John 3:16 - God So Loved

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

I scarcely believe there is a greater passage in all of Scripture than John 3:16. There is a reason why it is so famous: this verse captures the essence of the whole Bible in one short, simple sentence. Martin Luther called it "the heart of the gospel", and, "the gospel in miniature", and I think we can certainly agree with him.

There is nothing particularly complicated about John 3:16; it is very straightforward. The most simple man on earth could figure it out. Yet, while discovering its meaning takes only a moment, plumbing its depths requires a lifetime and more.

Let us look at this beautiful love-note.

"For God..." That this is speaking of God the Father, the Creator and Judge of heaven and earth, is evident, for it says He "gave His only begotten Son". The thing to notice here is that God the Father is the initiator, the great architect of the gospel of grace. The gospel is not about Jesus Christ, the hero, throwing Himself between God, the antagonist, and the world, the victim. The Trinity does not play 'good cop, bad cop'. Unfortunately many people have such a view; they see Jesus as the loving Savior who saves us from the terrifying God of the Old Testament. That God is terrifying in the Old AND New Testaments is not up for questioning, for He IS terrifying, and rightfully so! God is holy, and His holiness by its very nature defines law, and the law justly condemns the wicked thoughts and deeds of sinners, and purges them. A sinner ought to tremble before God. But here is where many people stop, and by doing so fail to see the true glory. God is holy, but holiness involves so much more than justice! God's justice is uncompromising; sin cannot-not be punished, but the God of the Old and New Testaments is also the God who is love.

And so it is we find in John 3:16 that God the Father, the just Judge of all the earth, who will not slacken His judgment, is the very One who is taking up the world's cause. Therefore, it is not as when a felon commonly needs a lawyer to defend him against a State which laws he broke, but rather that the State itself sets itself in the felon's defense against itself! What a marvelous unusual mystery! God Himself, before Whom we all stand guilty of murder, picks up our case. That is marvelous beyond words. The ancient world before Christ had no concept of this kind of benevolence from the gods; it was completely unheard of. One scholar writes: "No Homeric deity ever will be found to make a personal sacrifice on behalf of a human client." Another, commenting on John 3:16, "This attitude of God toward the world is in suggestive contrast with that in which the gods of paganism are represented." The gods of paganism were only served, and needed to be appeased by the sacrifices of men. We fail to appreciate the titanic announcement the gospel of God was when it was preached nearly 2000 years ago because our current generation has grown accustom to hearing of "the love of God" and has lost nearly all reverence for anything that is above ourselves. That men should serve God is not in question; nor did the pagans have it wrong when they intuitively knew that sin needed to be atoned for... but the concept of God stepping into men's vile existence and taking up their undeserving cause on their behalf for no other reason than love was completely and totally out of the box.

This is what we find here in John 3:16. God the Father, so loving the world, that...

"...He gave..." The word here involves sacrifice. He didn't just send, He gave (Genesis 22:16 and Romans 8:32). He spared not, He gave up...

"...His only begotten Son..." It is a true saying that you can tell how valuable a thing is to someone by how much they are willing to pay for it. What value, then, must God place upon fallen humanity that He would give up, for their sake, His Son? And not only His Son... but His only begotten Son? Why? Someone asked me an excellent question the other day: "Does this mean that God loves the world more than His Son?" No. But what it means is that God loves the world as much as He loves His Son. This is an incredible mystery, and I dare not presume upon anything... yet the wonder is, that God is seeking and embracing undeserving, defiled people who have a right to nothing but death, and is bringing them into the glorious eternal relationship that exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, calling them, too, His own precious sons and daughters (Romans 8:15-17, 29; Ephesians 1:5; Hebrews 2:10; 1 John 3:1). It is the eternal love of the Father for the only begotten Son that extends to all who believe! "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17:23) A glorious mystery indeed!

The sacrifice of God's Son is not a novelty of the New Testament. It is the central theme of the entire Scriptures. From the very genesis of Genesis, the story of redemption is foretold in every history, type, psalm and prophecy; the story of God offering His Son up as the sin-bearer for His people. "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." (Luke 24:44) Because Adam sinned, mankind was sentenced to die, but God, who is rich in mercy, provided the Lamb that would save men from their sins: by bearing their sin in His own sinless body on the cross, God's legal demands against sin would be satisfied, and Jesus, through death, would bring eternal life to dead men. This is "the way" without which "no man can come to the Father". No other way recognizes the divine justice of God's holiness and yet still saves men! The sinless Son had to be offered. No other offering will suffice. You must be saved this way, or else you will never be saved.

