WHO IS JESUS
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 perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” - John 3:16-21
God, out of love, gave His one and only Son.
What does it mean to give? To give, is to hand over something to someone else and not expecting payment or anything in return. It is free.
“So that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life…” Listen to this. Hear this like you have never heard anything before in your life. Good people don’t go to Heaven. Those that put their faith in Jesus, those that believe in Jesus, those that understand the teachings of Jesus, it is those that go to Heaven.
Lots of good people die every day and suffer at the feet of Satan for eternity. Jesus didn’t go through the pain and agony of the cross so we would merely be good, he went through the pain and agony of the cross, so we would acknowledge that he is our Lord and that he is our Savior.
For those of us that find ourselves trapped by sin and looking for a way out, there’s some good news from Jesus in verse 17.
God sent his Son. The word “send” here is crucial. The way the word send is used here is to be commissioned, or to be given a charge or purpose. What he is saying is that God did not just send me to earth for me to do what I want to, he sent me to earth for a specific purpose. The Father commissioned the Son to save the world.
Why?
You see God has no desire to see his children live in the misery of an eternity in darkness. That’s why Jesus says here, I was sent to save the world, not condemn it.
Now, here’s a word for us. Jesus came to this world 2,000 years ago to save us. To defeat death through his resurrection, which we celebrate today. Through his resurrection and God’s love for us, we are offered a choice: salvation or condemnation. I can’t choose for you, your momma can’t make the decision for you, it’s your choice. Salvation is defined as those who believe in Jesus Christ being delivered from sin and its consequences. Condemnation means “to pronounce to be guilty, to sentence to punishment, or to pass judgment against.”
Jesus tells us here, he had to come to earth. You see the Father tried to get people to right, to obey him and his teachings, but they refused to do so. For us, we see this all throughout the Old Testament. We see a God that gave his people chance after chance after chance, because He loved them, but they never would obey Him.
There are some of us that love sin. We live in sin, but we say we love Jesus, or that we are followers of Jesus. Jesus says here it’s one or the other. We can’t live in the darkness and love the light. We can live with sin and be a follower of Jesus.
Followers of Jesus must do what is good and what is right, but we must do it because we know, love, and follow Jesus.
For some of us, sin is a big part of your life. Some of you even know the scriptures, but refuse to walk by them for whatever reason.
•Maybe we think we’re too young and we have time to make room for Jesus.
•Maybe we heard Jesus’ words before, but we refuse to step out of the darkness, because what lies in the darkness feels good, it feels right and we would rather choose what feels good.
•Maybe we make the decisions we make because someone hurt us, or the church hurt us, and acting in opposition to Jesus is you opposing certain people in your life.
Can I tell you, it’s not worth it. Jesus was pretty clear in the scripture above when he said, if we love darkness, we hate the light. If we love sin, then we hate Jesus. No person or situation is worth giving up your salvation and your eternity to spend with Jesus. Look, you maybe mad at somebody or some situation, I will tell you today, that’s ok. If you’ve been hurt or you’ve been wronged, I’m sorry, but don’t turn your back on Jesus, instead lean on him.
God, out of love, gave His one and only Son.
What does it mean to give? To give, is to hand over something to someone else and not expecting payment or anything in return. It is free.
“So that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life…” Listen to this. Hear this like you have never heard anything before in your life. Good people don’t go to Heaven. Those that put their faith in Jesus, those that believe in Jesus, those that understand the teachings of Jesus, it is those that go to Heaven.
Lots of good people die every day and suffer at the feet of Satan for eternity. Jesus didn’t go through the pain and agony of the cross so we would merely be good, he went through the pain and agony of the cross, so we would acknowledge that he is our Lord and that he is our Savior.
For those of us that find ourselves trapped by sin and looking for a way out, there’s some good news from Jesus in verse 17.
God sent his Son. The word “send” here is crucial. The way the word send is used here is to be commissioned, or to be given a charge or purpose. What he is saying is that God did not just send me to earth for me to do what I want to, he sent me to earth for a specific purpose. The Father commissioned the Son to save the world.
Why?
You see God has no desire to see his children live in the misery of an eternity in darkness. That’s why Jesus says here, I was sent to save the world, not condemn it.
Now, here’s a word for us. Jesus came to this world 2,000 years ago to save us. To defeat death through his resurrection, which we celebrate today. Through his resurrection and God’s love for us, we are offered a choice: salvation or condemnation. I can’t choose for you, your momma can’t make the decision for you, it’s your choice. Salvation is defined as those who believe in Jesus Christ being delivered from sin and its consequences. Condemnation means “to pronounce to be guilty, to sentence to punishment, or to pass judgment against.”
Jesus tells us here, he had to come to earth. You see the Father tried to get people to right, to obey him and his teachings, but they refused to do so. For us, we see this all throughout the Old Testament. We see a God that gave his people chance after chance after chance, because He loved them, but they never would obey Him.
There are some of us that love sin. We live in sin, but we say we love Jesus, or that we are followers of Jesus. Jesus says here it’s one or the other. We can’t live in the darkness and love the light. We can live with sin and be a follower of Jesus.
Followers of Jesus must do what is good and what is right, but we must do it because we know, love, and follow Jesus.
For some of us, sin is a big part of your life. Some of you even know the scriptures, but refuse to walk by them for whatever reason.
•Maybe we think we’re too young and we have time to make room for Jesus.
•Maybe we heard Jesus’ words before, but we refuse to step out of the darkness, because what lies in the darkness feels good, it feels right and we would rather choose what feels good.
•Maybe we make the decisions we make because someone hurt us, or the church hurt us, and acting in opposition to Jesus is you opposing certain people in your life.
Can I tell you, it’s not worth it. Jesus was pretty clear in the scripture above when he said, if we love darkness, we hate the light. If we love sin, then we hate Jesus. No person or situation is worth giving up your salvation and your eternity to spend with Jesus. Look, you maybe mad at somebody or some situation, I will tell you today, that’s ok. If you’ve been hurt or you’ve been wronged, I’m sorry, but don’t turn your back on Jesus, instead lean on him.