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(upbeat music) For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3. 16, the
most familiar verse in the Bible.

We're going to take a look together at that verse today as we take our day three
look through John chapter three. Such a powerful verse, so well known. It's so
well known that a kind of a pop culture has grown up around this verse.

But I want to remind you that John 3. 16 is more than just a sign at a football
game. I mean, the pop culture is so strong around this verse.

Somebody's even written a song about the signs that people hold up at football
games. Banner man, that song is called. One of the lines is the ball gets
booted, it hits the cross beam, up goes the banner.

John 3. 16, he ain't going to change the world, but he knows who can, banner man.
Every time I see him, I smile a little more, I can't help praying for another
high score.

He ain't going to change the world, but he knows who can, banner man. Well, John 3.
16 has come into our culture because of the power of this verse.

New century version says it this way. God loved the world so much that He gave
His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but have
eternal life. Sometimes, oftentimes, we see this verse as a verse to help us
believe in Jesus Christ for the first time.

And it is that. But does that gift end the moment we believe? No, this is a gift
that keeps on giving.

And so as we walk through this verse today, maybe the impact of your life is
that it'll help you to believe in Jesus Christ for the first time. Or possibly
the impact in your life is that it will remind you of the need for faith in
daily life. John 3.

16, the literal Greek order, remember the New Testament was originally written
in Greek. The literal Greek order of the words in John 3. 16 is this.

For thus loved God the world, the Son, the only one He gave, that everyone
believing in Him may not perish, but may have life eternal. Now, the interesting
thing about that literal Greek order is where the word gave is placed. God His
Son, the only one He gave.

It's placed last in that phrase for emphasis. It's all about what God gave. God
didn't send the Son, He gave the Son.

He sent Him into the world in order to give Him. This was not some diplomatic
visit by Jesus Christ. He came to sacrifice.

And so let's today, as we look through John 3. 16, just walk through it slowly
together, a phrase at a time. For God, for God, God gave the gift, God the
Father.

Now, immediately, if you're thinking, this brings up questions. It's a simple
verse, but you think, wait, God gave the Son? What about the Trinity?

How does that work? Aren't God and the Son equal in the Trinity? This confuses
some people so much that they think, I'm just going to throw out the whole idea of
the Trinity.

I want a God that's more understandable to me. But God clearly shows us that He
is one being who has three persons. And God, the Father, gave the Son.

In the perfect, unified, co-equal relationship that they had, God's job was to
give and the Son's job was to come. I don't understand all the jobs of the
Trinity, but I do understand that one. What it reminds me of is that the Father
and the Son, and we find out later, the Spirit, are all involved.

It's not like they had an argument in the Trinity and the Son said, no, I'm
going whether you want me to or not, Dad. No, they all, all of God and all that
He is is in complete agreement always and is in complete agreement about Jesus
Christ coming, the gift. For God, the next phrase is so loved.

God gave the gift, God gave the gift because of His love. The motivation for
this gift, think about this, is not just your need, it's not just the world's
need. It's not that God just had pity on the world and thought, I have to do
something or I'm going to feel guilty about this.

No, the motivation is purely love, so loved. That phrase there has the idea of
love to an infinite degree, that the tense of the words there points to one
continuous great act of love, not an impulse of love, but a love that was always
intended, always planned, and that will always be. As I think of God's love here
expressed, I have to ask myself, what motivates my concern for the world that's
around me?

What motivates my service for Christ? Is it short-term things like guilt or fear
or pride or the good things people might say about me? There's only one
long-term motivator for a lifetime of service, it's love.

For God so loved the world. God gave the gift to the entire world. I was once
talking to a missionary friend and I asked them, "How many languages do you
speak?

" And they said, "Well, a couple, but I can say John 3. 16 in 10 different
languages. " Because I found out if I can tell them that, that's what people
really need to know.

And that's more important than anything else I could say. God gave this gift to
the entire world. As I grow, as you grow, your vision expands.

First you think, well, God gave the gift for me. God came because he loves me,
and that is true. Maybe when you're a new believer, that's all you see.

But then your vision starts to expand very quickly. Oh, God gave the gift also
for my friends, for my family. And then you lift your eyes a little higher and
you think, God gave the gift for everyone that I have contact with in my life,
people at my office, people I see at the store.

