(John 3:14-18 - Easter) God's Love ... Is the Meaning of Easter
Easter • Sermon • Submitted
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· 246 viewsThe Resurrection of Christ demonstrates the intentional glorification and exaltation of Christ. This exaltation is precisely the figurative lifting up of Christ in John 3:14-15. As Christians the resurrection should symbolize a celebration of love where God exalted the Savior of the world – Jesus Christ. May consider how the resurrection of Christ relates to the most famous passage in the Bible (John 3:16).
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION:
As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday this morning, I want ask
- what kind of celebration should resurrection Sunday be?
When I was boy,
Easter was just a family holiday.
I would get together with my cousins
and we would have Easter egg hunts, and Easter baskets, your classic football game.
Easter for me was essentially cultural family holiday.
But when I was in high-school - someone share the Gospel with me.
The next year when Easter came around - things were a little different.
Oh, we still had our family time.
But after believing in Christ - Easter was more than a cultural family day.
It was day that I rejoiced that in a risen savior.
For those who are trusting in Christ to save them from their sins,
This Holiday is more than just a cultural family day.
It is a celebration of God’s love.
This morning we will look at a text that reminds us
PROP: In Love, God Exalted Jesus to Save All Who Will Believe.
PROP: In Love, God Exalted Jesus to Save All Who Will Believe.
PROP: In Love, God Exalted Jesus to Save All Who Will Believe.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
So as we celebrate our Resurrected Lord, may we remember -
PROP: In Love, God Exalted Jesus to Save All Who Will Believe.
TRANS: and this text gives us 3 reasons why God exalted Jesus.
TRANS: and this text gives us 3 reasons why God exalted Jesus.
I want you to consider,
what does it mean to be exalted?
We exalt that which we value.
In fact,
We most often exalt what we find most valuable.
ILLUSTRATION:
My son finds a dollar on the play ground …what do you think he says when he gets home.
He is not talking about his math, or reading, .... He is saying - Dad I got dollar.
Because he values a dollar … the dollar becomes the most important news of the day.
In a sense, he exalted the dollar over everything else.
Now,
when a child exalts something .... it is often not life changing.
It’s a dollar.
But when God exalts something .... that is life changing.
When God exalts something … we need to realize he is telling us about something extraordinary.
It is headline news … or at least ought to be.
This is no everyday.
And according to our text,
God lifted up Jesus.
Which in this context means - He exalted his name.
And when did he do this?
Principally -
When he raised him from the dead.
You see - a resurrection is not something ordinary, but extraordinary.
We celebrate cancer survivors.
And heart attack survivors.
But a resurrection is so much more then that.
A resurrection means they were dead on the table.
Their vitals are gone and silent.
Their body was cold and dead.
Their body was smelling in the grave.
And then they lived.
That is a resurrection.
Now - when we consider human history - who has ever been resurrected?
- A handful of people by Jesus.
- And then Jesus.
What does that teach us?
- Jesus is being exalted like no one else.
- God is lifting him up as the most important person in human history.
He is saying there is none like him.
Why does God exalt Jesus this way?
That is the focus of our text, and what we are going to discuss this Easter Morning.
1) God exalted Jesus because he is the savior. ()
1) God exalted Jesus because he is the savior. ()
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
What John does here is compare Moses’s Serpent with Jesus.
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
In , the Israelites had sinned against God and God sent a serprent to save
In Moses day,
if you look towards the bronze serpent,
you would be saved from the plague.
So what John is saying is that - if you looked to Jesus you would be saved.
But saved from what?
and that hint comes from v. 15.
15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Why is looking to Jesus give us eternal life?
Because we are facing – eternal punishment.
You see, every person was born without exception - is born sinner.
You see, every person was born without exception - is born sinner.
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Every one of us has chosen to sin before God.
We have sinned against our spouses, our kids, parents....
When we should have told the truth we lied.
When we should have shown love we showed anger.
When should have shown compassion we showed hate and covetousness.
When we should have worshiped God we worshipped ourselves.
We have sinned.
If we know anything about this world, we know that none of us are perfect and we all have done wrong.
If we know anything about this world, we know that none of us are perfect and we all have done wrong.
