“The Gospel Gem”
Text: John 3:14-21
3-10-2024
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. Let’s do a little test: Without looking down at your bulletin, recite John 3:16 for me. I’ll even get you started... “For God...” Did you notice how many people around you knew that verse? That’s because it’s one of the most loved and well-known verses in the Bible. Someone once called it “The Gospel in a nutshell.” In other words, this verse sums up the message of the whole Bible in just 24 words. It sparkles like a precious, beautiful gem in the Scriptures. Hold onto that image for just a second.
Let’s say a master jeweler obtains a magnificent diamond. What does he do with it? Superglue a piece of string to it or display it on a shoebox lid? Of course not. That jeweler will treat it like the famous 45 carat Hope Diamond. This huge, beautiful “blue” diamond was lovingly put in a pendant, surrounded by a setting of 16 smaller, white diamonds. Well, John 3:16 is the Bible’s “Hope” Diamond. It expresses the precious hope of salvation for sinners. And like a master jeweler, God placed this magnificent Gospel gem in a setting that highlights its beauty and value. The setting that I’m talking about is the verses surrounding this gem. They accent and bring out the power and beauty of this gem. So let’s look more closely at John 3:16 and the verses around it with the intention of letting God bring out the deeper beauty of it.
The best place to start is with the context of this verse. Jesus was conversing with a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus. They were talking about what it takes to go to heaven. Jesus says it can only happen through faith in Him which is given through Holy Baptism. Then Jesus says those opening words of our text, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” He was referring to the incident in our Old Testament reading. The Israelites were out in the desert and they rebelled against God. So, the Lord sent death into their camp through these venomous snakes. The only way their lives could be saved was to look at the bronze snake on the pole, which was an act of faith.
That incident is a picture of where the world is at spiritually. Because of the sin we’re all born with, we are in rebellion against God. And the venomous sting of sin causes eternal death. But God is merciful, just like He was with the Israelites. He offers healing through faith. Jesus says that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life, not eternal death. Verse 16 says God did this so that we would not perish. That word doesn’t just mean to spoil or rot. It means to be destroyed. God sent His Son to the cross to save us sinners from eternal destruction. Now jump to the verses following the Gospel Gem. If you look closely, verse 17 mirrors verse 16. But it states the truth of the Gospel in the negative. Christ did not come into this world to condemn us for our sin or to bring judgment and punishment. Rather, He came to save us from our sin.
That’s great. But as you can sense from this statement, obviously some people are condemned. If Jesus came to save and not condemn, then why are some condemned anyway? Verse 18 tells us and not surprisingly, it takes us right back to the faith issue. It says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” 3 times the verb “believe” is used. That’s because it’s crucial to our salvation. So why are some people condemned? It’s because they refused to believe in Jesus as their Savior. God did not condemn them. They condemned themselves by rejecting God’s gift of grace. God is not to blame. They are, because they refused to believe and receive the cure of the cross for the venomous bite of sin.
Think of it this way. Let’s say you contracted AIDS. AIDS will eventually destroy your immune system which will result in your death. But what if I came to you with some free medicine that will cure you? Well, you’ve got 2 choices. You can believe that the treatment will cure you and take the free medicine that will save your life. Or you can refuse to believe it, reject the offer, and die of your deadly disease. As ridiculous as it may sound, let’s say you choose plan B. You refuse the free medicine and die a miserable death. Whose fault is it? Of course, that person is to blame for their own death. Why is it then, when a person refuses the grace of God that will cure them of their sin, He suddenly gets blamed? Whose fault is it that anyone will be in hell? Not God’s. He’s loving and merciful and He offers the cure, but some folks reject it.
Before we move on, though, we need to clarify something. In our little scenario, let’s say you chose plan A. You thankfully receive the free medicine, take it, and are cured. Who gets the credit for saving your life? Why you of course. I mean, you bravely made the “decision” to take the free gift that was set before you. You should get some of the credit for saving your own life, right? I hope you can sense my sarcasm there. Seriously, though, you couldn’t possibly take any of the credit. All you did was receive that free gift that saved your life. But as crazy as it sounds, there are some Christians who try to take some credit for “deciding to follow Jesus.” Well, St. Paul blows that thinking right out of the water. He says in our Epistle Lesson, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God gets all the credit for saving us from eternal death. All we can do is receive that free grace that cures us of our sin.
Okay, but why would anyone in their right mind reject this kind of an offer? Verses 19-20 of our Gospel reading tell us. Our sinful human nature loves the darkness of sin. To come into the light of God’s truth means that our ugly, damning sins will be exposed. Think back to the scenario about AIDS. You may choose to not accept that free medicine because it would mean exposing the fact that you were injecting illegal drug, having sex with a prostitute, or homosexual sex. That’s how most people get this deadly disease. Sadly, some of those folks don’t want to change what they’re doing because they enjoy their perverse lifestyle too much.
Believe it or not, that’s the same reason why some folks reject God’s grace. They’re caught up in the darkness of their sin and they don’t want God to change them. They’re afraid to confess their sins before the Lord because that will expose the shameful, sinful things they’ve been doing. And our sinful nature enjoys doing those evil things so much that we don’t want to give them up. I know people who will not step foot inside of a church for that very reason. They know or they’ve heard that God condemns what they’re doing. The problem is that by refusing to expose themselves to the light of God’s truth, they are also denying themselves the cure of God’s grace. He wants to heal them, but they must first turn to the cross by faith and receive this free gift.
Ah, but it isn’t just those people “out there” who are living in the shadow of their sins and loving it. We all do it. There are sins that you and I just love doing. If sinning wasn’t fun, do you think people would do it? There are other sins that we’re caught up in that we’re ashamed of and don’t want to be exposed. So, we come here to church looking all pious and we accept God’s cure for some of our sins but not all of them. That’s deadly! The poison of those sins will remain and it threatens to kill you eternally. But if we confess all those sins and look to the cross of Jesus, God will heal us and restore us to eternal life.
Do you see how all these other verses help to bring out the brilliance of the Gospel Gem in John 3:16? The brilliance is the heavenly light which is God’s love. God so loved the world that He gave... God’s love took action for us poor, helpless sinners. And God’s love is not limited. It’s not available only for certain people. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Yes, He even died for the sins of those who refuse to believe. Sadly, they won’t receive the benefit of His healing death. Instead, they will die eternally by their own doing. But for those who will receive God’s cure for sin, there is forgiveness and eternal life. The good news is that there’s still time to receive God’s free grace. As long as we still have breath, we can look to the cross by faith and be healed of all our sins. That is the “Hope Diamond” of the Gospel; the sure and certain hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. May our lives reflect the brilliance of that Gospel Gem to a world which is living in the darkness of sin. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!