Love of God compels us to love.

Christian Nuesa
Thundersiant@yahoo

[RESITE JOHN 3:16]

Background:

- JOHN 3:1-21 is the account when Nichodimus came to Jesus to inquire how one is to receive eternal
life (verse 1-2). And Jesus answered Nichodimus that one must be born again (verse 3). And this
second birth is solely done by the Holy Spirit (verse 8).

- Nichodimus and the Lord that night where talking about Eternal Life.

- And on verse 16 the Lord tells him the reason why this eternal life is available for us.

- The answer is, according to verse 16a, the love of God.

Intro:

- Interesting..
- John 3:16 is very famous verse in evangelism. It is widely use all over the world to win souls. But
unfortunately this is the most ingnored verse in the bible amongs Christians!

- We simply got use to it too much that we never ponder the truth it speaks.

- Do you know that..

- It speaks about the familial relationship in God

- It speaks about the Sacrifice of the Father
- It speaks about the Father’s love.
- It speaks about Faith..
- It speaks about Destruction of soul and Eternal life.

1. The Famililal Relationship in God.

1.1 The Father

- God is one eternal being existing in 3 persons. Each person is referred to as God. All three persons,
the Father Son and HS comprise one single God.

- And the identity of God here is obviouse, the first person of God, who is known as the Father.

- I would like to remind everyone, we, that are quick to forget, a little about the Father?

What I am about to tell you are just few things actually:

[4 D SAKE OF TIME READ IT FAST]

Matthew 13:43 - Father has a Kingdom, and that makes Him a King.
Matthew 5:45 - Father is in Heaven
Matthew 11:25 - Father is the Lord of Heaven and earth.
Matthew 20:23 - Therefore, He determines what happens in Heaven
Luke 10:22 - Father has the power to hand over all things
Revelation 2:28 - He Possesses all authorities; therefore, is able to give authority.
 Matthew 26:53 - Father has the Angels at His disposal.

John 5:20 - Father is a leader.

John 14:32 - Father is THE commander in the God-Head.
Gen 1- Father instructed the creation of the Universe and the earth in details.

John 15:26 - Father has the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16 - Father has authority over the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:48 - Father is perfect

Matthew 15:27 - Father is glorious.
James 1:17 - Father does not change
Matthew 5:16 - Believers glorify Him.

Luke 15:21 - Father is offended by our sin.

Matthew 26:39 - He has the wrath of God and He is the one who will give it.

Rom 1:7 - Father gives grace and peace

Matthew 6:14 - Father forgives sin.
Matthew 6:1 - Father rewards righteousness
Matthew 15:13, John 6:45 - Father is the one that reveals and teaches us the truth
John 6:37,40 - Father is the one who determined our salvation
Matthew 28:19 - We are baptized in His name FIRST.
Matthew 6:26 - Father is the one who provides for our needs

Matthew 6:9 - Father is addressed and highly esteemed in the prayers of His people
John 4:23 - Father is worship in spirit and in truth.

Luke 10:21 - And HIS Son praises Him

John 17:1 And HIS Son glorifies Him
John 14:32 - And HIS Son obeys Him perfectly

- This is the Father who seems hidden in the pages of the bibleis actually FULLY dispose!

- Now to give more clarity on John 3:16. I like to read it this way: “For The FATHER so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten son.

- And that lead us to the next thing I want to teach: The only Begotten Son, which is Jesus Christ
(John 1)..

1.2 The Only Begotten Son

- The words “only begotten” in Greek is “monogenes (the combination of monos and genos)”.
- Monos - It means “only”.
- Genos - In english Begotten;

- I will make an emphasis on the word ONLY fot now. Next weeks I’ll tackle the word Begotten.
So DO NOT miss that. That’s equally interesting.

- This passage says, the Father has only one Son. I wanna give more clarity on this. Follow this
carefully:

- Since Jesus is the only Son He has NO OTHER brother.

- He is therefore The only one of His kind.
 - Further:
- The Holy Spirit is not a begotten son.
- The Holy Spirit is not a brother to Jesus.
- The Holy Spirit is not the Father’s Son.
- The Holy Spirit does not relate to the Father as father, nor He calls call Him
father.

