John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
God So Loved the World
Christmas is such a special time of year, isn’t it? We can get a little starry-eyed with all the lights and garland and pretty decorations. Life gets a little out of balance – but in a good way – when you’re bombarded by family and friends. There are presents with your name on them, and it’s not even your birthday! And then there’s the food! The ham. The duck. The potatoes. The Brussel sprouts with bacon. The chocolate and the cookies. No work. No school. It’s almost too good to be true, like your own little fairy tale.
But it’s not all mistletoe and eggnog, is it? How long can you be in the same room as Uncle #2 without getting annoyed and angry? Maybe your Christmas tree is looking pretty bare this year and you haven’t seen a single gift with your name on it. Are you alone this Christmas – no company staying over, no party or dinner invitations? Is this your first Christmas with a notable absence around the dinner table?
As happy a time as Christmas is supposed to be, I couldn’t help but get a little down myself yesterday as I was moving all 490 pounds of our food drive donations. What a gift our neighborhood contributed to people in need! What a blessing! But the fact that there are people in that kind of need at this time of year…
I’ve heard some of your stories about loss and trial and hardship – stories I would have only expected to hear on fictional dramas. I see the anxiety and depression written on faces; I feel it in my own heart.
Christmas can sometimes feel like that fresh layer of snow – it makes everything look pretty and clean… for a couple days, until it gets trampled and dirty and gross again. The decorations are only going to be up for so long. Eventually your company will go back home. Your presents will soon lose their novelty. You’ll have to face reality again before you know it. It can all seem so fleeting, so temporary.
But there is one part of Christmas that lasts. Long after the tree is out on the curb, long after the leftovers are eaten and gone, long after the radio stations stop playing Christmas music, you can still hear about the love of your God.
We heard it a minute ago: “For God so loved the world…” That’s you! Can you believe it? The Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who can hold the whole universe in the palm of his hand, loves you.
What have you done to deserve that love? Are you a pretty good person? Good parent? Good student? Maybe. But what makes you stand out? Out of the billions of people on this planet why should God love you? Have you cured cancer? Brought peace to war-torn countries? Saved one life?
What about that guilt you carry, or the secrets you don’t want anyone to know? If your loved ones found out what you did, or if they could read some of your thoughts, would they still love you? Imagine a God who knows all things, done in dark corners and on incognito browsers. Imagine a God who can look into hearts and hear our thoughts, who can uncover every lie and compile every wrong we’ve ever done but never been caught doing.
Imagine a God who knows all things, and still loves you anyway. That’s our God! That’s the God who loves this world enough to do something about it.
You see, sin – in whatever form it takes – is evil. It’s an act of hostility against God. It makes us his enemies. Lying, cheating, stealing. Having lustful, greedy, angry thoughts. Ignoring him in our daily lives. They’re all an act rebellion against him, and yet, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”
The baby whose birth we celebrate tonight is the Son God gave. Jesus is the Savior God sent into this world to show you how much he loves you. These aren’t just words. God acted. God sacrificed everything. For you.
Can you imagine doing what God did for you? If you had a son – the apple of your eye, healthy as can be – and another parent whose own child was catatonic came up to you and begged you for your son’s liver, lungs and brain, would you give them to him? Would you sacrifice your son for a stranger? Of course not! That’s unthinkable.
Now, what if that person whose child was in danger was your arch nemesis, who fights you at every turn, who complains about you behind your back, who actively works against you? Would you sacrifice your son for his? God would. God did. For you.
He sent Jesus to be born at Christmas knowing full well what would happen to him on Good Friday, knowing that the people he was sent to save would reject and ridicule him, would crucify and kill him. God knew that Jesus would die a criminal’s death – not for crimes that he had done, but to bear your shame and guilt – but God sent him anyway, to forgive your sin and to give you eternal life.
God loved you so much that he sacrificed his own Son to save you. God loves you so much that does not hold your sin against you anymore. It’s been crucified with Jesus. Can you believe it? Jesus says you can. In fact, Jesus says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Eternal life! That’s God’s gift to you through faith in Jesus, and it’s better than any gift you’ll get this year. That’s what makes Christmas infinitely better than a fresh coat of snow, because it doesn’t just last one or two days; it’s yours forever.
Finally, that’s what this night is all about. We are here to celebrate a birth from two thousand years ago that promises us a life that will go on for endless millions of years. All because God so loved the world. All because God so loves you. Take this love with you tonight and unwrap it again and again throughout the year. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that you shall not perish but have eternal life. Amen.