Sermon Tone Analysis

Sent to Save Those Condemned

Introduction

This section of scripture is a dialogue between Nicodemus, who represents the best that nation of Israel has to offer; A Pharisee, a ruler of the jews, and “the teacher of Israel” (John 3:10), and Jesus.

What we see in this discussion is that Jesus points out that Nicodemus, the best of the nation, a man dedicated to teaching with an obsession with every detail of the, had fallen short.

There was a great sin of unbelief.

Jesus challenges Nicodemus saying:

Jesus simply puts it, “You don’t know scripture.

This book that you have dedicated your entire life to, all pointed to me and you missed it.”

Jesus cuts even deeper to say no one can make it to heaven by their works “No one has ascended into heaven.”-

You don’t earn your way.

The whole bible point to salvation by grace, through faith.

Jesus uses an Old Testament Story to teach this teacher

Without the grace of God there would be no salvation.

“The Son of Man be lifted up” points to the cross where Christ would die for our sins.

Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.

We all are like Nicodemus, we put our faith in ourselves.

If I am good enough, if I just read my bible, if I just go to church, But we miss that it is by grace that we are saved (Eph 2:5).

Believers in Jesus the Only Begotten Son Find Salvation

When Nicodemus came to Jesus he already stood condemned.

His faith wasn’t in God, nor was it in Jesus whom God sent.

Why was Nicodemus condemned?

It is the same reason we stand condemned and that is because of Sin.

“God so loved” is the motivation for Christ coming.

We were weak.

We were still sinners, yet that is that is when Christ came.

God displayed His love for sinners when they didn’t deserve it.

None were trying to live holy lives, all were going there own way and yet that is the precise time which Christ came, to be a substitute for us on the cross.

John Piper writes: “Let us not trifle with God or trivialize his love.

We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us.

But when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

It is cause of sin that we stood condemned just like Nicodemus.

We were helpless, hopeless, and in need of a savior.

Here Paul points out our condition.

We were dead in trespasses and sins, walking in them, and were just like the rest of the world.

We stood condemned.

This is not God’s doing but ours because we are sinners.

We can see our unworthiness in these two passages.

We were sinners, weak, ungodly, dead in trespasses, and children of wrath.

This shows the love that God had for us too.

In our minds we should be overwhelmed by the love of God because we were unworthy yet that is when God demonstrated His love for us.

Everyone is under this condemnation of sin.

No one is good enough.

Everyone has missed the marked.

John Piper “I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs.

So he was responding to our value as humans.”

This turns grace on its head.

We are worse off than frogs.

They have not sinned.

They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives.

God did not have to die for frogs.

They aren’t bad enough.

We are.

Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.”

God sent Jesus to save sinners.

God motivated by love sent His only begotten son to save those who stood condemned by their own actions.

How did Jesus save us?

He was raised up on a cross.

Christ took our place.

There were three men raised up on the cross that day.

Two deserved to be there along with everyone in this room.

Salvation Comes Through Faith in Jesus

God is faithful to His word and promise, and therefore we can put our faith in Him.

Jesus was promised long before His birth.

Gen 3 sin enters the world and God immediately says, “one is going to come who will crush the work of sin.”

In Is 53 the prophet prophecies how the savior (Jesus Christ) would suffer and died for our sins.

These are just two example of more then 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

The Cross was the redemption plan of God for a lost world condemned.

This cross is also where Jesus defeated sin and death!

God sent His son to die in our place why?

John Piper “There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us.

It is not us.

It is “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

It is all free.

It is not a response to our worth.

It is the overflow of his infinite worth.

In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.”

John 3:15 and John 3:15 go hand in hand.

Those who look and believe in Christ Jesus find salvation through God’s grace.

The difference between perishing and living, and between condemnation and salvation, is faith in Jesus Christ.

God Sent His Son Out of Love

Often people have a problem asking, “Why is there only one way to God?” The real question that needs to be asked is, “Why is there any way at all to God?”

The answer to this question is that God loved the world enough to make a way.

R.C. Sproul writes:

We need to understand that our culture says, “If God provides only one way of salvation, He doesn’t really love the world.”

Our culture does not perceive the depths of love that God has displayed by giving us Christ, whose name should not be mentioned in the same breath with those of Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, or anyone else.

John 3:18 shows two ways and only two ways.

Those who believe and are no longer condemned, and those who don’t believe and remain the same as they were before, condemned.

Our starting point is one of being dead in our trespasses because we sinned.

We needed God’s grace and love in order that we could be saved.

Eph 2:1-10 paints the whole picture for us.

We are saved by grace, because Jesus came when we were still dead in our sins.

All of this is because of Gods love for us, and is not of our doing but is a gift.

The gospel doesn’t let us think to highly of ourselves, because it clearly tells us we aren’t good enough, we all have messed up, we all are lost in sin, but the gospel also says there is a God who loves you more then you know who provide the perfect sacrifice while you were dead in your sin so that you could have eternal life.

Conclusion

Will you look and believe in Him who was sent to suffer and die on a cross for your sins?

Christ paid the highest price possible to give us the greatest gift possible.

And what is that?

It is the gift he prayed for at the end of his life: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24).

That is why Christ suffered and died.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).