- Similarly, you do not call you uncle father, nor your cousin brother, do
you?

- However the Son relates to the Father is exclusive to the Son ONLY.

- I am sure the Holy Spirit has a relationship to the Father that is equally glorious
and enjoyeable. BUT this is not revealed in bible. What we have is Father and
Son reltionship..

- We only know that the third person of the Trinity is the Spirit of God. And that’s
about it.

- Actually, the Father has many children.

- Angels and Men are children of God by creation. Is. 64:8
- Israel are children of God by the covenant. Is. 63:16
- The church are children of God by adoption. Romans 8:5

- But among these children of God, there is only one Son in the nature of God.

- This Son is UNIQUE. The only one of His kind.

- And since He is the only Son, that puts Him to be the most preciouse of the Father.
Basically, THE FATHER’S BEST.
- Let me give you a picture of this.

[GO TO REF]
1. Jairus, an official of the synagogue
- Luke 8:41 And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the
synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his
house; [WHY WAS HE BEGGING DESPERATELY? WHAT IS THE
URGENCY?] - Luke 8:42 for he had AN ONLY daughter, about twelve years
old, and she was dying.
2. A man in a crowed
Luke 9:37 On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large
crowd met Him. Luke 9:38 And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher,
I beg You to look at my son, for he is my ONLY boy,

- These parents we very concern on their only child. Why? Simply because they have
no other child anymore.. this is it. Very very valuable to them.

- Our Heavenly Father is much like that, He has ONLY one son and so He is dear and a
darling, highly important, and highly valued.

- Now let us look at their relationship.

1.3 The Father Son Relationship

1.3.1 This relationship is a close and deep relationship.
- Micah 5:2 - Is talking about the coming of the Son as the Messiah. Micah said that the One
who cames from God is from eternity. Btw, only God is from eternity.

- Now John tells us specifically where is the Son in eternity. Do not be confuse, I know eternity
is not a place. But stay with me.

- [Goto Ref]
- John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the
BOSOM of the Father, He has explained Him.

- Bosom - The front of the body between the arms.

- It’s a part of our body where only those who are close to us can rest on it comfortably.

- So then, a person who leans on another person’s bosom shows closeness and
affection with him. They have familiarity and love towards one another.

We see this with Jesus and John.

- John 13:23 There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom
Jesus loved [or Agapao].

- But since God is a spirit, He has no literal bosom. This is a figure of speech that
points to same manner. Metaphor.

- This is where The Son is: in the bosom of the Father. Again this is not a place. Let me
explain.

- In the bible, Bosom is almost synonymous with the “heart” as the center of one’s life.
A person in the Bosom could mean:
“You are in my heart.”
“You are in the center of my life”.
“My life revolves around you”
“I care for you so much”
“I love you so much”

- Jesus being in God’s bosom means that God the Father and the Son has closeness,
affectionation, and love towards each other. He is in the very core of the Father’s love.
- Jesus indeed said..
- John 3:35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His
hand.
- And the Father..
Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

- This is where Jesus is at: a Father Son relationship SO close and SO deep and SO rich that I
do not think we can possibly understand completely.

- Just to clairfy: I am not saying that God has a little son. This is in terms of relationship.
- Jesus is a Son in Eternity according to Ps. 2:7
- Therefore, their relationship is eternal. It did not just start here on earth.

- So that’s the Father and Son relationship.

- Now, let us look at His love to the world.

2. The love of the Father to the world
2.1 The World

- The world is the object of God’s love here. But this does not mean that God loved everyone in the
world

- Scripture is clear that God loves those whom He has chosen for Salvation (1John 4:11,19). and they
are all over the world.

- They are in every nation, in every tribe, and in every tongue. Sounds familiar?
- [GOTO REF]
- Rev. 5:9 And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its
seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and
tongue and people and nation.

- And this is interesting. The world is also the object of God’s wrath; everyone in the world! This include
people who will come to faith in Christ in the future.

- Let us review this.

- We are sinfull.
- Jer. 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick;

- Psa. 5:4-5 And God hates all who do iniquity.

- And so we were the object of His wrath, it was always that way until Jesus died for our sins.

- Eph. 2:2 We are sons of disobedience.

