A person with questions about life and death, heaven and hell, or their soul and the future cannot find a better place to begin reading than John 3:16-21.
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Everlasting Life
John 3:16-21
- The most well-known verse in all of scripture can be found in our text of the day
- It provides a summary for much of this chapter
- And contains some of the most important information in the world
- Namely, that God loves us
- That He sent His son to be our Savior
- And that through Him, we can have everlasting life
- There’s more to the story
- But our theme is “Everlasting Life”
- From John 3:16-21
- A person with questions about life and death
- Heaven and hell
- Their soul and the future
- Is not going to find a better place in the New Testament to begin reading
- John 3 is a key passage
- In it, Jesus tells men how to be saved
- These are His own words to us about eternal life
- You can probably quote our first verse
- It could be asserted that this is the most well-known passage in the Bible…
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- People can be certain about the first thing mentioned here
- God loves them
- And He demonstrated His love by sending His son
- This is not the kind of worldly love that is expressed, but never proven
- He proved it by sending His only son to die in our place
- To be our just sacrifice for sin
- The wages of sin is death
- But those who believe in Him will not perish
- While our bodies die, our souls go on
- Into everlasting life with Him
- There is no other way
- And there is no other Savior, but Jesus
- He had a specific purpose when He entered the world…
John 3:17
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
- While he came to sinners, He did not come to condemn us
- Our sins already condemn us
- He was coming to provide salvation
- People who are in a hopeless state
- Headed for certain death
- Unable to save themselves, need a Savior
- One who is capable of lifting them from their hopeless state
- He is the only One who can do it
- He provided a perfect, sinless sacrifice for sins
- Shedding His blood on our behalf
- Dying
- And then raising from the dead, defeating death
- Our embrace of Him is an embrace of the only means of salvation
- We must believe
- He is the One who came to save
- Doing all that was required to make it happen
- There is an alternative that is clear…
John 3:18
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
- The joyous good news is that everyone who believes is not condemned
- That is, condemned to an eternity far from God
- The Bible says, in torments
- That is the only future for people who do not believe
- Rejection of Christ means condemnation
- He is the way the truth and the life
- No man comes to the Father, except through Him
- With the options being presented so clearly
- Why would anyone choose to reject Him?
- The next few verses go a long way in explaining…
John 3:19
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- The light of Christ has come into the world
- And it has exposed the evil of men’s hearts
- It has revealed the sin within us
- And brought very dark things out into the open
- These are all things that can be cleansed by Christ and His sacrifice
- But the heart is deceitful
- And men have a tendency to love darkness rather than light
- We cling to our evil rather than rejecting it and turning to the Savior
- There is further explanation in the next verse…
John 3:20
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
- The way of man is to avoid the light
- To continue doing evil and to run from reproof
- Because reproof is painful
- It makes us the problem
- And highlights our sinful hearts and sinful actions
- Here’s what we should know
- While the light of Christ reveals what we are
- It also reveals the truth of salvation
- How that His blood sacrifice on the cross can cleanse us from all sin
- Understanding the truth about us hurts
- Understanding the truth about Him heals – eternally
- The story of embracing Christ is clearer in verse 21…
John 3:21
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
- The eternal solution for man is not to turn from the light
- But to come to the light
- To come to the loving Savior
- To have faith in Him
- To embrace Him fully
- As our only means of salvation
- And whatever deeds we accomplish after coming to Him
- Will be a result of His empowerment
- And far from the sin that characterized our lives before Him
- We do good and right – His will
- That which pleases Him
- Everlasting life is in Christ alone
- But we must come to Him
- Surrender to Him
- And believe