MUSIC It may be Jesus in the manger to begin his journey of incarnation upon the earth, leading to the cross where he will bear the sins of many sinners, and then rising from the dead ascended back to heaven and is even now on the throne above. But why is Christmas so strongly associated with giving? Thought through my mind through the calendar about the other holidays, I realized there's no other calendar or no other holiday on our calendar that has such a strong emphasis upon giving as does the Christmas holiday.
Some have no emphasis at all. We have the birth of the presidents in February. No giving associated with that. Valentine's in February, there is giving associated with that, but rather narrowly restricted to romantic gifts, flowers, candy, jewelry, and that's pretty much it.
And then you, and there's nothing wrong with that, I'm not diminishing that, but that is a narrow scope in the giving and so forth right on through the calendar. Nothing on Memorial Day, nothing in the area of giving on Independence Day, nothing in the area of giving for Labor Day, nothing in the area of giving for Reformation Sunday or Reformation Day or Halloween, whatever it is that you remember that time of year. Thick Thanksgiving, not particularly any emphasis upon giving, but when we come to Christmas, it's a time of giving.
That's the first thing that many people think about, particularly children. And even for those holidays, like Easter for example, that has an element of giving, and again rather restrictive, it is generally giving of chocolate and bunny Easter baskets and maybe a new suit of clothing, a new dress or something. But as we think about Christmas, we realize that's a time of generous giving, plenteous giving, unrestricted giving, any kind of gift, any variety, the more the better, the greater the better. Why this great emphasis on giving for the Christmas holiday?
Well, of course, you know the answer. It is because this is the time when God gave his son, and this is therefore a reflection of the great giving of God to this world at the time when we celebrate Christmas, the incarnation of Christ. It is true that there's a general sentiment involved in giving. Giving demonstrates love and kindness and goodwill, but why all of that giving at this particular celebration? And the answer is clear, because giving testifies to the central reason of the celebration of the incarnation of Christmas. Christmas is about God's gift to the world, and we celebrate his gift by the giving of our lesser gifts, whether we're aware of that or not. That's really what we are doing.
Christians, I think, understand that. But if you celebrate Christmas at all in the normal manner, then with the giving of your gifts, you're testifying to his great gift whether you believe in him or not. You're doing it.
You can't help it. It's part of the celebration. I see great irony in that. As I consider the efforts of the world to push Christ out of Christmas, and there's no question that that's going on, I'm also amused at their inability to do that completely because there are just too many elements of this holiday that speak of Christ, that speak of God, that speak of what took place 2,000 years ago at this time we call Christmas. And so our giving points to God's great gift. And there's no better text, I think, to remind us of that than the one I have chosen for today, namely John 3 16, known by some as the golden text, certainly is the favorite verse of many people. Perhaps it is the best evangelistic text to be found in the Bible. One of the common commentators that I read this week said that he thinks there probably is no other verse in the Bible that has been used to point people to Christ and to salvation.
Then John 3 16. It talks about the giving of God, of his son. It talks about the greatest gift that was ever given for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Let's talk about six areas that this text points to as it reminds us of the greatest gift.
It is the greatest gift, first of all, because the gift is given by the greatest giver, namely God. And of course, we know who this God is. He's the God of the Bible. He's the God who is the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God that we have been informed about and have been enabled to worship by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. But even in this passage where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, he reveals some things about God. And again, Nicodemus, as a Pharisee of the Jews, knew a great deal about this God. The God who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and of the Jewish people.
But notice some of the things that Jesus said, for example, in verse three, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Ah, that tells us something about God. He's a king and he has a kingdom. And what a king and what a kingdom.
It is really the kingdom of the entire universe. And he rules upon the throne of the entire universe. And that's the God that John 3 16 is talking about.
This God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Or we could drop down to verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up?
And what does that point to? That points to the God who is the healing God, who has the power to heal, who has the desire to heal and many times does heal people of their physical illnesses. But he is more than that. He's the God who not only has the power to heal the body, but even greater, the power to heal the soul. And that's the reason why God gave his son, his only begotten son. Who is this God, the greatest giver? He is God the Father. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
If he has a son, then he is a father. He is the father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he becomes the father of all who trust in Christ. I think we take too often for granted the privilege of being able to call God the omnipotent, omniscient creator of the universe, our Father. That's something that the old covenant Jews did not seem to understand or appreciate, that God was their father.
They recognized God in many other ways, but to think of him as their father, we don't find much evidence of that in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, with new covenant believers, there is great emphasis upon God. He's not only the great God of all, the great ruler of the universe, the great unapproachable God who is in light so bright that it will blind the eyes of those who come into his presence. This great majestic glorious God is the father of everyone who believes in him, and we can go to him as a child comes to his father. And that's the God. For God, this God, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
It is the one true God, the God of wisdom might in power, the God of loving compassion. He is the greatest giver because he is the greatest being. He has the greatest capacity to give, and he demonstrated his willingness to give in the giving of his son. And we reflect the nature of God when we learn to give. Grace changes takers into givers. And the more we grow in grace, the more we delight in giving because we are reflecting the nature of God, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, the greatest giver. But secondly, we see in this text the greatest motive. Why did God give? For God so loved the world that he gave. When we give, it's not always out of love.
It should be. We want it to be, but it's not always out of love. I think we have to admit that sometimes we give just simply because it's expected.
Social pressure. They're expecting a gift. I've got to give one.
I've got to produce one. If I don't, there's going to be a strain in the relationship. If I don't, they're going to think less of me.
So, yes, I'll do it because that's what is expected. But that's not a very impressive motive for giving, though, unfortunately, it often becomes one in the world today. And sometimes we give, unfortunately, because we want the glory of someone thanking us for the gift, recognizing the gift, honoring us because of the gift. Self-aggrandizement often becomes the motive for our giving, but never with God. God's motive was simply and purely love, for God so loved the world. That shouldn't surprise us, for the Bible tells us that God is love.
This giving was simply an overflow of his own nature. He is love. We're told that more than once in First John.
One occasion is First John 4-8. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. You can't know God and not love others. God's very nature is love. God is love.
It is his nature. God is love. Therefore, it is his delight to give because the expression of love, the outflow of love is giving. James tells us in James 1-17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. As we reflect upon our lives and the many things that have been granted to us, we who know the Lord realize that every good thing we have has come from God. Our life we owe to God.
He gave it to us and he sustains it and has continued to sustain it. The older we get, the more we appreciate that. The more the older we get, the more we thank God for sustaining our lives.
We know many people, many of our friends who used to be with us of approximately the same age as we are, and they have left this world and are no longer here. But God in his goodness has sustained our lives. What a wonderful gift, what wonderful delight we have in realizing God delights to give.
He's given what it takes for us to live, the physical necessities of life, the food, the shelter, the various necessities of life, but so much more besides the blessings of family, the blessings in the case of many of us of children and of grandchildren. What a delight. And some of you even great-grandchildren. What a blessing.
I saw your latest email, Tim Easley, and showed the children holding your latest grandson. What a blessing that is. God has provided these things for us and we could just go on and on and on. We are so blessed. God gives us not only what we need, but so much more besides. He just obviously delights to give, and he doesn't even restrict that giving to his own children. As Jesus told us in Matthew chapter five, Jesus there said, we can learn something about the love of God as we realize that he sends his reign upon the just and the unjust alike, and he sends his sunshine upon the just and the unjust alike. He is such a giving God. It is such his nature to give and to delight in giving that even gives to those who hate him and are rebellious against him and do not appreciate the gifts he gives. He delights to give.
His nature is to give. And so we are not terribly surprised to read that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And yet we are astonished by the magnitude of his love. In fact, we can think about it, but we cannot reach the depth of it. We cannot fully understand how great this love is. It's all wrapped up in that little two letter word in our English language, so. God so loved the world.
What does that little word so mean? God loved the world so much. God loved the world in this incredible way. I don't think I can explain it.
I don't think I can understand it. God loved in such an infinite degree, but I cannot understand infinitude. God loved in such a glorious manner and we can see something of the glory of his love. God so loved in such in measure, unmeasured intensity.
And here we have the evidence of it in the giving of his son. God loved in such unfathomable magnitude. God so loved beyond degree, beyond imagination, beyond understanding, a greater gift than any of us could possibly imagine. God gave because of the greatness of his love. God so loved the world. Which brings us now thirdly to the object of his love. God loved the world. For love, you see, requires an object to love. Love requires someone to express that love, too.
The only way to truly demonstrate love is by giving of ourselves to that one or ones that we love. And we're told that God so loved the world and that, I say, is the greatest object because the world is so vast and yet God so loved the world. The world, cosmos. That Greek word has a number of different definitions and we need to understand that, or we never will understand the Bible accurately. In fact, Tom Wells in his little book, A Price for a People, lists at least eight different meanings of that word world. So it doesn't always mean the same thing in every place where you find the word world in the Bible. Sometimes it means the physical planet, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the rocks, the trees, the earth, the world in its physical form. But that's obviously not what is meant here because it goes on to say that whoever believes in him and oceans and rivers and rocks and trees don't exercise faith, do they?
So this isn't talking about the world in its physical presence. It's obviously talking about humanity, about people, those who are capable of believing. Humanity. But as we know, humanity, ever since the fall of Adam in the garden, has been in sinful rebellion against God. In our condition from birth, we are opposed to God. We are enemies of God.
We refuse to submit to his authority and we disregard his commandments to us and consider ourselves in no wise responsible to obey him and do what he says. It is sinful humanity in this rebellious world. And yet God so loved the world. God so loved sinful, rebellious humanity. It's interesting and we have this paradox.
We need to work it out. The very God who loves the world also told us through his apostle John that we, his children, are not to love the world. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life are not of the Father, but are of the world. And the world passes away and the lustful, the sinful desires thereof. But he who does the will of God abides forever.
Now, how do you put that together? God so loved the world, God says Christians don't love the world. Well, it's not all that difficult. What John is telling us is not to love the world in its sinfulness, particularly, maybe that's not the right way to put it. John is telling us not to love the world in a desire for sinful participation.
That's what he's saying. Christians have been saved out of darkness, out of the world, out of the kingdom of Satan, into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Let's not go sticking our toe, as it were, back in the river of the world. Let's not be drawn to the sinful rebellion of the world. Let's not love the world to desire to participate in its sinful rebellion. Don't love the world in that way, but love the world the way God did. God didn't love the world of fallen humanity because God loves the sinfulness of fallen humanity. God loved the world of fallen humanity in spite of its great sinfulness. God loves the world in order to do good to those who are undeserving of any mercy, of any favor, of any kindness.
But that's the greatness of God's love. God so loved the world of sinful, rebellious humanity. God loved the world.
I think this points our attention to the vastness of God's love. God loved humanity in its vastness. God did not love just a few, just a small group. God did not love just one class of people, but God loved humanity in the greatness of its international aspect. For Nicodemus, who was the one that Jesus was conversing with in this passage in John chapter 3, Nicodemus the Pharisee, a Jew, was very much accustomed to the idea that Jews had a special place of loving favor in the mind of God, in the purposes of God, and that God loved Jews, but he didn't love Gentiles. God loved the physical seat of Abraham, but he didn't love anybody beyond that.
But of course, that's what needs to be corrected, and that's what is corrected by this statement. No, God didn't just love Abraham, though he did love Abraham. God didn't just love the seat of Abraham, though he does have a special place for the seat of Abraham. But God so loved the world, Gentiles as well as Jews, people from every tongue and tribe and nation, all kinds of people without distinction. God so loved the world, his love extends to the very ends of the earth, into those places where most of us will never go, into those places where probably some of us can scarcely go. I keep thinking about our missionary friend here today, and he has, what, about less than 20 nations in the world that you haven't visited yet, Tim, something like that?
Twelve. He's been busy all of his life reaching out to the world. He has this worldwide concept. Where did he get that?
Well, here it is. God so loved the world. God loved people in all the world. When we gather in heaven, there will be some there from every tongue and tribe and nation. Some of those tongues are mighty small.
Only a few hundred people speak some languages. Some tribes are pretty small. You have a hard time finding them.
You have to hunt and search there in remote places. Some have not yet received the gospel, but they will. Some of them in that tribe will and will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because every tongue and tribe and nation will be represented when we gather with the Lord in heaven. And the evidence of it, the declaration, the testimony of it is here in our text for today. God so loved the world. But I think as much as anything, the focus upon the world here is to remind us of the vastness, the greatness of God's love. There is a wideness in God's mercy. His love reaches to the very ends of the earth. And therefore, it is the greatest giver, God, who had the greatest motive, love, who loved the greatest object, a world so vast, so large that none of us could even get our minds around it, let alone know very much about the details of it. God loves to that extent. His love reaches into every corner of this globe and into every nation and to every people.
But we move from the greatest object to the greatest gift. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, God's own son. It is the heavenly son. No one, he said in verse 13, has ascended to heaven. But he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven. I find that interesting.
I'm not sure how to explain that exactly. But Jesus standing upon the earth, speaking to Nicodemus, talked about the son of man who ascended down from heaven. That clearly is himself. He did not begin his existence in the room of the Virgin Mary. He came down from heaven into the womb of the Virgin Mary.
But what intrigues me about that text, as I'm just really looking at it with curiosity while reading it this morning, is that he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven, he said, while standing there upon the earth. How can you explain that except by the deity of Christ? He is God, eternal God. He is deity. In his incarnation, he was restricted to one place at one time because he became a man. But he was more than a man. He is the eternal God who roped himself in human flesh, but he did not divest himself of his deity in order to do that. And so upon the earth speaking to a man, a man speaking to a man, he could say, I am the son of man who came down from heaven, the son of man who is in heaven, even as I speak to you. That'll blow your mind.
Whenever you get into the doctrine of the Trinity and what the Bible reveals about it, you might as well just admit before you begin your study that you're not going to understand it fully. You won't. You can't. Nobody can. This is about God. God is so much bigger than we are. God is so much greater than we are. God is so much more complex than we are. There are so many things about God that our minds, at least while we are in this mortal frame, will never be able to understand. And yet there are things revealed in the Bible that tell us who this God is and that we must believe.
And we'll believe by the work of the Spirit in our hearts. We believe that Jesus Christ is almighty God from eternity past who came from heaven to rope himself in human flesh, entered into the womb of a virgin Mary, was born as a little baby in the manger in Bethlehem. And yet even while he was in that condition, he was still eternal God of the universe.
In his deity, he was in heaven. But the greatest gift, God's own son, the heavenly son, the messianic son, he's called in this text, verse 13, the son of man. A careful study of the Bible will lead you to understand that that is a title for the Messiah. It starts really back in the Old Testament where the promised Messiah is called the son of man by the prophet Daniel.
And it is a term that is found on the lips of Christ himself more often than upon the lips or pen of anyone else in the New Testament. He is the son of man, but that's a messianic title. He is the Messiah. He's the son of God, yet son of man. Again, that mystery, that incarnation, that joining together of two natures or two persons into, two natures indeed into one person, God, the eternal God and man, the one who was born at what we call Christmas time 2,000 years ago. The heavenly son, the messianic son, the incarnate son, the son of man. He is the son of God, but he became the son of man, so he was both at the same time. And to become the son of man, he did have to be born.
That's the way men and women come into this world. They are born into this world. And this is the one who God gave, his only begotten son.
He loved the world so that he gave his only begotten son. Only begotten. That's the way it's translated in my Bible and in most Bibles.
But it is a word that's very difficult to know how to translate exactly. Manogeanay sometimes translated his one and only son. Or his unique son, there was only one like this. Or in some cases, his well beloved son with the emphasis upon his position and special closeness to the father and special love that the father had for him.
God's only begotten son, it's talking about his Trinitarian sonship. He was the son of God from all eternity. He did not become the son of God when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, which is what we usually think of when we think of the word begotten. But this is a term that goes back prior to the virgin conception.
It goes clear back to eternity past. You see, God didn't give us his son to become his only begotten son when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But God gave his only begotten son to come into the world through the Virgin Mary. He was the only begotten of the father before he became a baby in the virgin's womb.
A Trinitarian sonship. He was the son of God from all eternity. He was the only begotten son of God before the Incarnation. There is an eternal beginning here again that we cannot fully understand. This gets us into that mystery of the triune Godhead, the mystery of the being of God that we will never fully comprehend.
But nevertheless, that is the truth. And God gave that one. His unique son, his most beloved son, his only begotten son. God has one son who has always been his son. God has many sons and daughters who become his sons by virtue of the new birth, by what was the result of his giving his son to die upon the cross for the sins of those who trust in him. There are many sons that the son is leading into glory.
But there's only one eternal son who has always been the son, even as the eternal Holy Spirit has always been the eternal Holy Spirit, even as God the Father has always been God the Father, and he has always been the Father because he's always had a son. And yet he gave that son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. This is telling us of the greatness of God's love again demonstrated because he gave us his dearest and his best. He gave the best that he had, and he gave to the ultimate degree. God gave his son in the incarnation.
That was a great gift. God gave his son to die upon the cross, an even greater gift. God gave his son as an offering for sin. He, as the Apostle Paul's son, said, who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? No sacrifice was too great for a love that is this great. No sacrifice was too great for a God who is such a great giver. God gave his son. He gave the son of his love. And thus he gave the greatest gift, the ultimate gift, the most costly gift, no limit to his giving.
For love seeks the highest interest and the best for the one who is loved. What do these sinful rebels need? What can I do to really help them? God seems to be saying, and of course he never really asked that question because he'd already designed that from the beginning, but what do they need? Well, they need a savior if they're not going to be damned eternally in hell.
Well, how can I save them? There's only one way, is if there can be a substitute who will bear the judgment for their sins upon himself in a way that is just so that a holy God who can never be unjust can be just in dispensing forgiveness to sinners who have sinned and whose sins must bear the penalty for their sin. But if a substitute can bear that full penalty in their place, then God can be both just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus, as Paul tells us in Romans. And so the greatness of God's gift, giving the greatest good to the needs of the people that he chose to love, not because there was any reason in them to love, but because of his nature to love, he chose to love them. And he gave this gift because that's what they needed.
That's what was in their best interest. And so the greatness of the gift magnifies the greatness of the giver and the greatness of his love. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Lord, teach me to love like this. I have not yet learned such great love. Lord, teach me to give like this, for I have not yet learned to give in anything close to the magnitude of what you have given. We come, number five, to the greatest offer, that whoever believes in him, whoever believes in him.
Now, I called it an offer, and I realize there's some who would prefer that term not be used, and I weighed that throughout the week as I've been thinking about it. And I will agree that God's call for men and women to come to Christ is primarily a command, but I'm not sure that it's exclusively so. But I will say it is predominantly so. God commands men everywhere to repent and believe. It is a command of God, and it must be obeyed.
And if it's disobeyed, that just adds to the pile of rebellious sinfulness that we have directed toward the one who made us. But I do think there are times when the Bible would have us think of it in terms of an offer, and this may be one of them. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever, whoever, whosoever will believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It is a universal offer because God's love goes out to the ends of the world.
Whoever. This message goes out to any and all who will believe. God gave his son that whoever will believe in him, none is excluded, except those who exclude themselves by refusing to believe. Men place themselves in one of two categories in relationship to this wonderful gospel message. Those who believe it receive the benefits that we'll talk about in a moment.
Shall not perish but have everlasting life. But those who will not believe, those who will not repent, those who will not come, therefore place themselves in another category. God's great gift has no benefit for you whatsoever if you will not believe it. But whoever will believe it, the offer is extended to you if you will believe it.
Oh, please believe it, dear friend who is outside of Christ before it is eternally too late. It is a magnanimous offer. Whoever believes, it's not whoever makes himself worthy of it, for that is impossible. It is not whoever prepares himself to receive it, for that too is impossible. Nobody can prepare himself to be made worthy or in a proper state to receive this great benefit. It is a gift. It must be received. It must not and cannot be earned in any way whatsoever.
It is a gift. It is not conditioned upon goodness, not ours. It's conditioned upon his goodness, for God so loved the world that he gave. And therefore it is conditioned upon who he is and what he did, not who we are and what we have done. That hymn by Joseph Hart, I think I brought it to the pulpit, explains this so beautifully.
Come ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love and power. That's where he is. That's who he is. He is able. He's able. He is willing.
Doubt no more. Come ye needy, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify. Listen, true belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh, without money, without money, without money, come to Jesus Christ and buy. Let not conscience make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream.
And here it is. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him. Do you feel your need of him? Do you feel the weight of your sin? Do you feel the justice of God's condemnation upon you? Do you feel the awful penalty that awaits you should you die apart from Jesus Christ?
Do you feel any of that at all? If you do, I can tell you that that didn't come to you naturally because sinful man and his pride feels none of that. I am worthy, he thinks. I am capable of earning a salvation, pleasing God and demonstrating my worthiness to be received into heaven. I am a valuable, valuable person and I don't need anything except my own efforts. And if you continue in that vein, you will never believe you will never receive him.
You will never come. Because although there's no requirement except to believe in him, believing in him begins with feeling your need of him. Feeling the weight of your sin, feeling your unworthiness, feeling your desperation that if I do not come to Christ and if he will not receive me, there is no other hope for me. When you feel that, come, come, come. All the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him.
And if you feel that need, come. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever, whoever recognizing his need flees to Christ, whoever believes in him will not perish. It's a Christ centered offer, believes in him. It is not saying whoever would rather go to heaven than hell. Surely everyone would rather go to heaven and hell, given those two choices.
But that's not it. It's not whoever prefers to go to heaven. It's whoever believes in him.
It's not whoever raises a hand, walks an aisle or prays a prayer necessarily, though all those things may accompany the work of the spirit in your heart. But it's whoever believes in him, whoever places your trust in him, your wholehearted reliance upon him, who believes in him for who he is, the eternal son of God, God who became man, who believes in him for what he did. He came and gave his life a ransom for many. He died on the cross that those who trust in him might have their sins forgiven.
And then he rose again bodily from the dead. Believe in him for why he came. He came to rescue sinners from sin. And therefore, in coming to him, there is a renunciation of our sin and a desire for his righteousness. Even while we recognize we need his help, we can't do that in our own strength. We cannot separate ourselves from our desire for sin. We cannot live a life of obedience and righteousness except by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But we can come to him recognizing those things and cast ourselves upon him for his mercy and for his power.
Whosoever believes in him, believes his right to rule you, because you believe that he is God who has a right to rule the universe, who has indeed the right to bear authority in your life and before whom you must submit and follow him in obedience. Here's the way B.F. Westcott translated our text. As the wounded, oh no, this isn't the translation of the text, I'll get that later.
It's his explanation of the serpent in the wilderness connected to our text. As the wounded who looked upon the serpent had their earthly life restored and extended. So every sinner who believes on Christ is given eternal life. What a wonderful truth. And that brings us now to the greatest benefit.
I'm not sure that our clock is working correctly, but my watch is, so fear not. The greatest benefit, whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. The benefit involves a divine rescue and a divine impartation. Should not perish, for that is the just penalty for my sin and for yours. It is death, eternal death. It is the perishing of eternal ruin. It is a perishing of everlasting banishment. It is a perishing of eternal torment. Banished from the presence of the God of love to dwell in the presence of the God of wrath. That's what it is.
I think it was William Hendrickson who made that statement. Banished from the presence of the law love of God, or the God of love rather, to dwell forever in the presence of the God of wrath. It is a divine rescue from that condition. It is a divine importation. Whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life imparted to him by the God who is able to do this.
A divine importation. Eternal life, that's a new quality of life. That's a different form of life than anything that this world knows or can produce, but it is something that God brings to those who trust in him for salvation. An eternal life that begins now and ends never. It is in truth the life of God within us. Imagine that. That's beyond comprehension.
Now I read F.F. Bruce's translation of John 3.16. For such was God's love for the world that he gave his only begotten son in order that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
And that, dear friends, I submit, is the message of Christmas. The great love of the great God, the God who spared not his own son, but gave him to take upon himself the human condition and suffer the judgment due for our sins so that all who believe in him shall be rescued from sin and death and enjoy everlasting life with him. The question is, why would anyone choose to perish rather than to believe in him?
And I can answer that question for you. That is the sinfulness of the human heart. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. And if you love your sin so much that you're not willing to come to the light, then there's only one possible result at the end of your life. You will perish. You will perish by being banished from the presence of the God of love to dwell eternally in the presence of the God of just wrath.
But it need not be. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. What a message. What a God. What a gift shall we pray. Father, seal the message of this wonderful text to every heart today. Drive it home in the lives of those who are at this time outside of Christ. O God, the Holy Spirit, come to them and do within them.
