Coffeeville First Baptist Church By Craig Baker, Pastor 6/11/26
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I shared with you last week that the theme of our Vacation Bible School (VBS) this year was John 8:12 where Jesus proclaimed that He is the light of the world, and those who follow Him will not walk in darkness but have the light of life. Over the next couple of weeks, we will consider what Jesus being the light of the world means for us. This week we will look at a verse that is perhaps the most well-known in all the Bible. That verse is John 3:16.
Before we consider John 3:16 and the verses that follow, we need to know what brought Jesus to say those things. In John 3, Jesus was talking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee of the highest order. He believed that two things would get him into Heaven, the way he lived his life and his heritage. Nicodemus had heard Jesus teach and witnessed the signs He performed and realized there was something special about Jesus, so he snuck out into the night to speak with Jesus privately. In response to Nicodemus’ questions about how Jesus could do the things He was doing, Jesus declared to Nicodemus that to enter the kingdom of God a man must be born again. This seems to have really puzzled Nicodemus as it would have any of us. How could a grown man be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. The problem was Nicodemus was thinking of the impossibility of a physical rebirth while Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth. You see we are all sinners. We cannot help it we are born that way. It is difficult for us to admit that we are sinners, but consider this, did anyone have to teach you how to lie or gossip? Did anyone have to teach you how to be greedy or envious? Did anyone have to teach you how to put something in your life, such as work or family or wealth, before God? These are all sins against God, plainly written out in the Ten Commandments. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
That raises the question, “How do we experience spiritual rebirth” which brings us back to John 3:16. John 3:16 is a verse that is familiar ground for most of us. It is the first verse that many of us learned as a child. As kids we delight in John 3:16 and the greatness of God’s love and the eternal life that it proclaims, but I am afraid that as we grow older, our delight over those great words grows dim. When was the last time you stopped to really consider God’s love for you? There is no greater summary of God’s love than that which is found in John 3:16. However, there is no greater summary of the fate of those who reject His love than in the verses that follow particularly John 3:36. Verse 36 states, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” God sent His Son into the world to save the world, but this does not mean that everyone is automatically saved. There are many who will refuse to believe and will reject or have rejected Jesus. Some are so ashamed of their sin that they do not want to bring them before God. Others think their sin is so awful that God cannot forgive them. Others are too worried about what other people will think. Others are so prideful that they will not admit there is sin in their lives or that they need a Savior.
Verse 36 makes it clear that the unbeliever’s judgment is sure. Ignoring, denying, or being too prideful to admit they are a sinner in need of saving will not change the terrible fate of those who reject Jesus. God loves extends to all, and He does not wish for anyone to perish. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3 places a decision before us, choose life in Jesus or death in sin. Which will you choose?
