The Greatest Love, John 3:16 adapted from a Jeff Strite sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=79901

1. The Greatest Love,

2. NET For this is the way God
loved the world: He gave his one and only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.
There’s the story of a man who had been
driving on an out-of-the-way 2 lane highway
running thru the rural countryside. He
noticed an old tumbledown shack standing
in the middle of an open field.

3. He had to smile to himself as he read the
crudely printed message on one whole side
of the shack. Apparently, some young man
had scrawled in large letters with a piece of
chalk: "I love you - Kathy."
A few weeks later, as he drove down that
same road, he looked in anticipation for that
same romantic message. His
disappointment was as great as his
surprise.

4. Not only was the message gone, so was
the barn. But his smile returned. Beside that
field, on the back of a large road sign,
scrawled in large white letters were the
words: "I still love you - Kathy."
is like that message. It is the
message from God that He loves us – and
that message seems to show up literally
everywhere.

5. You’ll see it at football games, basketball
games, on billboards along the road, on
bumper stickers of cars, on paintings and
statues.
Have you heard about an eye doctor who
has an eye chart in his office that – instead
of traditional chart with the E at the top -
has in letters with descending
size. “Can you see this?” he will ask. While
his patients smile, he sometimes has the
opportunity to talk to them about the Lord.

6. Christians are totally in love with this verse
because it seems to sum up so much of
what the Bible teaches about salvation. It’s
so popular that - when I visited
sermoncentral.com – I found that there had
been around 600 sermons dedicated to this
text.

7. There’s a preacher who believed that he
could preach every Sunday for the rest of
his ministry simply on this text. I could never
be that inventive.
Today we’re going to simply look at each
part of the verse, and see the power and
depth of what this verse contains.

8. God loved the World
This is the heart of the Gospel.
It isn’t us desiring to find God… It’s God
desiring to find us, to embrace us, to claim
us as His own.
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9. NET
And notice… says God
loved the WORLD
There’s a commentator I sometimes refer to
by the name of John Gill - but I was
shocked by his interpretation of this verse.
Commenting on this verse, he stated that
“not every man in the world is here meant”
(John Gill’s Expositor). Gill essentially
maintained that God only loved the elect
and that Jesus was only sent for them.

10. The problem with Gill’s interpretation is that
it robs the verse of its power. It defrauds the
true message of this passage.
doesn’t say He loved just the
good looking people
It doesn’t say He loved just the rich and
successful
It doesn’t say He only loved a select few of
us….
It says GOD LOVED THE WORLD

11. That means everyone who is damaged by
sin and deformed by the corruptness of the
world around them.
This kind of love was beautifully described
in story by Mary Ann Bird. She wrote: “I
grew up knowing I was different, and I
hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and
when I started school, my classmates made
it clear to me how I looked to others: a little
girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose,
lopsided teeth, and garbled speech.

12. When schoolmates asked, “What happened
to your lip?” I’d tell them I’d fallen and cut it
on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed
more acceptable to have suffered an
accident than to have been born different. I
was convinced that no one outside my
family could love me.
There was, however, a teacher in the 2nd
grade whom we all adored – Mrs. Leonard
by name. She was short, round, happy – a
sparkling lady.

13. Annually we had a hearing test… Mrs.
Leonard gave test to everyone in the class,
and finally it was my turn. I knew from past
years that as we stood against the door and
covered one ear, the teacher sitting at her
desk would whisper something, and we
would have to repeat it back – things like
“the sky is blue” or “do you have new
shoes?”

14. I waited there for those words that God
must have put into her mouth, those seven
words that changed my life. Mrs. Leonard
said, in her whisper, “I wish you were my
little girl.”
That’s what God says to every person
deformed by sin, every soul damaged by
worldliness.
“I wish you were my son”… “I wish you
were my daughter.”
God so loved the World…He so loved YOU
and He so loved ME…

15. He gave his one and only Son
God cares what happens to us. He’s not
some impersonal force that simply created
the world and walked away.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, as such
sciences as astronomy, physics, chemistry,
geology and biology began to germinate
and develop, although most scientists were
Christian believers, some started to
espouse a Deistic view of the world.

16. According to Deism, god created the world
and then walked away to let it run according
to built-in laws. This idea of a self-running,
evolving mechanical world gradually took
over astronomy and geology. The idea soon
appeared in biology.
http://www.parentcompany.com/creation_essays/essay2.htm

17. God is not some impersonal force that set
the world spinning ages ago and just simply
walked away. He is the loving, caring God
who stepped down from the security of
heaven…
… became a living, breathing man
… knew hunger and thirst
… experienced friendship and love
… and also the rejection of men and the
insults of those He created
… ultimately dying a cruel and excruciating
death on a cross

18. Or as Paul writes to the Philippians:
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19. God didn’t send a servant to perform this
task. He didn’t send a prophet or even an
angel. This was so personal a gift… that
God HIMSELF came in the flesh.
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20. Jesus was God in the flesh. As the angel
said to Joseph when informing of Mary’s
pregnancy:
( )
( )
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21. so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.
John F. Kennedy once said “Our problems
are man-made, therefore they can be
solved by man.” Now, I realize President
Kennedy hadn’t meant that to apply to our
relationship with God… but that is the
essence of all man made religion

22. All the other religions in the world
essentially teach: Our problems are man-
made, therefore they can be solved by man.
What are “our problems?” We do sinful
things, think sinful things, say sinful things.
And these evil actions, tho’ts and words
create damage to our relationships and
personal feelings of self worth that can
destroy even the best person’s sense of
peace.

23. One religion calls this “bad karma” and
proposes that the way to deal with “bad
karma” is to do “good karma” - deeds that
counterbalance the wrongs that you’ve
done in the past. In other words, they teach:
“we made our own problems and we can
solve our own problems.” All we have to do
is do enough good to overcome the past.

