John 3:1-36

This is the chapter that, arguably, has the most important and well know verse in all of Scripture. Verse 16 is one of the best summaries of the Gospel and clearly presents the motive of salvation--the love of God, the means of salvation--the death of Christ, the condition of salvation--belief in Christ and the result of salvation--eternal life. Believe it or not, I don't think I have ever preached a message on this verse by itself, maybe I should. But the chapter has far more than just verse 16 so this could make a very long blog, but I will try to be brief. We basically have two messages in the chapter, and the messages, though from two different messengers are identical.
THE MESSAGE FROM JESUS: Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, probably because he was too worried about being seen with Jesus during the day. The Pharisees were not too fond of Jesus and His teachings. Jesus makes it clear that salvation is not something that is possible by the power of man. It requires the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. It requires a new birth. We cannot save ourselves and do not deserve the love of God or eternal life, but He graciously bestows it upon us when we believe. Christ came to this world to save us. Our sin leaves us under the condemnation of God, but the sacrifice of Christ provides a means by which we can be born again. The message to all of us is simple: BELIEVE
THE MESSAGE FROM JOHN: As the followers of Jesus began to increase, John's ministry began to diminish in number. Some of John's friends were concerned and questioned him about it. John makes it very clear that his purpose was to point people to Christ. John wants all of us to know one thing very clearly and that is that Christ is the only way to escape condemnation. Believing in Him and the work He came to do is the only way that that we can be saved. John's message like Christ's was very simple: BELIEVE

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