LS-38-John--Three--Sixteen

John--Three--Sixteen

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This beautiful passage is one of those complete scriptures that seem to stand alone. It satisfies the heart. It is too beautiful for analysis. Preachers rarely use it as a sermon text, for when the text has been quoted it is instinctively felt that any comment may impair its beauty and weaken its power. The text is part of the words addressed by our Lord to the Pharisee Nicodemus, and it has a definite relation to all that the Master said. "Ye must be born again," He had said to this ruler who came enquiring about the kingdom. Unless a man receives life from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. But how may that life come? What are the conditions of its reception? Is it sufficient that he prepare his heart for the heavenly gift? Will the new birth be experienced by one who becomes conscious of his need of God, and turns in penitence from his sins, and yearns for the Divine forgiveness, and prays for the blessing of communion? Is the birth of water and of the spirit an experience possible to all who seek the kingdom? Assuredly. Yet, had it been so when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, the golden words of John-three-sixteen need never have been uttered. To make such an experience possible to Nicodemus and to all who seek it, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to die. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The brazen serpent in the wilderness, lifted high before the eyes of the people, was used to symbolise His own lifting up on the cross.

It is this that gives significance and beauty to the text we are Considering. After all, it does not stand alone. God’s great love is in it, and the wonderful gift He made; our own response is there, and the blessing that it secures. But even the simple grandeur of the words would fail to move our hearts if there were not shining upon them the light that streams from the cross of Christ. God loved the world, and gave His only begotten Son--gave Him, that is, to death--and thus it is that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.