24. Every world religion is build on that idea: If I
do enough good deeds, then I can
purchase peace and contentment. I can
purchase God’s love. I can purchase God’s
forgiveness.
BUT, the prime message in is
NOT that we can purchase God’s love, but
that He loves YOU and He’s willing to
purchase you with His own blood.

25. basically declares: Yes, your
problems are man made; and you made
them! BUT you can’t be good enough to be
good enough for God. There’s no way you
can make your good deeds balance out that
which you have done wrong in your life.

26. A Boy Scout was studying for his “God and
Country” Merit Badge, when this subject
came up. It was explained to him that most
people have a picture in their minds of a
giant balance scale. In their minds they
visualize the weight of their bad deeds
weighing down one side of the balance. And
they believe that the only way to bring the
scales back into balance is to do enough
good deeds to place on the other side of the
scales.

27. The only problem with that scenario is that
the bad deeds - with their baggage of guilt
and shame – are still there. They haven’t
been removed. They’ve simply been
balanced out. Eventually, the weight of their
evil deeds can begin to break the scales
and create moral dilemmas they can’t
escape.

28. But God says: “I’ve got a better way. Let me
remove the weight of those bad thought’s
and deeds and statements from your life.
Let me clear the scales of the shame and
guilt that have weighed upon your
conscience and give you a lightness to your
soul.”
But this isn’t something you can purchase
from God. It is freely given. He loves you so
deeply and has paid a price so steep that it
defies the very idea that you could ever
earn what He wants to give you.

29. David Morse, an American missionary to
India became great friends there with the
pearl-diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he
spent in Rambhau’s cabin reading to him
from the Bible, and explaining to him God’s
way of salvation.
Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of
God, but whenever the missionary tried to
get Rambhau to accept Christ as his
Saviour he would shake his head and reply,
"Your Christian way to heaven is too easy
for me! I cannot accept it.

30. If ever I should find admittance to heaven in
that manner I would feel like a pauper
there...like a beggar who has been let in out
of pity. I may be proud but I want to
deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven
and so I am going to work for it."
Years later Rambhau invited Morse to his
home saying he had something special to
show his friend. There in his house,
Rambhau showed Morse a small but heavy
English strongbox.

31. Rambhau explained: "In a week’s time I
start working for my place in heaven; I am
leaving for Delhi and I am going there on
my knees."
Morse responded "Man, you’re crazy! It’s
900 miles to Delhi, and the skin will break
on your knees, and you will have blood-
poisoning or leprosy before you get to
Bombay."

32. "No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed
Rambhau, "and the immortals will reward
me for it! The suffering will be sweet for it
will purchase heaven for me!"
The old man continued: "You are my
dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse.
Through all these years you have stood by
me in sickness, in want you have been
sometimes my only friend. But even you
cannot turn me from my desire to purchase
eternal bliss....I must go to Delhi!"

33. "I have had this box for years," said he,
"and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will
tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a
son..."
“My son was a diver too. He was the best
pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had
the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the
strongest arm, the longest breath of any
man who ever sought for pearls. What joy
he brought to me!

34. Most pearls, as you know, have some
defect or blemish only the expert can
discern, but my boy always dreamed of
finding the ’perfect’ pearl one beyond all
that was ever found. "One day he found it!
But even when he saw it he had been under
water too long.... That pearl cost him his life,
for he died soon after."

35. The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a
moment his whole body shook. "All these
years," he continued, "I have kept this pearl
but now I am going, not to return, and to
you, my best friend I am giving my pearl."
The old man worked the combination on the
strongbox and drew from it a carefully
wrapped package. Gently opening the
cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and
placed it in the hand of the missionary.

36. It was one of the largest pearls ever found
off the coast of India, and glowed with a
lustre and brilliance never seen in cultured
pearls. It would have brought a fabulous
sum in any market.
For a moment the missionary was
speechless and gazed with awe.
"Rambhau! What a pearl!"
"That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the
Indian quietly.

37. The missionary looked up quickly with a
new thought: Wasn’t this the very
opportunity and he’d prayed for to help
Rambhau understand the value of Christ’s
sacrifice? So he said, "Rambhau, this is a
wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me
buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars
for it."
"Sahib! What do you mean?"

38. "Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars
for it, or if it takes more I will work for it."
"Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole
body, "this pearl is beyond price. No man in
all the world has money enough to pay what
this pearl is worth to me. On the market a
million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell
it to you. You may only have it as a gift."

39. "No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As
much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it
that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is
too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it..."
The old pearl-diver was stunned. "You don’t
understand at all, Sahib. Don’t you see? My
only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I
wouldn’t sell it for any money. It’s worth is in
the life-blood of my son.

40. I cannot sell this but I can give it to you.
Just accept it in token of the love I bear
you."
The missionary was choked, and for a
moment could not speak. Then he gripped
the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he
said in a low voice, "don’t you see? My
words are just what you have been saying
to God all the time."

41. What does that mean?
How do you “believe” in Jesus?

42. 1st it means that you accept that He is the
only Begotten Son of God – God in the
flesh. And you accept that God loves you so
much that He wants you to belong to Him.
2nd it means that you accept that YOU
yourself can’t be good enough to be good
enough for God. You have to recognize that
you are a sinner who needs change in their
life.

43. 3rd it means you must accept Him as the
Owner and Master of your life. He now has
the right to decide the course of your
decisions.
4th it means that you must be willing to
identify with His gift by being buried in the
waters of Christian baptism and rise up to
live a new life in Him.

44. 5th Does it not also mean that must
continue to be faithful all your years walking
this earth? If you believe in Him will you not
do your best to live at He wishes you to.
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