If you don’t believe me, just consider your guilt and shame.
I guarantee – Even the most good-natured person have felt their guilt shame for something they did wrong.
Have you ever done something mean and wicked - and felt like this
David, a man after God's own heart, described his own this way:
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
We all have sinned –
And the penalty of sin is eternal suffering.
And the penalty of sin is eternal suffering.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
When you consider our struggle with sin and the penalty for sin – then you realize:
And we know this
This world is screaming that it needs to be saved from our sins.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus is exalted because he is the Savior of the world.
The Resurrected Christ we worship is the savior the of the World.
2) God exalted Jesus because He loved the world. ()
2) God exalted Jesus because He loved the world. ()
It has been said Jesus is the greatest love gift anybody could ever receive.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Why was Jesus a sign of God’s Love?
- is one of the most quoted pieces of literature in the world.
It is translated across the languages and across the centuries.
People who have never been in church know .
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Why was Jesus a sign of God’s Love?
Because
a) God’s Motivation was He Loved Sinners.
a) God’s Motivation was He Loved Sinners.
If you wonder why God would allow his own son to die on the cross – is because he loved the world.
What does it mean that he loved the world?
What does it mean that he loved the world?
EXPLANATION:
Love is not about what you get out of but would you give.
Love is selflessly sacrificially caring for others.
Law of is selflessly sacrificially caring for others.
QUOTE:
Charles Spurgeon once said regarding God’s love in this -
“Men who love much will give much, and you may usually measure the truth of love by its self-denials and sacrifices. That love which spares nothing, but spends itself to help and bless its object, is love indeed, and not the mere name of it. Little love forgets to bring water for the feet, but great love breaks its box of alabaster and lavishes its precious ointment.” Spurgeon Sermon, Immeasurable Love, .
Spurgeon Sermon, Immeasurable Love, .
ILLUSTRATION:
I think of the firefighters who responded to the twin towers.
While the city is covered in ash and rock, hundreds firefighters rushed to the scene to rescue bulls trapped in the city.
Why are they going into the city while everyone else ran away?
Because they had compassion on the hurting.
In the same way, God loved a world of sinners.
Before Jesus, was there any perfect person in the world?
After Jesus, was there any perfect person in the world?
And the answer is no.
said, no one always does a good.
In other words all have sinned.
ILLUSTRATION:
So when taxes God so loved the world – he say he love a world of sinners.
God saw that every person in the world, was helplessly trapped sin.
Our sin trapped us in eternal punishment.
Our sin traps us in addiction of our I wants.
Our sin causes us to be angry with those who we should love the most.
God looked down at a world hopelessly trapped in sin, and had compassion on the hurting.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
God had compassion on the “cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars”
In other words, for God so loved the world.
Further,
God was not a bystander in his love.
ILLUSTRATION:
Many times you've heard it said - action speak louder than words.
Nowhere is that more true than in the realm of love.
Nowhere is that more true than in the realm of love.
How many husband have forgotten their anniversary – and said but I love you when their wives got mad.
And every wife says - your actions speak louder than words.
God was not a bystander.
God showed his love with the greatest gift that could be shown.
b) God gave his greatest possession (His Son) in Love.
b) God gave his greatest possession (His Son) in Love.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
As we consider the depth of God's love – may we we behold what this text teaches.
The greatest gift that God can give, he gave to the world.
he gave to the most helpless and wicked
ILLUSTRATION:
In the last decade we've sent out countless sons and daughters to war.
The news mostly talks about Afg and Iraq,
but our forces have served in Asia, Africa, and South America as well.
In the name of the war on terrorism many of the sons and daughters have given their life.
Each of those parents given a flag in recognition that those parents gave their greatest possession to a grateful nation.
And that's exactly the sacrifice that God did.
On the cross, God se
And not simply as a unfortunate part of war,
And not simply as a unfortunate part of war, but he literally sent his son for one purpose – to die so that the world of sinners might be saved.
but he literally sent his son for one purpose
>>>>>>>>– to die so that the world of sinners might be saved.
He sent his son to die on the cross for our sins.
God exalted Jesus because he so loved the world.
The resurrection is demonstration of God’s love to the world.
