Dear Christian friends:

The song that our choir just sign-sang is taken from the Gospel Lesson for today, which is also our text. Almost every Christian has memorized the one verse: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) I'm sure that you agree with me that it is a most precious verse, perhaps the most precious verse in the Bible.

However, many Christians do not know the other verses in this chapter very well. These other verses connected with John 3:16 are also very precious and give us sinners great comfort and hope. They also tell about God's great love for us, how He loved us. So, this morning, I want to preach to you on the basis of these other verses too, and tell you the words we all desire to hear again and again.


God so loved us that He gave His Son to be "lifted up."

In our text we read what Jesus said to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. (John 3:1) As you know, the Pharisees did not accept Jesus or believe in Him. But it seems that Nicodemus began to believe in Jesus. But he didn't want the others to know that. So he came to visit Jesus one evening when it was dark. He wanted to learn more of Jesus' teachings. So Jesus is teaching him here in our text. Jesus told him that he must be born again by baptism and the Holy Spirit.(John 3:3-9) Then Jesus told him about the "Son of Man," meaning Himself. Jesus said to him, "No man has ascended into heaven except he that came down from heaven, the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:13-15)

Jesus refers to the snake which Moses lifted up on a "T" cross in the desert. (We read about that before, Numbers 21:4-9, the Old Testament Lesson for today.) When God's people, the Jews, in the desert sinned, complaining against Moses and against God, God sent poisonous snakes to come and bite them. Many people died and were still dying. So, the leaders of the people came to Moses. They were sorry and confessed their sins to Moses and asked him to pray to God to save them from the snakes and painful death. This Moses did, and God told him to make a brass snake and hang it on a cross. God said, "If a snake bites anyone and he looks at the brass snake on the cross, he will live and not die."

God so loved His people, the Jews, in the desert. Although they sinned against Him and against His servant Moses, and deserved to die, and many of them did die, God showed love and mercy to them and lifted up the brass snake on the cross, so they could look to it with faith and not die.

God so loved us today. Although we are sinners and daily sin much and deserve to die, God has showed love and mercy to us and He has lifted up Jesus, His only Son on the Cross, so that we can look to Jesus on the Cross with faith, and not perish in hell. We, like the Jews under Moses, often sin, complaining against our pastors and other leaders, God's servants, and deserve God's punishment now on earth and forever in hell. But God has so loved us that He has lifted up His only Son Jesus to get punished for us.

This shows the great love of God for us. You who have lost a son or daughter in an automobile accident or through sickness, you know the heartache and heartbreak when a son or daughter dies. Well, think of God the Father's heartache when He must offer up His only Son to suffer the pain of hell and death. But God the Father did that! He so loved us! He lifted up His Son on the Cross for us.

God the Father lifted up His only Son on the Cross for us so that we can have eternal life, and not perish in eternal death.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up. So that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."(v.15) Then Jesus tells him that most precious verse, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."(John 3:16)

When Moses lifted up the brass snake on the cross in the desert, whoever looked at the brass snake on that cross did not die, but lived. Moses invited them to look to the cross with faith and live.

In the same way, Jesus promised to Nicodemus and He promises to us who live today that if we look to Him on the Cross with faith, we will not die, but have eternal life. This is Jesus' kind invitation to us today.

This eternal life we have also now here on earth. We do not have to wait until we go to heaven. The minute you believe in Jesus you have this new, eternal, spiritual life. Before we read in the Epistle Lesson, "God made us holy. He has made us new in Christ Jesus to do good works that God has prepared for us to do."(Ephesians 2:10) We are now God's beautiful, holy people, and we can now live a holy and good life. This is eternal life, doing what is good and true and right, and not doing bad and sinning like the unbelievers.

God so loved us: He gives us eternal life now on earth and forever in heaven! We have risen from spiritual death to spiritual life! (Epistle Lesson, Ephesians 2:4-10)

Do you believe this? Do you believe that God so loves you? Have you looked to Jesus lifted up on the Cross? Do you have new, eternal life?

Many do not believe that God so loves them. They think that God sent Jesus into the world to condemn them. They refuse to come to Jesus and confess their sins. They hide their sins or make excuses. They are afraid of God.(John 3:17-20) Don't be afraid of God! God so loved you in Jesus! Come to the light! Confess your sins with a honest heart and believe in God's mercy and love for you.(John 3:21) God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son, that if you believe in Him you will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn you, but to save you.

Amen.