Then you look a little broader and think, even people I don't know, God gave the
gift for everyone in this country. Then you recognize, God gave the gift for
everyone in this world. It's a small planet in many ways.

And we are all missionaries to the world because God gave the gift to the entire
world. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. He gave his one
and only son.

God gave his son, only begotten son. The Greek word here for only begotten or
one and only is the word maugenes. That means uniqueness or one of a kind,
nothing else like it.

That's the price that he paid. Now, does the price that he paid stop being
meaningful on the day that you're saved? Does this verse stop being meaningful
the moment you become a Christian?

We draw upon that account of sacrifice every day of our lives. That he gave his
one and only son that whoever, those two words, that whoever. Here we move from
the giving to the receiving, the whoever in the middle.

I'll never forget the story of Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Navigator's
Son. He had asked his son as a preschooler to memorize this verse and the
Navigators, they had people from the Navy over all the time. They'd eat at their
table all the time.

And he asked his little son to quote this verse. Some of the men around the
table weren't yet believers. In fact, there were some pretty rough sailors.

And his little son quoted, and he had a hard time with one word. In the King
James, the word in the middle is whosoever. The little boy says, God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.

He said the word whosoever, and one of the sailors later tapped Dawson Trotman
on the shoulder and said, you know, when your son said that word that way,
whosoever, I realized it means me. That means me, and that means you. This
invitation is all inclusive.

Everyone is qualified. Is there anyone you've disqualified? Maybe because of
prejudice, maybe because of anger.

Maybe it's not prejudice against a group. Maybe it's losing hope for an
individual. This is an invitation that is all inclusive.

Everyone's invited. Jesus invites you to the party. If you decide not to come,
he's not the one excluding you.

You are invited to this party, whosoever. Whosoever, the next phrase is believes
in him. We receive when we believe.

Unbelievers receive this gift through trust. There is no other way. And
believers enjoy this gift through trust.

There is no other way. Whoever believes in him will not perish. We receive
salvation from eternal death.

This isn't talking about physical life. We die physically when we become a
believer in Jesus Christ. This is talking about spiritual life, separation from
God.

Will not perish. The moment you say to Jesus Christ, I want to be born again. I
want a relationship with you.

I receive you into my life. The moment you believe in him as the savior, the
forgiver of your sin, as the Lord, the leader of your life, at that moment, the
transaction is sealed. You will not perish.

It's done. And you can start appreciating that right now. You're already
delivered from being spiritually dead in this world.

You can already begin to think of what your life would be like without Christ.
And as you think about what your life would be like without Christ, realize that
one of the significant differences heads towards eternity, and you can enjoy
that right now. The message paraphrase of John 3.

16 says it this way. This is how much God loved the world. He gave his son, his
one and only son, and this is why.

So that no one needs to be destroyed. By believing in him, anyone can have a
whole and lasting life. The next phrase is we'll not perish, but we'll have
eternal life.

We receive the promise of eternal life, everlasting life. Now, do those words
point to a quality of life or a quantity of life? Both.

It is everlasting, it's eternal quality of life. And when does that new quality
of life start? Well, the truth of the matter is it starts the moment you
believe.

Now, I know physically you're going to get a new body when you go to heaven. You're
going to experience some new things materially, but spiritually, the moment you
believe, your life takes a leap into the promise of eternal life because God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him
will not perish, but will have eternal life. Let's pray and thank God for this
truth.

And as you pray, you might need to pray John 3:16 as a prayer of salvation
commitment. Might need to say to him, God, I thank you that you so love me, that
you gave Jesus for me. And today, right now, this moment, I want to believe in
you.

I want to trust my life to you. And I thank you for the promise that as I believe
in you, I will not perish, but I will have your life, eternal life. You might
need to pray John 3:16 as a salvation commitment.

You might need to pray it as a prayer of thanks. God, thank you. Thank you that
you so love me.

Thank you that you gave your son. Thank you that you gave me the grace to
believe in you. Thank you.

Thank you that I will not perish. Thank you that I will have eternal life. And
God, thank you that you love not only me, you love the world.

And so you might want to pray John 3:16 as a prayer of your commitment to share
the good news with others. God, help me to share with others that you so love
the world. Help me to share with others and let other people know that they can
believe in you.

Help me to tell the good news that we don't have to perish. We can have eternal
life. We pray this together, Jesus, in your name.

Amen.