Savior!

Intro:

Savior.

Savior, He can move the mountains.

Savior, our God is mighty to save.

I love that last word of verse 17.

I love that name given to us for Jesus.

Savior.

My savior.

MY Savior.

I love it on Lay Sunday when someone from the congregation is preaching.

We are having one here in two weeks when Joe McRoberts is preaching.

I had this one layman preach for me once and having him preach, for this church was quite a stretch for them.

He was what he and I affectionately referred to as a NOM.

The Church was near Anderson, Indiana, and the headquarters of the Church of God, Anderson.

They have a sort of unique belief system based on what they perceived might have been an abusive practice that happened at the beginning of the reformation.

They officially believed that the first time you came to church, you were a visitor and the second time and every time afterwards, you were a member.

The denomination built the doctrine as a reaction against any church withholding sacraments as a way to control its population.

And although that might have been an over reaction, I loved the idea that promotes inclusion of everyone, no matter what.

But since they effectively preached the doctrine church membership was not a biblical requirement, we occasionally had people who worshiped with us for years whose conscience would be pierced if they were forced to join.

And that was a bone of contention for some. So when this man preached on Lay Sunday, he drew a crowd and a lot of excitement for our little church.

And I will never forget the introduction to his sermon.

He preached John 3:16 and he asked us to count on our fingers with him the first 9 words to the verse.

Do it with me: FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE.

And he kept coming back to what God has given us in Jesus Christ.

It was a truly inspiring message and I was relieved at how powerfully he shared the good news.

God gave.

And, most importantly, God gave us a Savior.

Savior!

John 3:16 is probably the most famous verse in the entire bible.

So let me mess with your thinking about it for a while.

Nothing negative or heretical.

But I often wonder if Christendom has gotten the verse wrong, or misquoted it.

What I mean is that I wonder if we have unintentionally implied the addition of two words to this great verse.

When I was a kid, we used to sing a gospel chorus that had this line in it: “Whosoever will means me!”

Whoever believes will have eternal life.

Praise God.

But I wonder if we have implied two words right after “whoever believes.”

I wonder if we have implied “whoever believes and repents....”

Or, maybe it is like this: “whoever believes like us...”

But it is not there. And, in this verse, it is not implied.

I often wonder who we do not quote John 3:17 as much as we quote John 3:16.

“For God did not send His Son into the word to judge the world, but to be its Savior.”

Both phrases, “whoever believes like us” and “whoever believes and repents” take the verse out of context of its original intent. They take it out of context of the hope and power of the good news.

Now, I am pretty sure the addition of “like us” is one that we are not to common to admit, or ever accept.

That phrase indicates that God speaks only to us and the rest of the world better take notice of how right we are.

I don't think any Christian body would intentionally mean that.

But unintentionally, well maybe that is why there are so many denominations.

But the addition: “and repents” is an idea that we would probably have a serious debate about right here in this room.

There is certainly place for it in scripture.

On at least two other occasions you have heard me use the phrase about repentance: “Change your thinking” or “change your mind.”

I use it especially when speaking about the fact that God's kingdom isn't merely some sort of construct whereby when we die we will go to heaven. But God wants us to change our thinking that His kingdom is already here, it is already making positive influences and changes in this world.

I changed my thinking to realize that God wants us to be already engaged in doing justice and loving mercy.

Repent, change your thinking is certainly a biblical concept.

But it isn't part of this verse.

And I often wonder, by forgetting, or ignoring, or mis emphasizing verse 17, we might have added ideas to the good news.

For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world... Nope, God sent Jesus to save the world.

Savior!

The Savior.

My Savior.

Our Savior!

Well, what about judgment?

The text makes it clear.

Judgment is based on the fact that people refuse to listen to, to love, to embrace the light that has come into the world.

A light is a powerful thing in a dark place.

It becomes the center of focus and the place of security.

Jesus says this: men loved darkness more than light because their deeds were evil.

Those who continue to do evil hate the light.

The judgment is not even the fact that they disbelieved, the judgment was that they were choosing evil over light.

Everyone who loves the good loves the light.

So many of the advent songs make more sense in light of Lent.

I go back to my favorite, O Holy Night.

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a clear and glorious morn”

It is the picture of the dawn of universal restoration breaking upon the land and everyone who wants to see good triumph over evil in this world has a genuine and tangible reason to hope.

For all of them, a Savior is born.

For all of them, Jesus is that Savior.

And that is exactly what Jesus is telling this man, Nicodemus, in this passage.

It is significant. This man represents the old guard of control that has kept the people of God down.

This man represents a system that oppresses people.

And he, being a part of that system, apparently can see its faults and comes to Jesus himself to seek the truth.

And Jesus' message is clear hope again. God cares for good triumphing over evil.

Jesus predicts his betrayal and death in this passage, but tells Nicodemus that even His death cannot conquer God's salvation.

So, we end with verse 14. For as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

You all know the sign of the medical profession. There is a brass pole with a snake on it.

It comes back to this.

The people of Israel were suffering from a breakout of poisonous snakes. 23,000 had died from snake bites.

God tells Moses to form a brass snake on a pole and raise it over the camp.

In order to live, all people have to do is look at the snake and they will be healed.

Jesus predicts the same from Him on the cross.

Lift me up, on the cross, and all people have to do to be saved is to look at me and live.

CONCL: