John's Gospel VIII: The Love of God
Sermon Review
1 September 2001
John 3:16-18

It is interesting that in the Gospel of John, John the Apostle of love, doesn't mention love till 3:16. Ever wondered why? I am sure that it wasn't because he forgot it, or it was unimportant. I suspect that it was because of the Greek element in his intended audience. His introduction regarding the 'Word' becoming flesh would have been a difficult thing to swallow for them for it meant accepting that the creative energy or principle behind the created order had become personal, human even! Fortunately he gave them breathing space before confronting them with the motivation behind this incarnation. For them a rational act had some digestibility, whereas a sentimental act would create all manner of 'heartburn'. They would have had great difficulty in ascribing feeling, especially 'love' to the rational mind behind the universe, so to be confronted with the incarnating of the Logos as an expression of divine love would have been quite difficult. A couple of centuries later, we might laugh at this, but stop and think for a moment. Today, we have the same problem that the ancient Greeks had. Too often we look around at life and see sadness, tragedy, pain and injustice; we see evidence of victimisation, exploitation, and corruption through greed and self-interest, and if we believe that God exists, often conclude that he certainly can't be loving. We have as much difficulty in accepting that God is loving today as a major percentage of John's anticipated audience would have had. However, this may be a good thing for there is hope that the solution that John used will be as apt a tool to combat our doubt as he hoped that it would be in his own era. And just what was that solution? It was to highlight the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his own son so that whosoever believed in him would not perish but be saved.

In this passage (John 3:16-18) John makes clear that the entrance of Jesus into this world was an act of love, but he also makes clear that this love involves more than just the entrance of divinity into this world - it involved the 'giving' of His son. To send is one thing; to give is another! As the gospel unfolds John ties this 'giving' with the cross eg. 15:13, 12:32,33 etc. John does not try to argue against the experience of human living, or conceptual, philosophical or theological difficulties about God being loving. What he does do is present the giving of the son to ultimately die on a cross as the convincing proof of it. As with John's audience, so for us. If we want to believe that God loves us, or stop redefining God's love every time something uncomfortable or bad happens to us, we need to appreciate what this 'giving' clearly implies.

Presentation 1: John:3:16-18
The 'giving' of the Son was to save from 'perishing' - ruin and loss!
Loving someone surely includes being concerned about their welfare. If the one we love is in danger, then the natural response is to act to save them. God is no different. Or to put it correctly, that trait in us is there because we are made in the image of God. Like father like son. The point is that from God's point of view, all people are in a dangerous position, one that John sums up in the word 'perishing'. As far as God is concerned, ignoring Him and 'doing our own thing' has lethal consequences - consequences which occur whether we like it or not. In fact, sin - going against the good that God wants in us and around us, is the cause of most of the pain and suffering that we all experience. It would be hard to argue a direct connection between every sickness or tragedy in life to someone's sin, but there is enough evidence to suggest that selfishness or greed or unconcern for others is behind much of it. Whether it is changed weather patterns due to irresponsible land care which devastate, or flimsy dwellings collapsing due to inferior materials used to line pockets, or uneven access to wealth and power, somewhere rejection of God's good is involved. And who knows what viruses, bacteria, and sicknesses have come from meddling in food production for profit, or genetic experimentation, or unnatural combining and unleashing of various chemicals into our environment, or through ambition, greed, money, and egotism which too often lays behind scientific research? What about the toll from sexual irresponsibility, abusive marriages, drug addiction and its illicit trade and traders, gambling and abuse of alcohol and the like? Sin does its work whether we accept it or not. It does not require our approval or permission. Paul makes this clear in Rom.5:12-14. Even when we do not take it into account, or reject God's condemnation of it, it still exists, occurs, and wreaks havoc amongst us and in our personal, national, and international life. As Paul said elsewhere, this world and life is now subject to 'frustration' Rom.8:20. John knew what he was talking about when he said we are 'perishing'. All around us we are experiencing ruin and loss, and one day have to give God an account of our own contribution towards this situation. God's love is such that he actively set about to save people from the consequences of our own and other's waywardness. The truth is that God gave his son not because he was in any danger, but because we are.

Communion: the giving of the Son was to save us from perishing.

