Why would God bother to save?

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MOTIVE: WHY DOES GOD SAVE?

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…

The “For” links this verse to the previous verses where Jesus predicted his death by crucifixion so “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). So why did Jesus need to be lifted up on the cross? Because God loves the world that much.

Oh, the confidence we can draw from God’s motive! If God loves me that much, then there’s nothing for me to fear.

God created humans in his image to love intensely so that we can understand what this verse means. If you love your spouse or your kids or your pet or your country, that’s good. That experience is what gives you a category for what God means when he says he loves you. But you need to expand that beyond anything you could ever feel.

  • God’s motive defines our relationship to him.
  • God has strong affections for you.
  • God has great concern for your wellbeing.
  • God has deep desires and designs for your good, for your joy, for your maturity.

And he doesn’t wait to see if you are a good person before he loves you. He’s not making a list, checking it twice, to see who’s naughty or nice. He loves us while we are still unlovable…

Romans 5: 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is why John 3:16 is so famous… because God’s love is world-famous.





MEANS: HOW DOES GOD SAVE?

John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,

Sin is utterly contemptible to God’s purity, completely counter to his holiness, totally inappropriate in his presence. But he loves the world of sinners. So he gave [édoken], he donated his only Son as a substitute to punish in our stead.

Isaiah 53: 4-10 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. …  Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him …

Let me ask you: Would you crush your son for a guilty man?

What if your oldest son volunteered to suffer so that your other children could live?

You see, God the Father did not force Jesus to do this. The Father and Son were perfectly one in their purpose and will, desire and commitment, to save a Bride for the Son.

John 10:17-18 For this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

It’s mysterious stuff. The Father is suffering as much as the Son is. If you don’t see how that’s possible just go visit the hospital’s pediatric cancer ward. You never, ever hear parents say “Well, at least it isn’t me who’s suffering.” Any parent would gladly endure anything to take that suffering away from their precious child. So, the Triune God chose to bear our punishment himself.

MARK: WHO DOES GOD SAVE?

John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This isn’t a verse of condemnation, but of hope. Nicodemus believed that Jews, and only Jews who were really careful to obey the whole Law of Moses perfectly, could be saved. But Jesus debunks that error… whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

You can be a Jew or Gentile, you can be the most wretched, wicked, vile sinner who ever lived. If you trust in the blood of Jesus as sufficient to save you, you will not perish. You will have eternal life.

Anyone and everyone at any time who is believing is given eternal life.

And to believe in Jesus doesn’t just mean to know about him, it means to trust in his person and work to be the only means of your salvation.

It’s not knowing your history about Jesus or reciting your Sunday School flannelgraph lessons about Jesus that gets you saved.

It’s the work of Jesus that saves you.

So trust in his work on the cross.

  • No matter what you have done.
  • No matter how lost you are.
  • No matter how beyond hope you feel.
  • No matter how wicked you’ve been and how messed up you are and how filthy your mind is and how devilish your deeds are…

Look to Jesus in faith and he will save you.

But if you reject the love of God, if you spurn the sacrifice of Jesus, and trample underfoot the Son of God whom he gave… if you outrage the Holy Spirit, and douse the fire of conviction in your heart with doubt and unbelief, then you deserve whatever is coming your way.

John 3:18 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.

Your sins will drag you to hell. And only Jesus can stop your slide into the jaws of damnation.

And he will. He most certainly will.

And why?

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That is worth writing under your eyes; that is worth writing on your heart.

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