And,
3) God exalted Jesus because He is the only one who can save sinners.
3) God exalted Jesus because He is the only one who can save sinners.
I never really understood why people think they can get to heaven by their own good works.
I never really understood why people think they can get to heaven by their own good works.
- The typical Atheist believes what? – I'm not really that bad of a person.
- Countless supposed “Christians” believe - they could earn their salvation through the church.
But if were not that bad of people – why did Jesus have to die?
If we could earn our salvation another way – why would God send his son to die?
If we could earn our salvation anotherway – why would God send his son to die?
The very fact that God in love gave his greatest possession should teach us that were all lost without Jesus.
The very fact that God in love gave his greatest possession should teach us that were all lost without Jesus.
Look what our text says –
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John
In summary, our text teaches -
Believing in Jesus we have eternal life.
Not believing in Jesus we had no eternal life.
How much clearer can you be?
Without Jesus you are lost, with Jesus you have eternal life.
Nothing else really matters talking about salvation.
Nothing else really matters talking about salvation.
It is all whether you are believing, which means you are trusting, that Christ died to pay for the sins that you committed.
>>>>>He paid the penalty that you deserved.
He gave you the life you could not do yourself.
Why is Jesus the only way?
Because we are all sinners and all sin has punishment.
We are all helplessly trapped in our sin.
We are like slaves shackled to it.
And so we need a savior.
Why did God exalt Jesus?
Because he is the only hope for those hopelessly shackled to sin.
Why is Jesus the only one who can save?
Everlasting life
CONCLUSION:
So when you consider the resurrection,
what do you think about?
Is it a cultural family holiday -
Or is it a celebration of God’s love.
Our text says,
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
The resurrection exalts Jesus like nothing else.
Because The resurrection is God exalting Jesus - we ought to stop and really pay attention.
We need to realize the significance of this
We need to realize the significance of this - If God through the resurrection is exalting Jesus, then we really need to pay attention to Jesus.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
You see,
How did God exalt Jesus?
The resurrection of Jesus was meant to be that exalation.
If we had a savior still in the grave; then none of us would be standing here celebrating our salvation.
A dead savior, would have been lost to time and forgotten.
A dead savior, would have been lost to time and forgotten.
But a risen savior is an exalted Jesus.
A resurrected savior shows that Jesus really was the savior.
A resurrected savior shows that God really does love us.
A resurrected savior teaches that salvation comes only by Christ.
Ans as we understand this text, God exalted Jesus so that all the world could look to him for everlasting life.
What we celebrate today,
is the rightful exaltation of Christ.
We celebrate that,
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Gospel In Miniature
Gospel In Miniature
Luther called “the heart of the Bible—the Gospel in miniature.” It’s so simple a child can understand it; yet it condenses the deep and marvelous truths of redemption into these few pungent words:
Luther called “the heart of the Bible—the Gospel in miniature.” It’s so simple a child can understand it; yet it condenses the deep and marvelous truths of redemption into these few pungent words:
“God” …
“God” …
… The greatest Lover
… The greatest Lover
“So loved” …
“So loved” …
… The greatest degree
… The greatest degree
“The world” …
“The world” …
… The greatest number
… The greatest number
“That He gave” …
“That He gave” …
… The greatest act
… The greatest act
“His only begotten Son …”
“His only begotten Son …”
… The greatest Gift
… The greatest Gift
“That whosoever” …
“That whosoever” …
… The greatest invitation
… The greatest invitation
“Believeth” …
“Believeth” …
… The greatest simplicity
… The greatest simplicity
“In Him” …
“In Him” …
… The greatest Person
… The greatest Person
“Should not perish” …
“Should not perish” …
… The greatest deliverance
… The greatest deliverance
“But” …
“But” …
… The greatest difference
… The greatest difference
“Have” …
“Have” …
… The greatest certainty
… The greatest certainty
“Everlasting Life” …
“Everlasting Life” …
… The greatest possession
… The greatest possession
Easter is more then a family holiday.
Easter is more then just remembering a historical event.
It is a celebration of God’s love to a world of sinners.
May we this morning, leave here realizing that our risen savior - is a token of God’s merciful, steadfast, unconditional love.
A risen savior means God loves you!