In the gospel of St. John 3: 16 we read: 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.
This verse is called the small Bible, because you will find the main parts of the whole Bible in this verse. Dr. Martin Luther called it "the chief part of the NT, and is truly the purest gospel". He said it was "worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day.
This verse tells us at least three important things about us in relation to God. It is very important that we can understand it, or most of it.
I. First, it tells us what salvation is, or in other words, what we are going to be saved FROM and what we can be saved TO. This is a main point in all religion. We need to be saved - because of our sin. But how is it going to happen?
The biblical answer to this questionis two things: from condemnation and to heaven, which is eternal life.
a) First: We are saved from condemnation in Hell, the Bible says. To be condemned is to be separated from God for ever. That is Hell. You may never go back to God. The door is closed. This is the biblical teaching.
Jesus said to Zacchaeus in Luke 19: 10: "The Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost." Jesus is going to seek you and every lost person in order to save them from condemnation. And in Luke 16, we read about the reach man who was in Hell. It is said he was in tornment, and Abraham was far away.
In v. 26 we read that between Hell and heaven a great division had been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to the other part, could not do so. It is in other words impossible to go from one side to the other after we are dead. All dicisions must be taken in this life.
It is not possible to understand how serious Christianity is without knowing this point.
It is because of this we have Christmas and Easter. Jesus came to save us from eternal death.
b) But secondly, He came to bring us a new life, too. Salvation is eternal life in heaven. This is the real aim of our life. Heaven is to be with God for ever, an eternal blessedness, which we are not able to explain.
In Rev. 21 we can read about the holy city, the New Jerusalem, which was prepared as a bride beautifylly dressed for her husbond.
This is a picture of heaven where the bride is God's people and her husbond is Christ. He is the bridegroom. We are called to be there as his bride, beautifully dressed in the rightousness of God.
II. Secondly, this verse tells us about the real reason and cause of salvation. This is also the foundation of our salvation. It is the answer to the question: Why is it possible for me to be saved?
The answer is in two parts:
a) The love of God is the first answer. "God so loved the world." This is the greatest truth on earth. You cannot explain it, really. Because God IS love. 1 John 4: 8. John says: This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, v. 10.
God loved the world, and this means all people in every part of the world at all times. And he loves us in spite of our sin and failure.
But we can see and experience this love only in one place, on Calvary where Christ died. St. Paul says in Rom. 5, 8: God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In Philips translation it says: The proof of God's amazing love is this ---.
b) And this is in fact the other reason for our salvation, and this is very hard to understand: Christ died for our sins as a sacrifice. God gave his only son as an offering.
You know that some people bring animals or other things to an alter of their god and burn it to satisfy a god. In this way their sins are payed for, they think, because the animal died in their place.
This is also the case here. We are condemned to death and eternal punishment because of sin. But Christ came and took this doom upon himself. And no other sacrifice can save.
This is said in many parts of the Bible. The gifted prophet Isaiah wrote about 700 years before Christ: But He was pierced for our transgrations, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought our peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Is. 53: 5). This is said of Messiah, and it happened on Golgatha.
And in the Epistle to the Hebrews we read in chapter 9: 26: He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
The love of God is sent to us through Jesus Christ. He is the tunnel of it. It was a precious gift.
III. The last question is: How can we be saved? How is it possible to get this great salvation?
The Bible says here: That whoever believes in him...
This means that we cannot do anything by ourselves to have it. We are not saved by our own deeds, og by doing our best. This will never be enough. A decent life among men is very good and important. And we ought to live as good as we can, live peacefully and doing good. The Bible teaches us to do it.
BUT - the point is here: Do we rely upon it for salvation? Such deeds are called "The works of the law" in the Bible. A man cannot be saved by observing the law. Rom. 3, 28.
A reason for this is that our works are never good enough. There will allways be some sin and failure connected with it.
There is, however, another way to have this great salvation. You can have it by faith in Christ. This is mysterious but real.
When you believe in Christ, his works become yours. To believe in Christ is to believe in his works. In the verses just before our text it is said that Moses lifted up a snake in the desert. And those who looked upon it were healed. In the same way it is here, said Jesus. If you believe in Him, you are saved. Jesus was lifted up on the cross where he died for our sins.
If you believe that he died in your place, instead of you, you will be saved. To believe is to receive Christ as your personal saviour, This is said very clearly in John 1: 12: To all who received him, to those ho believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
What will you do with Christ?
