  2. Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

D. Why Does Sin Deserve Punishment?

  1. Because of who God is. He made us, owns us, and sustains us.

  2. As our creator, we owe Him our trust, allegiance, and love. A life lived in rejection of Him — deserves eternal punishment.

II. The Design: Love. John 3:16: For God

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the world in this way:

A. How did He Love?

  1. He gave his one and only son. He gave him up to rejection and death, John 1:11.

B. Love: Despite our rebelliousness. Romans 5:7–8:But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ

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for us.

C. For Everyone: so that

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who believes ….

  1. Every sinner who has committed every type and degree of sin.

III. The Duty: Faith. John 3:16: everyone who

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in him will not perish but have eternal life.

A. Those who choose not to believe remain under God’s wrath, John 3:36.

B. The love of God is sufficient to save the world — but efficient to save those who believe.

C. Defining Belief.

  1. An ongoing condition of the heart and mind. Present tense.

  2. The issue is: “Are you believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God? Is this the ongoing condition of your heart?”

D. Believing What? “in him.” (as the Son of God sent by God.)

  1. John 1:29: The Lamb of God, who

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    the sin of the world! But there is more:

  2. It is dependence on Christ crucified for salvation and accepting His atonement for our sins.

  3. John 3:15: so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal

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    . All you can do is trust God.

IV. As We Close

A. The Destiny: Eternal Life. John 3:16: everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

B. When we hear His words, yield to God’s power, and believe on Jesus, we receive eternal life, because He is eternal life.

  1. John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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    comes to the Father except through me.

C. Are things in your life driving you toward God? Look to Jesus — believe in Him — and be saved.