John 3

Now, as we look at this short passage this afternoon, I just want to ask one question, which is a question that a lot of people ask.

It's the question that's on the front of your sheet this afternoon, and it's the question, if God is supposed to be a God of love, why does he let his son die?

If God is supposed to be a loving God, yet 2,000 years ago, a man the Bible claims was God's son, Jesus Christ, the exact representation of God himself as a human being, was killed.

And God let that happen.

And I want us to see why those two things are joined together.

How can God be a loving God and yet his son died?

Because it could be, couldn't it, that God is a loving God, but Jesus died a tragic death.

That somehow the plan, whatever it was, went awfully wrong.

God is a loving God, but Jesus died.

It was a tragic mistake.

Or it could be that God is not at all loving.

Jesus trusted God with all of his heart, but Jesus got killed.

And God, his father, failed him.

Because on the face of it, those two things don't seem to match at all, do they?

If I allowed my three-year-old son to die, and I could have stopped it,

you wouldn't think that I was a loving father at all, would you?

I would probably be arrested and put in prison.

And that is sometimes what people think happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross.

In a book that was written a few years ago, it's quite a while ago now,

a writer caused a bit of a storm by suggesting that Jesus' death had a very sinister motive behind it.

This writer says that the way Christians have understood Jesus' death

sounds like a form of cosmic child abuse.

That God was a vengeful father, punishing his son for an offence he'd never committed.

If God is all-loving and all-powerful, then it's either a huge error, isn't it?

Or God the Father really is a cosmic child abuser.

But what sort of God reveals himself to us in the Bible?

I want to say to you this afternoon, it isn't God is loving, but Jesus died.

It is, actually, God is loving, so Jesus is killed, Jesus dies.

But I don't want you to just listen to my words, I want you to listen to Jesus' words.

And we hear Jesus' words here, don't we, in John's Gospel.

And in this passage, in John's book, John's eyewitness account of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus,

Jesus here is speaking to a local religious leader called Nicodemus.

And he is an expert on the Jewish religion.

And in this conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus about his mission,

about the purpose of his life.

And strangely, Jesus turns the conversation to speak about his own death.

If you look at verse 14 at the top there,

Jesus says,

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Now, in kind of Bible language,

Jesus there is using an illustration,

based on a story in the Old Testament.

And he's using an illustration to describe his own death.

And so, first off, Jesus knowingly speaks here, doesn't he,

about his death.

That he must be lifted up on a cross.

And so, his death is intentional.

Jesus' death is planned.

It's intentional.

His death is not a blunder.

It's not a failure in the plan.

Oh, the result of God's vengefulness.

Jesus himself speaks about it as something that he knows is going to happen.

And it's planned.

And there is an intention behind it.

Jesus knows that he has come to die.

A little bit later on in John's Gospel,

he records Jesus talking about himself like a shepherd.

In another famous passage.

Looking after his people.

And Jesus says,

I am the good shepherd.

Why?

Because I lay my life down for my sheep.

No one takes my life from me, he says.

But I lay it down.

Jesus says,

My purpose on this earth is to be a shepherd for my people.

And I am going to do that by dying.

That is the plan.

Jesus' death, it's intentional.

In another Gospel, Luke's Gospel,

it's another compilation of evidence about Jesus Christ.

In Luke 9,

Jesus says many, many times,

The Son of Man must suffer.

And be rejected and be killed.

And on the third day rise.

You see, Jesus understood.

This was his great mission in his life.

Was his death.

And all through the Gospel accounts,

we read about Jesus being convinced about this.

About this mission.

There are several moments where he could have easily avoided death, actually.

Jesus didn't, for example,

stay in the north part of Israel,

up in Galilee,

where he could have hid out in the country, couldn't he?

No, he resolutely goes to Jerusalem,

where he knows all of the threat is.

And when people give him the option

to avoid death,

he tells them off.

And he says,

Don't.

Don't.

Don't.

Don't think that way.

No, he lays his own life down of his own accord.

He's not a victim.

Jesus' death was intended by Jesus himself.

God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

plans his death together.

It was a violent death, wasn't it?

But it wasn't an abusive, unplanned death.

It was a voluntary death.

God is loving, but Jesus died?

No, it was intentional.

But secondly,

Jesus' death was

a loving thing

for the Father to allow.

It was a loving thing

to do.

Looking back at the passage

in John's Gospel here,

just notice the connection

between Jesus' death

and God's love.