"...whosoever..." Here is a beautiful word for us to read, and because it says "whosoever", you and I can lawfully insert our own names into John 3:16 without the fear of presuming upon God. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Eli believes in Him, he shall not perish, but have everlasting life." "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Jane believes in Him, she shall not perish, but have everlasting life." What a wonderful comfort to know that we have a warrant to believe!

"...have everlasting life." Most of the time, we read quickly over this common expression and think only of the one obvious aspect of eternal life: longevity. Life that does not end. Have we considered its deeper significance? I am referring to the quality and nature of this LIFE eternal. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3) The eternal life that Christ is speaking of here in John 3:16 is the glorious eternal relationship that exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which God is calling sinners to be partakers of! This is that Relationship which gives meaning to all other relationships. This is that Life which gives meaning to life! This is that which every person born into the world is searching for because every person born into the world was made for this purpose. "For thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee." (St. Augustine) This, I believe, is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. To know Him more and more, a knowledge not theoretical, ever-increasing for all eternity. Have you this life? It begins the moment you receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.

"...so loved..." The old question is: "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" This can be answered two ways. I could again restate that Jesus died on the cross to satisfy the righteous demands of the law, as payment for crimes committed against the law, so that sinners could be justified and freely given eternal life. That is the right answer... but that is only the doctrinal answer. That is like describing to someone the science of nutrition without actually enjoying the flavor of food. But John 3:16 is speaking for the heart, not for the head.

The answer to question, "Why did Jesus die on the cross?", is answered by John 3:16: because God so loves you. God the Father loves you! God loves you, a sinner, so much... that He gave His only begotten Son to save you from your sins and bring you into an everlasting relationship with Himself. Look upon the crushed body of crucified Savior and marvel: "Behold how he loved!" (John 11:36) This is what John 3:16 is saying, and this is the essential substance of the entire revelation of God. "It's too good to be true!" Yes, it is that good, but it's true. The simple fact remains: God loves you. There is a sinful world perishing in their sins; there is a holy God who loves and values them enough to sacrifice everything to save. It is so impossibly divine as it speaks of a love so utterly unheard of and foreign to the minds and hearts of fallen men. Will you today believe the good news of John 3:16, that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"?

Believe the "gospel in miniature" and experience for yourself how God so loved.

The True Vine

This sermon was preached Jan. 18, 2009, at Valley Church, in Smithfield, Utah. Based upon Isaiah 5, the Song of the Vineyard, God looks for the fruit of righteousness and judgment from man, which is the fruit of His own image in His special creation. But when both Adamic mankind and national Israel fail to bring forth the fruit of righteousness, God reveals His eternal plan and purpose since the beginning of the world. There is a True Vine, and a new mankind, which brings forth the choice red grapes that God desires. Listen below:

Eli Brayley - The True Vine

Not Ashamed

This message was preached October 26, 2008, at Cache Valley Bible Church in North Logan, Utah. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." (2 Timothy 1:8) There has always been a violent warfare waged between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God, and today that warfare is raging ever so strong. The Apostle Paul's last charge to Timothy was urging him not to be ashamed and shrink back because the preaching of the cross incurs the hatred of the world, nor be intimidated because his beloved friend was in prison for the gospel's sake; but rather, get involved in the colossal work that God is doing! The message has not changed for the Body of Christ in the 21st century: "Don't shrink back because the world hates the gospel! Dive in head first into this essential warfare, and use your gifts in the work that God is doing all around you!" Listen below:

Eli Brayley - Not Ashamed

New Videos - Weber States University

Thanks to Miles for these great clips from Weber State taken earlier this semester. Watch how the crowd grows, and listen carefully to the dialogue that takes place between Mormonism and Christianity.

Is Faith a Work?

"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." - Romans 4:4-5

Man is a self-righteous creature. There is something deeply inherent in his innermost being that will not let go of pride, nor admit the truth that he has nothing to offer God; that he is a spiritual pauper. When Cain, the epitome of man, realized that God had rejected the fruit of his labor, which he had sweat for and toiled long for, rather than bowing himself down and confessing his wrong, he lashed out in anger against his righteous brother and killed him. Why? Because he could not bear to see his brother accepted on the basis of faith without works and his own works rejected. Pride flared up with indignation and resentment. In a flash we witness the horrid crime illustrating the conflict of the ages: the self-righteousness of man declared war on the righteousness of God; a war which has not ceased even to this day. God will not allow man's works to be part of justification, and man will not allow them not to be.

