John 3:16

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in 

Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 

This is the first verse that most of us ever memorized.  The reason we all memorized this verse is because it is the verse that summarizes the Gospel in the most complete way.  Nicodemus was confused about who Jesus was and what he needed to do to be born again into a spiritual relationship with God.  Jesus makes it as clear as it can be in this verse and the verses that follow.  We can all be thankful that Nicodemus was so slow to understand what Jesus was teaching because we have all benefited greatly from this simple summary of salvation.      

MOTIVE OF SALVATION – GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU: God’s love for the world is one of the most amazing truths in all of Scripture.  When we look back over the history of mankind and all of the idolatry, rebellion and disobedience that has marked every generation; it is astounding to be assured the He loves us.  God’s love for us is the only reason that He would even offer salvation to us and motivated Him to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  Every person who rejects Christ breaks the heart of God.  Love is the very essence of God’s character and is the attribute He most desires to see us emulate.  God’s holiness is His predominant attribute but when Jesus summarized the Law He commanded us to love God and others.  If we truly love God we will be holy as He desires for us to be.  Love and obedience always go hand in hand.  No matter how deep we have fallen into sin; God’s love is never changing.  His love is unconditional, sacrificial, eternal and constant.  Most people have an image of God as an angry person who delights in judging sinners.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  His holiness demands that sin be judged but it does not delight Him to condemn sinners.  He loves us and longs to forgive us so that we can be reconciled to Him and enjoy His presence with Him for evermore.

MEANS OF SALVATION – CHRIST’S DEATH FOR YOU: The greatest demonstration of God’s love is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  God gave Jesus to be our Savior through His death and the shedding of His blood.  As a holy and righteous God, He could not excuse sin without the shedding of blood.  Since the wages of sin is death; Jesus was the only one who could die in our place because He is the only one without sin.  All of us were born with sin natures that we inherited from our fathers and we all commit sin as proof of that reality.  However, all of us are born dead in our sins because of Adam’s original sin.  The reason that Christ’s death can provide salvation for all men is because all men are under the condemnation of Adam’s sin.  Jesus took all of our sin upon Himself and died in our place.  That is why He is called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  God the Father is the one who gave Jesus to be the sacrifice for sin.  Jesus was not killed by the Jews, the Romans or you and I; He was offered as a sacrifice for our sin and the sin of the world by the Father.

REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION – FAITH IN CHRIST FROM YOU: The only condition for salvation is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Whoever believes in Him will be saved from their sin.  The question that we must answer very carefully is: believe what?  It is not enough to simply believe that Jesus was a good man and a real historical figure who was crucified.  We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  If we do not recognize Jesus as being God in the flesh we cannot be saved.  We must also believe that His death is the only means by which we can be saved.  If we think that we can contribute anything to our salvation by our good works or completing religious rituals; we are not saved.  If we believe in who He is and trust exclusively in what He has done for us; our sins are forgiven and we are saved.  When we turn from our own self-righteousness and the worship of ourselves to place our faith on the cross of Christ all of our sin is washed away by His blood and all of His righteousness is credited to our account.  It is the best legal transaction that could ever take place.  All of our sin is placed on Him and all of His righteousness is place upon us.  This is what happens when we believe.

RESULT OF SALVATION – ETERNAL LIFE FOR YOU: Jesus lays out two clear options for every person on the planet: perish or eternal life.  Those who trust Christ will be given eternal life in the presence of God.  They will never perish or be separated from God.  All who have placed their faith in Christ need not fear death because we will be resurrected to a life that will never end.  We will never die.  However, those who do not trust Christ will perish.  They will be separated from the presence of God for all of eternity where they will suffer in the fires of hell.  Those of us who have placed our faith on the Lord Jesus Christ will enjoy perfect fellowship with God and we will worship Him perfectly forever.  Eternal life is not just endless life; it is also a quality of life in God’s presence that we can only imagine now.  He loves us and is taking great delight in preparing our eternal lives.  Just as we take great pleasure in giving gifts to our children; God will be overflowing with Joy as He gives us eternal life.  There is no greater gift and no more important priority than eternal life.

APPLICATION: Rejoice in the love of God.  Remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross with humility and gratitude.  Trust Jesus exclusively as the Son of God who has offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sin.  Turn from our sinful self-reliance and rebellion to believe on the Lord Jesus.  Be thrilled at the prospect of experiencing eternal life in the presence of God.  We should daydream about heaven.