It is probably one of the most famous verses

in the Bible, isn't it?

John 3, 16.

God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son.

You see, love,

not vengeance,

not hate,

not abuse,

is the motivation for this plan.

God so loved the world.

I don't know if you've seen on Sky TV

the Discovery Channel.

It's a channel all about

the world of nature.

And the Discovery Channel,

they launched an ad

a couple of years ago

to kind of get people

to sign up to there,

to subscribe to their channel.

And the tagline,

the kind of phrase

that they kept saying

through this ad was,

the world is just awesome,

said.

And the advert

kind of had images

going across jungles

and deserts

and the kind of thing

you can imagine

on the Discovery Channel.

And it had a song

and it went like this.

I love the mountains,

I love the clear blue skies,

I love the oceans,

I love the world,

I love all of its sights

and sounds,

I love giant squids,

I love it when the air is thin,

I love the whole world,

it's such a wonderful place.

It's a wonderful world,

isn't it,

according to Louis Armstrong.

There is a lot

to love about the world.

But the thing is,

when we read this passage

in John 3.16,

we've kind of got

Discovery Channel mode

in our minds

when we read

that God so loved the world.

And that maybe

doesn't seem like

a surprise to us,

does it?

That is how we expect

God to feel about the world,

if we're watching

the Discovery Channel,

and it's how we expect

God to feel about us.

We are good people,

aren't we?

We're nice.

We're good people,

we're lovable people.

That's how we expect

God to feel about us,

and that's how we expect

other people to feel

about us,

isn't it?

But can I ask you

that if people knew

all there was

to know about you

this afternoon,

would you still expect

them to love you?

If people knew

every single thought

that you'd had

about them,

and everything

that you've said

in private

about them,

if they could see

every moment

of anger,

every hidden thing

of your life

was somehow recorded

and played

on a big screen

behind us,

would you still

expect them

to love you then?

You know,

speaking personally,

love is the last

thing I'd expect

you to feel for me.

Actually,

when you strip away

the veneer,

I am pretty unlovable

underneath it all.

The real me

actually makes me

feel pretty ashamed.

And so,

it is amazing,

really,

isn't it,

how if we feel

like that with

other people,

with the real me,

we can imagine

that God would

love us

with all that

he knows about us.

So,

do you see the shock

of what Jesus

is saying here?

Jesus' death

is motivated

by God's love,

not of the lovable

you,

but of the

unlovable you,

and of the real

you.

God loves

the unlovable,

and that is the

motivation behind

this plan.

Now,

you might be

thinking,

well,

if God does

love me,

he's got a bit

of a funny way

of showing it,

hasn't he?

It is not the

most romantic

thing,

is it,

to declare your

love for somebody

and then just

kind of die for

them.

If I say to

my wife,

I love you,

and then I just

run in front of

a bus,

it makes no

sense at all.

Jesus' death

was intentional,

and it was

loving,

but thirdly and

crucially,

it was loving

because it was

necessary.

His death

was necessary.

Just look at

verse 14 again.

Jesus says,

so must

the Son of

Man be

lifted up.

that whoever

believes in

him may

have life.

Verse 17,

in order that

the world

might be

saved through

him.

John is

saying quite

clearly here,

isn't he,

that because

Jesus dies,

people who

believe in

him can have

life.

But unless

Jesus dies,

there is no

life.

unless Jesus

dies,

actually we

are in

great danger,

and we

need saving,

is the word

he uses.

Jesus' death

is loving

because somehow

it is absolutely

necessary for

us.

And I think

we get a

clue about

why that is

in verse 18.

If you look

down,

he says,

whoever believes

in him is not

condemned,

but whoever

does not believe

is condemned

already,

because he's

not believed

in the name

of the only

Son of God.

There's a TV

show on

iPlayer,

BBC iPlayer

at the moment,

that follows

the life of

prisoners on

death row.

It's interesting,

it's slightly

morbid,

in a prison

in America.

And many of

these inmates,

many of them

are there for

years,

sometimes decades,

but in the

end their

fate is always

clear.

They know

where they're

heading.

But what is

truly bizarre

about this

place is that

prisoners can

kind of get on

with something

of a normal

life.

Outside,

the prisoners

can while away

their time

playing basketball.

They can have

a game of

cards with

other inmates.

They can chat,

they can enjoy

sports.