Presentation 2: The depth of love in 'giving' the Son.
John:3:16-18
'God so loved that he gave his only Son'.
I wonder what we would do if a person or a people required our child's life to save them? Giving a kidney or bone marrow is one thing - giving your child's life is surely another. Yet God gave his son's life for this world and all in it. So why didn't he find another way? Surely He could have just overlooked our guilt and changed the hearts of people and ushered in a new age? It would have saved him having to 'give' his son. This will always remain something of a mystery to us, but it seems that for God to sidestep the issue of justice it would have required an adjustment to his character, resulting in Him becoming something less than God. As it stands, God considers that what we do to ourselves, others, and the created order requires judgment and penalties. So both justice without compromise, and love without reservation had to find expression. Hence, God gave his son. I am sure that human love would have found another compromise, a softening of the demands of justice and fairness, a softer way of dealing with the demands of payment for wrong done. We would look for a way out, a way to overlook harm done, a way to forgive without concern for penalty or even reparation, if possible. God did not. He sent his own son to pay for our penalty for our wrong doing. In fact John shows us that the Father was actually involved in delivering up His son to the Jewish authorities and ultimately the cross eg. 'Jesus' time' or 'hour' 2:4,7:6, 8:20, especially when the cross comes into the picture 12:23,27, 17:1, 19:28-30. John makes clear that Jesus was safe until his appointed hour, after that there was nothing that could keep him safe.

The 'giving' of the son clearly demonstrates that not only is God's serious about 'justice', but that His intention to penalise is serious also. Justice and judgment should never be reduced in their seriousness, which is what any compromise we could come up with would do. But the more we truthfully appreciate their seriousness, the more we magnify the quality and reality of the love God has towards people. God obviously love us, you, with a love that is almost beyond imagining. His giving of his Son tells us much about his holiness and sense of justice, but at the same time it shows the extraordinary lengths he will go to, to ensure that the welfare of those he loves is ensured. In short, it speaks volumes about the depth and character of his love for us, for you and for me.

Prayer: The giving of the Son magnifies the seriousness of justice and judgment, but as it does it profoundly expands and proclaims the quality of God's love for you. Lets take time to appreciate this in prayer.

Presentation 3: Giving the Son including the 'gracing' of people.
John:3:16-18
Human love would have most likely paraded the example of our mercy before people and if they refused to be moved by it, we would have said 'tough luck'. Unlike us, God has continued throughout history to do far more than simply broadcast the good news of salvation through the giving of his son. To experience the benefits of Christ going to the cross, John tells us that God 'draws' people to Christ. God's love did not just prompt an unequalled deed so that people could be forgiven. He actually initiates moves to encourage individuals and groups to escape from 'perishing' and judgment 6:44, 65, 10:29, 16:8. God's love is such that he tries to persuade, to convince, to attract people to Christ and his work on the cross.

Think about your own journey towards God consciousness, and if you have travelled that far, to Christ. What about it can you say is all of you? What account would you give if you knew the activity of God in the background of your life, your circumstances, in the different kinds of input in your life which convinced you of God's existence, and ultimately of your need of Christ? John paints a picture of a God who searches, not through the stories of the lost sheep, coin, and son, but through the presentation of a God who actively works behind the scenes, calling people to Himself. In God's mind, the giving of His son included 'gracing' people with good reasons and generous overtures so people can gain life through his son. His love motivates and moulds this activity. God did not simply display his love in the giving of the son as we might. He humbly works at drawing people like us into experiencing what the display of his love was for. Truly his love is without equall.

Conclusion:
A close reading of the Gospel of John will not unearth great arguments about the love of God with which to counter struggles to believe in this love. Instead it presents the giving of the Son which included - the cross! This 'giving' of the son to escape from 'perishing', from 'condemnation', and to 'gracing' into eternal life, is John's proof. Without argument or any explanation at all, he congregates all the obstacles and difficulties in this life which argue against God's love, in the dreadful terms 'perishing' and 'condemnation'. And then reveals the reality, the quality, the extent of God's love in not just the sending but through the giving of his son for this world. We will always be faced with the temptation to doubt God's love. It seems almost easy to grow bitter, sceptical and cynical in life because it is often difficult and confusing. However, John's solution was to highlight God's solution - the giving of the son. If you want to counter such disbelief, then take some long meditations on John 3:16-18. Such meditation has saved many a non-believer and believer from rejecting the God who loves them on the basis that they believe he does not. The giving of the son should not encourage doubt and bitterness. Rathe,r it should inspire us to ask how can I experience that love?

Blessings

 

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