August 2, 2009John 3:3-17; I Corinthians 15:1-11John 3:16 is probably the most memorable, oft-quoted, well-loved, greatest verse in the Bible; and deservedly so. I once saw a framed poster that put it this way:
God : the greatest Lover
so loved : the greatest degree
the world : the greatest company
that he gave : the greatest act
his only begotten Son : the greatest gift
that whosoever : the greatest opportunity
believeth : the greatest simplicity
in him : the greatest attraction
should not perish : the greatest promise
but : the greatest difference
have : the greatest certainty
everlasting life : the greatest possession And across the top of the poster in the largest letters was the title, “Christ – the Greatest Gift.” That the God of the universe should be a loving God is a most surprising gift. In the ancient world throughout all the ancient religions (and in many religions around the world today), God or the gods are to be feared. Life is so uncertain that people try everything they can to avoid or appease the gods. Accident, injury, sickness, draught, plague, flood, extreme cold or extreme heat, death itself; these are seen as acts of god against the human animal. The gods are to be feared, avoided, appeased at all costs. Even today when there are natural disasters or when disease strikes, people ask, “Where is God? Does God really love me? How can a loving God allow this to happen?” The problem of pain and suffering persists in our human experience. Then came the revelation of a true and living God to Abraham to Moses to Israel, to David, and finally through Jesus and to the Church. A radical message was shared. God is love. In fact, the biblical writers chose an obscure word and raised to a higher level as a brand new word for love. A common Greek word for love was storge for general affection or fondness in the family. Another word philia describes friendship. Eros is all about sensual love. What could describe God’s righteous, holy love? Gracious, sovereign, everlasting love? The fullness of love that Jesus demonstrated in his life, death and resurrection? The word agape was adopted and infused with this amazing definition and description of the love God has for us. I. The Surprising Nature of God’s Love “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If it were, storge, philia, or eros, God would love us because we are lovable. “After all, we are really quite lovable,” we may think. Well, we’re not. Agape had to be used to describe a love so very different from what we would expect. As we have seen in the last few sermons, without Christ, we stand in violation of the just law of God and under God’s judgment and wrath. Agape lets us know just how truly remarkable it is that God yet loves us. The Bible makes this clear in so many places. Romans 5 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” I John 4 says, “And this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” When we come to appreciate the meaning of the Cross, then we can appreciate the love behind it. That’s what the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is all about. Realizing this, St. Augustine once called the cross “a pulpit” from which Christ preached God’s love to the world. God’s love is so dynamically and characteristically different from any love we could ever fully understand. Only after we know of God’s creation, of our sinful condition, of the seriousness of God’s wrath, and the costly price of redemption – only when we stand on this side of the Easter Cross and Resurrection – we see how God’s love stands behind all of it from beginning to end. II. The Amazing Spectrum of God’s Love So what can we say is God’s motivation to love? the love out of which we were created, and redeemed and preserved for an eternity with the Lord? Obviously, God’s love is always infinitely deeper than our awareness or expression of it. John 3:16 implies it: “For God so loved the world, or, God loved the world so much!” Ephesians 2 says that “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us…” The Lord’s love also seems to be inexhaustible. Paul prays that we “may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3). I love the story of a little girl named Mary Ann. She grew up knowing she was different, and she hated it. She was born with a cleft palate. When she started school, she’d tell other children that she’d fallen and cut her lip on a piece of glass. She was convinced that no one outside her family would understand or accept or even like her because of her misshapen lip. Her second grade teacher, Mrs. Leonard by name, gave the annual hearing test in a simple way. The children would stand against the door with one ear covered and Mrs. Leonard would whisper from her desk something like “The sky is blue” or “Do you have new shoes.” The children would have to repeat back what she’d whispered. Mary Ann waited her turn and heard words that only God could have put in her teacher’s mouth. Mary Ann says it changed her life. Mrs. Leonard whispered, “I wish you were my little girl.” In the great love of God, inexhaustible, sovereign, eternal love of God, the Lord says to each one of us, even when deformed by our sins and selfishness, “I wish you were my son… I wish you were my daughter.” Conclusion Yes, John 3:16 is the most memorable, oft-quoted, well-loved, greatest verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world,” for God loved you so much, God loved me so much, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever (you, me, anyone, anytime, any place) believes in him (trust in him as Lord and Savior) shall not perish (shall not be separated from life and love in Christ ever) but have eternal life. A poem put it this way:
God has not promised/ Skies always blue/ Flower-strewn pathways/ All our lives through
God has not promised/ Sun without rain/ Joy without sorrow/ Peace without pain
But God has promised/ Strength for the day/ Rest for the labor/ Grace for the trials
Help from above/ Unfailing sympathy/ Undying love. (Annie Johnson Flint) Let us pray together as we come to the Lord’s Table. |