It is a truly

bizarre scene

where you can

see these guys

playing basketball

outside,

knowing that

there is a

day not far

away than

when they

will meet

their fate.

But while

there is some

semblance of

life in the

prison,

they are

constantly

reminded of

where they

are going.

Because to

get back into

the building,

back into

their cells,

they have to

walk past the

sign that

says,

condemned

unit.

There are

signs around

the basketball

saying,

condemned

exercise yard.

And then

in the

corridors,

as they

walk to

their

cells,

there is

a sign

saying,

condemned

row.

And no

matter how

much basketball

they play,

and how many

card games

they play,

they can

never forget

where they

are heading.

They know

they are

condemned

men.

They are

condemned

to die.

They are

condemned to

death already.

And you see,

that is a poor

illustration really,

but that is

why John

says Jesus'

mission to

die was

necessary.

Because there

is a God

who made

this world,

and whilst

he is a God

of love,

he does not

love all

things.

This God

of love,

he does not

love murder.

And he

doesn't love

rape.

He doesn't

love the kind

of things that

people get

put in prison

for.

He is a

loving God,

but he

doesn't love

all things.

He hates

some things,

and that is

good,

isn't it?

It is not

loving to

say,

well,

there is

child abuse

in the world,

but I'm

not all

that bothered

actually.

Actually,

he is a

loving God

because he

doesn't love

all things.

He hates

wrong things,

and he hates

evil.

And he does

something about

wrong things.

He condemns

it to

judgment.

He sets

a date

when all

wrong things

will be

put right.

And actually,

wrong things

will be put

to death

forever,

to make a

world that

is only

good.

And the

more we

look at

ourselves,

that sounds

like good

news,

doesn't it?

But the

more we

look at

ourselves,

the more

we realise

that we

ourselves

are part

of those

condemned

things.

Yes,

he is a

God of

love,

but he

doesn't love

all things.

He doesn't

love pride.

He doesn't

love selfishness.

He doesn't

love anger.

He doesn't

love envy.

And as you

go through

the list,

it gets

really close

to home,

doesn't it?

And the

more I'm

honest with

myself,

I realise

that this

truly loving

God,

if he really

is loving,

then he

should

condemn

me.

problem

is,

isn't it,

that we

believe that

when Jesus

comes,

we are in

some way

morally

neutral,

or we're

kind of

just good

people.

But John

says,

no,

the verdict

has already

been given

even before

Jesus came.

He is a

God of

love because

he doesn't

love all

things,

and he

condemns

some things,

and he

condemns

evil,

and so that

means as

well as

those great

big crimes

we hear

of that

people go

to prison

for,

I am

also in

danger.

Jesus

comes

intentionally,

and lovingly,

and necessarily

to bear the

weight of

my condemnation,

so that

all of my

wrongdoing

might be

condemned

to death,

whilst I

can still

live.

It's what

John says,

isn't it,

verse 17,

in order,

that the

world might

be saved

through him.

And just

notice how

there is no

other way

that God

can do

this.

There is

no other

way of us

avoiding the

condemnation

that we

deserve.

See,

God gives

his only

son that

we should

be saved

through him.

So it's

less,

isn't it,

God is a

loving God

but Jesus

died.

Actually,

it is,

God is

a loving

God,

so Jesus

dies

and Jesus

is killed.

It was

intentional,

it was

planned,

and it

was the

most loving

thing that

God could

do for

us,

to do

what was

necessary for

condemned

people like

you and

for me.

We're going

to close

now.

Really,

you've got to

think about

the options,

haven't you?

How do

you respond

to this

message?

Because the

one thing

that you

can't do

is just

sit on the

fence with

this,

isn't it?

You can't

be indifferent

to this

message.

Your response

will either

say,

this is all

just make

believe,

none of it

is true,

and Jesus

really hasn't

got anything

to do with

me,

and I don't

want anything

to do with

him.

Or,

you can

admit that

Jesus shows

us a God

who is

everything to

do with

me.

And,

he is a

God who

is your

only hope

in the

face of

condemnation,

the condemnation

that really

you know

you deserve.

And if

you can

admit that,

then John

says quite

simply,

what you

need to

do is

believe,

isn't it?

That whoever

believes in

him should

not perish,

but have

eternal life.

That your

condemnation is

laid upon

Jesus,

and it's

put to

death,

that you

might live

forever.

And so I'm

going to pray

now to ask

God to help

us to do

this.