It is often objected, when shown that justification by faith without works is taught in the Scriptures, that faith itself is a work. "Isn't faith a work?" "Don't you have to believe, and isn't believing doing something?" "See! I got to do something for my salvation!" It always amazes me how fanatically we as people fight for works in our lust for self-acclaim. We actually hate grace! We hate it because it forces us to accept the reality that we are really undeserving and helpless beings. We are obsessed with ourselves. We are destroying ourselves through our self-infatuation. How foolish we are in not understanding that the grace of God is the only remedy to heal our twisted souls!

The first thing we must do in answering the question, "Is faith a work?", is to define work. The word ergon is the Greek word used throughout the New Testament for the noun "work" (see Ephesians 2:9), and the word ergazomai for the verb "work", as in Romans 4:4-5. They both mean "to toil, to labor, to exert effort." Webster's Dictionary defines work as, "physical or mental effort exerted to do or make something; purposeful activity; labor, toil." The feeling of the word is described perfectly in Genesis 3:17-19: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." And also in Genesis 5:29: "And he called his name Noah [Heb: Rest], saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed." When Cain offered his offering unto the Lord, he offered that which he had labored and toiled for; the fruits he offered came from the ground which the Lord had cursed. Work has to do with sweat, effort and exertion, laboring and toiling for compensation and reward. In contradistinction to Cain's offering, Abel's offering did not involve work. In fact, it involved the opposite of work. The Scripture tells us that Abel's offering was an offering of faith (Hebrews 11:4).

The Book of Hebrews gives us the best definition of faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) Evangelically speaking, faith is simply the assurance and confidence a person has in Christ. It is a "working not" and a "believing on Him" (Rom. 4:4-5); a total rest from one's own labors and a total resting in the labors of Another. Faith is set in opposition to works: "To him who works not, but believes." It is the opposite of works, for instead of working hard to attain godliness, faith believes the good news of the gospel that God justifies the ungodly. The man of faith says, "I know that I am ungodly and deserve the wrath of God, but I am assured that another has died in my place, and I rest in His finished work on my behalf, and not in my own works or labor." That is faith!

Can confidence in another be rightly called a work? Can assurance in Christ be considered labor worthy of compensation? Of course not!

Let me put it another way. Going on a vacation and going to work are both something a person DOES, but just because each one requires 'doing' doesn't mean they are the same thing; that they are both works. It would be absurd to suggest that going on a vacation is the same as going to work just because you 'do' it. It is the nature of what you do that determines whether it is a work or whether it is a non-work. Going on vacation, or, for a more Biblical analogy, relaxing on the Sabbath, is rest, the opposite of work; just as believing on Christ for salvation is rest, the opposite of working for your own salvation. When a man believes on Christ, he takes a permanent 'vacation' from his own works, and enters into that true Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:10).

The moment we say faith is a work it actually ceases to be faith (just like the moment we say a vacation is work it ceases to be a vacation!). True saving faith looks not upon itself as work but upon Christ and His work. If faith were a work (something deserving of reward), then would we be saved by works and not by grace, and Jesus Christ and everything He did is made void. We would then deserve salvation due to our faith; but the Scripture states the opposite: "For if they which are of [works] be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect." (Romans 4:14) Faith (resting in Christ) becomes void and ceases to be faith if we are saved by works. How is this so? BECAUSE THE GOSPEL IS ALL ABOUT GRACE!: Receiving that which you do not deserve! See, then, how faith fits here: "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace." (Romans 4:16) Salvation is by faith alone that it might be by grace alone; there is not an ounce of work in it! But of course, unregenerate man hates such a prospect, seeing that in such a gospel there is no room for glory.

So let us have faith, but not venerate faith. Let the object of our faith be worshiped and praised. It is Christ and His work that we rest assured of, not our faith. As one godly minister said so well: "True faith is what may be called colorless, like air or water; it is the medium through which the soul sees Christ, and the soul as little rests on it and contemplates it as the eye can see the air."

Where is your assurance of salvation? Is it, like Cain, in your works or even in your faith? Are you "toiling and spinning" in order that you may offer unto God some sacrifice worthy of eternal life? Are you clinging to your dead works, waging war against the righteousness of God? Or are you, as Abel, resting confidently in the work of the Substitute? Only the faith which actually ceases from self-works and self-effort and reposes fully upon the sacrifice of the slain Lamb of God, believing on Him who justifies the ungodly, is accepted and counted for righteousness.

What's your offering? You or Christ?