Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: John 3: 1-17   Dec. 22, 2024

Message: “The Greatest Gift of All!”              

by Pastor George Gnade

The Greatest Gift of All

Intro: 1. As most of you know, we have been studying the passages in the Gospel of John that teach us about the pre-existence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Today, on the fourth Sunday in Advent, I would like to share with you one of the most complete verses in the entire Bible. For that very reason, it is also one of the most well-known verses in the entire Bible. It is John 3:16. 

3. Even if you have a hard time memorizing passages from the Bible, this is a verse every Christian should learn by heart.  It is like the gospel in a nutshell. Let us take it apart, phrase by phrase, for our message today.

A. We will begin with the greatness of God’s love.

1. The verse begins by saying: “God so loved…” 

a. While the world believes in many different gods, the Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God who made everything and He made us. 

b. Once you understand the greatness of God, the Bible wants us to understand the greatness of His love. 

2. In I John 4:8, it say: “God is love.” And in I John 3:1, it says: “How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us.”  That is why John 3: 16 begins with “God so loved...” 

a. To simply says: “God loves us,” should be enough all by itself.

b. But to say: “God so loved” us adds to the emphasis. 

3. There is no greater love than the love God describes in this verse. 

B. Secondly, it continues: “God so loved the world!” Let me draw to your attention the vastness of the world.

1. Most people who have lived in this world only knew the people who lived close to them. In our day, we are now more aware of how great our world really is.

a. “Voice of the Martyrs” sent me a free calendar and    asked me to pray for all the countries it has listed. Every day, it seems like another country is listed!

b. This past year, we had millions of Americans who voted in our election. We are told there are billions of people on the face of the earth.

2. But that is not all! Jesus lived over 2,000 yrs. ago. Abraham lived about 2,000 yrs. before that. And if we take the years described in the Book of Genesis as literal, there were at least 2,000 yrs. before that. Can you imagine how many generations have lived and died since the day God created Adam and Eve?

3. When the Bible says: “God so loved the world,” He is speaking of everyone who ever lived. You and I can never comprehend the vastness of this world. Therefore, we will never be able to comprehend the greatness of His love.

C. Thirdly, John 3: 16 says: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Consider the indescrib-able importance of His Son.

1. In Heb. 1: 3, the Bible says: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”

a. This verse is one of the most thorough descriptions of who Jesus is. He is God’s equal. He is and always has been God’s Son. As we have been learning from our study in the Gospel of John, He has always pre-existed with God

b. Yet “God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son.”

2.  What does it mean when it says: “He gave us His only begotten Son?”  In I John 4: 9-10, John, the apostle, explains exactly what he meant when he wrote John 3:16. He says: “This is how God showed His love for us. He sent His one and only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love- not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

a. It is awesome enough to know God sent His Son to be born as a human like us on Christmas day. 

b. It is even more unfathomable to know the Father sent His Son to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

3. How can anyone ever fully fathom the indescribable greatness of the Son or the unfathomable greatness of His sacrifice?

D. Let’s continue: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him…”  Fourthly, consider the broadness of the invitation!

1. “Whosoever” opens the door for whoever is willing to come.  The Apostle John also wrote the Book of Revelation under the guidance of the Lord Jesus. 

a. In Rev. 22: 17, in the very last chapter of the Bible, as one of the last things that Jesus wanted us to remember, He wrote: “The Spirit and the bride say:  ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life!”

b. People exclude themselves. The invitation is open to everyone, whoever willingly chooses to come to Jesus

2. On Christmas Day, many gifts will be given. It would be rare for someone to reject a gift given in love to him/her. 

a. No one would reject a gift from an important person.

b. Why do so many reject this gift from God? Are the pleasures of sin really worth more that the gift God offers to all who will believe in Him?

E. Fifthly, consider the severity of the danger.  In John 3:16, Jesus said: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosever believes in Him, will not perish…”

1. Everyone who is born quickly comes to realize that sooner or later we will all die. The Bible calls that the first death. But there is a second death of greater importance. It will happen when Jesus judges the world in righteousness. 

a. In Heb. 9: 27, it says: “It is appointed unto man to die once and after that to face the judgment of God.” There are no second chances. 

b. To reject God’s great gift of salvation is to place yourself in great danger.  But in John 3:16, Jesus gives us a wonderful promise. Everyone who chooses to believe in Him will not perish.

2. Instead, “whoever will believe in Him shall… receive eternal life.”  Jesus called this an “abundant life” (John 10:10), a life filled to the full with every blessing that God can give to those who choose to love Him.

3. As the angel told the shepherds, “Unto you is born this  day… the Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). His gift is the greatest gift. It is really the gift of knowing and believing in Him.  Thank God for the real gift of Christmas

In Conclusion: 1. Christmas is more than gifts under the tree. Yet that is all most children will ever know. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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