- Eph. 2:3 Children of wrath

- All that because of sin. And one sin is enough for us to go to Hell.

- What is the point of bringing wrath in my topic? Hang on..

2.2. The Love

- In Greek, there are several words on Love:

- Phileo, an affection that could either denote brotherhood or generally a non-sexual affection. In
simple mean, to be a friend to or be fond of an individual.

- Eros, an affection of a sexual nature, usually between two unequal partners, the lover (eraste)
and beloved (eromenos).

- Another one is AGAPE. The highest among these loves. AGAPE is NOUN. The VERB of
agape is AGAPAO.

- Now the love in our text is “agapao”. The VERB form of Agape; to love. The meaning of it is “To
regard the welfare of others”. Let me say it again, God loved by regarding what is best for the world
and He acted on it.

- This is the same word use in the following:

- Matt. 19:19 YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Regard the welfare of
your neighbors.
 - John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus regarded their welfare.
He regarded the welfare of Marthat, Marie, and Lazarous.

- Rom. 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor
has fulfilled the law. This is true, the ten commanment is about love. If you love God you will
not put His name in vain, or on your neightbor you will not steal from them.

- Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up
for her. To regard the welfare of your wife.

- 1Pet. 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the
brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

- The list above are all agapo. To regard the welfare of other people INSTEAD of your OWN!

- When the Father regarded the welfare of the world; those who are chosen for salvation that are
scattered all over the world.
- It required that He gives His only begotten son.
- It required to give up this Son who is in His Bosom.
- WHY? Because there is not other way FOR US TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE BUT TO
SACRIFICE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON (Luke 22:42) . His son has to be given up
because there is no other way to SAVE US FROM THE WRATH OF GOD.
- Why is it there is no other way? I will try answer that next week. I need to get
done on time.

- Can you see how humangous the sacrifice!! Can you see How BIG the prize!

- To make things worst on the part of the Father. He regarded the welfare of the world, which He hates!

- This is like giving your only house away for someone who stole your car and emptied your bank
account so that he can be free of charge!

- Thanks be to God because in His wrath, He remembered Mercy (Rom ?). In His wrath, He chose
to love.

- So then the Father gave His Only Begotten Son FOR the world, the object of His wrath.

- GAVE implies sacrifce BY the Father.

3. Gave; the Sacrifice

3.1 - The Father gave His son to death.
- If we look at the context of John 3:16; it starts in verse 14.

- John 3:14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up;

- Jesus was talking about His death on the cross.

- And this is where His Father sacrificially gave Him up. So that He must be lifted up on a tree.

- This is the hour that Jesus shall drink the cup of wrath (John 12:27).

- This cup Jesus Christ would rather not drink, if there was any other way of saving humanity.
 - Matt. 26:39b “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but
as You will.”

- Let us understand the cup.

[GO TO REF]
- The meaning of the Cup - The cup symbolizes God accumulated anger. And an accumulated
anger is wrath.
- Is. 51:17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,You who have drunk from the
LORD’S hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

- Cause of God’s wrath - SIN, the breaking of God’s Law (James).

Rom. 1:18 ¶ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

- Not only that He has to give up His son but He had to deliver Him to death.

3.2 - The Father who personally delivered His Son to death.

- Much like what happened in Genesis 22. This is when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice
Issac.

- It was Abraham who delivered his only beloved son (yachid) to be sacrificed. It was Abraham
who was gonna kill Isaac. This is the exact picture of what God did.

[GO TO REF]
- Consider this: Rom. 8:32a He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how
will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

- When the Apostle Paul, who is an Old Testament expert, wrote Romans 8:32, he has Genesis 22 in
mind. When Abraham was delivering Issac to die.

- And this “delivered Him over” phrase is shown a lot in the Passion of Christ written the Book of
Matthew.

[GO TO REF]
Matt. 20:18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the
chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
Matt. 20:19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and
on the third day He will be raised up.”
Matt. 26:14 ¶ Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
Matt. 26:15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to hand Him to you?” And they weighed
out thirty pieces of silver to him.
Matt. 27:1 ¶ Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred
together against Jesus to put Him to death;
Matt. 27:2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.
Matt. 27:17 So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me
to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
Matt. 27:18 For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.
Matt. 27:21 But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for
you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
Matt. 27:22 Pilate *said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all
*said, “Crucify Him!”
 Matt. 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed
Him over to be crucified.

- The Father through His sovereign control over people, like Abraham, is delivering His only begotten
son to the cross!

- His precious and and darling Son. He gave Him up and delivered him over for the world which is
the object of His wrath.
- For the people who wants nothing from God.
- For the people who are rebellious, wretched, and sinfull.
- So that they can be saved..

3.3 The Suffering of the Son

- Let us rewind a little bit at John 12:24

[GO TO REF]
- A.The Hour - When HE had to drink the cup.
John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

- His death..

[SKIP 25 AND 26 AND LOOK AT 27]

John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this
hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

- This is when Jesus was talking about HIS coming death.

- He became troubled about this hour. Jesus was disturbed by the very purpose of what
He came for.

- Imagine, just the thought of the hour that He shall drink the cup was enough to
distress and trouble the Lord.

- Now let us forward to the Garden of Getsemane, right before He was arrested.

[GO TO REF]
- Mark 14:33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed
and troubled.
- Mark 14:34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain
here and keep watch.”
- Mark 14:35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it
were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

- Now this is no longer just a thought. The hour is REALLY NEAR. And look the the words.
- v.33 - VERY distressed
- v.34 - DEEPLY grieved, that He almost died.

- Now let us see what is happening to Him when He was praying?

- [Goto Ref]
- Luke 22:44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like
 drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

- Jesus was so distress and grieved that his human body could no longer take it! So the tiny
blood vessel from Jesus face burst. That is why He sweat with blood.
- This is not a miracle as Catholics would prolly say it..
- This was already suffering. Btw, this is medically possible (extreme strees).

- I actually do not understand completely the suffering of Christ. I know it is too great of a suffering.

- But Jesus gave a tiny bit of picture of it.

- And on the cross, towards the end of His suffering, He shouted “My God my God why have you
forsaken me” Mtt 27:46.

- Forsaken - “egkataleipo” - to abandon, desert - Jesus was separated by abondonment.

- Prophecy

- [Goto Ref]
Psa. 22:1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the
words of my groaning.
Psa. 22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.

- He was alone and no comfort but suffering when the wrath of God was poured on Him.

- The Father has to separate His son from Him so that the Father could pour His wrath on Him.
This eternal death to the Son. Death in the bible is separation from God.

- Immagine this, for the first time in eternity He is no longer in the Bosom of the Father.

- All the enjoyment of their relationship is gone and is replace by wrath.

- For the first time in eternity, Jesus had no Father.

- Equally, for the first time, The Fathed had no Son.

- When I was describing the relationship of the Father and the Son, I used the words CLOSE and
DEEP. But those words where not enought to describe it.

- This is how close the Son and the Father. That it was VERY painful to be separated. That
before He went to the cross, Jesus was troubled and grieved to the point of death, and was
sweating blood.

- Jesus suffered by the scorging and nailing of His body, He suffered because of the
wrath of God, and above all, He suffered because of the separation.
- Some say He was with the Holy Sprit. This is not true. He was alone.

- Two way suffering

- if you would observe John 3:16, the emphasis is the Father not the Son. John 3:16 shouts the
suffering of the Father.

- Since this relationship is a two way relationship. If one end is suffering bec of separation, the
other end is also..
 - Further, John 1:18

- What I am saying The Fther was also in agony to give up His Son..

- When I was young my greatest fear was my parents might lose me. The thought of myself
separated from my parest dues to being lost was terrifying to me. I would no longer be in the
comfort of my parent and be hurt in their absense. It was just gripping.

- And it was terrifying to my parents as well because they were so protective of me. It would
have been a terrible agony to my self and to my parents if they lose me.

- In small degree, I can underatand the agony in the Garden of Getsemane.

- Again,in samll degree. Because not only that Jesus was separated from the Fathere. The
Father rejected Him (as Ps 22:1-2 explains). I don’t know what’s that like. :)

- I hope I was able to give you the picture of the Father giving up His One and Only Son for us (who
deseervs His wrath). How’s that look like.

