You will get a lot of mixed answers today if you asked people how they would describe God. Time magazine asked a number of people how they pictured God. Here was one response: God is “a lot like he was explained to us as children. As an older man, who is just and who can get angry at us. I know this isn’t the true picture, but it’s the only one I’ve got” (Elson, “Toward a Hidden God”). This response is pretty common, particularly for those who’ve grown up in religion. God is the unhappy, white-bearded father figure who “gets angry at us.”

John 3:14-21

This passage today is from a conversation between Jesus and a religious leader named Nicodemus. Nicodemus is only mentioned in John’s gospel. This conversation here, once in John 7 in Jesus’ defense, and also at Jesus’ burial. He goes with Joseph of Arimathea with burial spices to properly bury Jesus. He is a secret fan of Jesus, he is curious about God and asking questions. Jesus gives him powerful answers in our passage today that help us to see a powerful character of our God: that he is A God of Love.

Love Gives

“I love you.” Has anyone had the privilege of someone saying that to you? I still remember the first time Holly told me that she loved me. I was blown away. I couldn’t believe it was possible. I truly felt like the most lucky guy in the world. But I have to be honest, I tell her this every day and hear it from her every day, and it doesn’t have the same emotional response as that first one. Why is that? Because we don’t know someone loves us just by what they say. 

I asked my kids this question, “how do you know Daddy loves you?” I’ll tell you what, they didn’t say “because Daddy told us so.” They said, “you play games with me and wrestle me. You come to all my things. You hug me and hold me and take care of me.” It was always the demonstration of my love that assures them that I love them. 

There is no doubt in verse 14 Nicodemus is familiar with the bronze serpent Jesus is referring to in Numbers 21:4-9. Jesus insisted that he would be “lifted up”, a word used elsewhere for crucifixion (8:28; 12:32–33). Here is the key connection: When the Israelites looked to the serpent, they didn’t have to do something, they only had to receive something. 

Why can we be confident that God loves us? Because he gave. John 3:16 is one of the most memorized verses in the Bible, and for good reason! It is the gospel in one simple verse. But where is the power? It is in God giving his son. He offered something dear to him, something he cared about. God doesn’t require us to pay for salvation or to earn it. Salvation is free! But salvation isn’t cheap. This gift costs us nothing, but it cost the Son of God his life. God willingly gave his Son for you.

The text does not say God loves us (present tense) now that we have been made his children. It says God loved us (past tense) before we were saved. God is the one who acts first in salvation. God is the one who loves first. The apostle John would later write, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Love Saves

God’s love to the world is remarkable not because the world is so big, but because the world is so bad. His love is great because it does, it accomplishes something. Jesus came to redeem the world, not condemn it. Now, when Jesus comes back for a second time, he will be the judge and is coming in a different and more powerful way. But first, he came to save it. 

It doesn’t matter how good our medicine gets or how fast we can make Tesla’s drive, we have a sin problem that cannot be resolved without Jesus. We were stuck. Sin put us on an island, separate from God, and we desperately needed saving. 

The problem is that we serve a holy God. One who is perfect and one who is just. If he is truly these things, it would be unjust and he would be too holy for us to just waltz into heaven. We need a Savior, we need an advocate. This is where “through Him” in verse 17 comes into focus. Only through Jesus, only by his sacrifice. 

There is no other way! The most recent Pope, Pope Francis who just passed away, a few months ago said there are many ways to God. Many different religions and paths that all lead to the same God. That is straight from the bag of bolognians! That’s not true! John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Today the world will say, “well that’s not loving Pastor. How mean of you.” No, it’s not loving to lie and avoid what the word of God says about the truth. The truth is, there is a real hell. A real, literal place, where eternal separation from God is going to occur. To not tell the whole truth from the word of God and just enable people to live however they want and skip their way to hell unknowingly is what is not loving! 

God made a way to himself, it is the most loving thing he could have done. How do I know my heavenly Father loves me? He made a way to save me. All I have to do is get over myself and accept him as Lord of my life and my all. 

Love demands response

David Platt, “The difference between believers and unbelievers does not lie in the guilt or innocence of either; it lies in the different attitudes they take toward the “light.” Unbelievers shrink from the light because it exposes their sin; believers willingly come to the light so that their real motives may be revealed.”

Love is a two way street. How many of you here asked your spouse on a date for the first time? Did you tie them up and take them against their will? Did you force them to go to the altar with you and be married? It was a choice, there was a response. 

This love God offers, requires a response from you and from me. “Come to the Light” John says in this section. We hear these words “condemnation” and “judgment” and we think, “well that doesn’t sound very loving to me.” 

Words like condemnation and judgment could make you doubt God is loving, but these verses make it clear: condemnation is a result of the refusal to accept God’s gift. People will face the consequences of their sin not because God’s gift of Jesus is insufficient but because they refuse to turn from their sin and trust in Jesus to save them from sin’s penalty. 

If you reject Jesus Christ, you have no one to blame but yourself. People are condemned to hell not because of something faulty in God’s gift of Jesus. He is perfect. He is sufficient. He alone can meet the needs of sinful man. When people reject his gift, it reveals the condition of their hearts. It reveals hearts blinded by sin. The fault lies in the sinner, not the Savior.

Conclusion

In light of these verses, how do you see God your Father? Put your feelings aside for a moment and look at the bigger picture. Look what God has done. Think of all the times you have betrayed him, and he still loves you! He still has a plan for you. Just because you don’t feel all the goosebumps and lovey dovey heart throbs doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you! If that were true, none of our marriages would be true either!

Trust in God’s action on your behalf. Trust in his word. Stand on what is true, and walk in the truth of that reality.