- As a SIDE NOTE

- God promised that He will not leave us nor fosake us (Hebrews 13:4-6). And He forsook His only
begotten Son. Does that mean that God could break this promise? Let me try to address this.

- Since God abandone Christ, it means it was never ever promise to Christ that the Father would never
abondone Him. Therefore when the Father did, He never broke any of His promise to Him.

- God does not break His promise according to the scriptures.. He will never leave us, nor forsake us.
And this stands forever.

4. “SO” what does it really mean?

- Lastly, Is it true that God loves us SO much that He could not possibly resist us? And so He gave His
only begotten son?

- Well that’s not what it means, right? I mentioned that we were under His wrath when He sent His One
and Only Son.

- The word “SO” over here is very interesting Greek word. The greek word is “houtos”.

- Houtos here is an Adverb (ah, don’t ask me to explain why it is adverb in Greek) making it a
demonstrative word, referring to what precedes or follows.

- This word then is best translated as “In this manner”, or “in this way”.

- John 3:16 Is best translated like this: For this is the way the Father loved the world: He gave his
one and only Son..

- What is God’s love? This is God’s Agape...

Application.

- If you were asked how did God love you? You shall answer: In this way, He gave His only begotten son
to death for a sinful person such as I am whom He rightfully hated.

- I do not think we can love this high. This is devine height of love where no bounderies it shall not pass.

- But we have NO excuse to refuse to love!

- Numerous times I am sure we regarded the welfare of others than ourselfves. You guys have done
that, right? At least once in your life.

- But sometimes we fail to love others when it becomes uncomfortable. this is the point when we
decide not to love; wen it becomes hard, we choose to regard our own welfare. Even selfishness,
indifference causes us not to love.

- Therefore our agape is short, sometimes. I hope not most of the time!

[Goto Ref]
- 1Pet. 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the
brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
- Fervent “Ektenos” - being stretched out.
- To regard the welfare of others even when it becomes uncomfortable; hard.

- When the Father loved us, it was a sacrifice on God. Talk about being unconfortable.

- To love others is a commandment

[GO TO REF]
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved
you, that you also love one another.
John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:12 ¶ “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.

- And so the Father, throught Jesus, commanded us to love, to regard the welfare of others even
when it becomes hard on our part.

- To love God is also a commandment.

- Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love God Heart, soul, mind, and strenth.

- How do we apply these commandment?

- Jesus explains about loving Him..
- [Goto Ref]
- John 14:23
- Jesus answered and said to him, " If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My
Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

- And we see exactly this when Jesus confronted Peter.

- [Goto Ref]
John 21:15-18
15 Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?"
IF SO "Tend My lambs."
16 A second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" IF SO "Shepherd My sheep."
17 third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" IF SO "Tend My sheep.

- Repeated 3 times.. great importantace.. Do you love me, take care them. Regard
 their welfare.

- Therefore
- Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love God Heart, soul, mind, and strength. Part of loving God is
express on your love to your neighbor.

- Please ponder following:

- Do you regard the welfare of God if you do not share the gospel?
- How about if you are not serving in the church at all?
- Do we remember others in our prayers, do we pray for the church?
- How about worshipping God but your heart is far from Him?

- Have you regarded the welfare of others by forgiving them 70x7? Was there there a time when
you said, I had enough!
- How about when you manipulate people, who are you serving?
- Letting people go on sinning. You see it, but you simply don’t wanna get involved.
- How about being a quarrelsome just simply because you can’t make a point across? You;r very
reactive. Instead of trying to understand where the other party is coming frm.
- Impatient to other people. “Ah! This lady infront of me is so slow to walk I could just push her!”

- NoTime becomes an excuse not to help someone.

- Do you think you regard the welfare of others if you are indifferent to their needs then?
- Being insensitive to other people. We come to church and most of the thing we do is
social conversations. No desire to find out if the person who is with you is alright.
- Prov. 14:13 Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may
be grief.

- I like to read 1 John 4:7-11. I hope it has a much deeper meaning to you.

[YOU READ]
1John 4:7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God.
1John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son
into the world so that we might live through Him.
1John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
1John 4:11 Beloved, if God so [houtos, in this manner] loved [Agapo, regarded our welfare] us,
we also ought to love one another.

- We simply owe it to God as love.

- Can you still refuse to love?