“Why God Sent Jesus” – John 3:16; 1:12-13

PBS used to have a show that showed how we got the various things we have today. The show dealt with such things as water treatment, the creation of glass into optic fibers and so forth. One of the shows I particularly remember was about one of the comforts we have in our world today.

Around the turn of the century, a paper manufacturing factory was having problems in their production. The humidity in the factory was causing the machinery to jam. The factory approached an engineer, Willis Carrier, to come up with a machine that could remove humidity from the factory. Carrier eventually came up with a system that did, in fact, dehumidify the factory. The paper company was happy because their machines didn’t jam anymore and production was up.

The workers enjoyed it, too, because of a byproduct of the dehumidifiers installed in the factory. It turned out that not only did the machines dry out the air, but they also cooled the air. When Carrier found out about the air being cooled, he came up with an idea. He sold his system to a theater in New York City. The promise to the public was that they could come to the theater on the hottest day of the year and still enjoy the comfort of a cool room.

It turns out Mr. Carrier invented not just a dehumidifier. He also invented the air conditioner, and the result was a transformation of our lives today. Because a factory was having troubles with humidity, you and I can worship together in a Texas July with comfort.

As we enter for the Christmas season, one of the questions we want to answer is: Why? Why was Jesus born? Why did God send His Son into our world?

Background

The passage takes place in a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, who comes to Jesus at night. There are those who seem to believe Nicodemus came at night because he didn’t want others to see him speaking with Jesus. His opening words to Jesus indicate at least an openness to Jesus, because he said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (v. 2). Later in John’s gospel account we will see Nicodemus in the Sanhedrin seeming to speak up for Jesus but being shouted down.

The following conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee involves the idea of being born again, an issue that puzzles Nicodemus and allows Jesus to expand on His initial statement.

There are some Bibles and scholars that end the conversation with v. 15, treating the rest of the chapter as narrative from the writer. Others continue Jesus speaking through v. 21. I tend to side with the latter group. Regardless, the paragraph flows directly from Jesus’ statement in vs. 14-15: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

As we look at today’s passages, we need to keep in mind the following truth:

Central Truth: God’s love is why we have Christmas, but there is so much more.

God sent Jesus:

1. Because of His great love (v. 16a)

For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son.

People do strange things for love. I’m a picky eater, averse to trying new foods. “New foods” are things that have been around for ages, but I refuse to eat them. When Kim and I started dating, I went with her to Irving for an errand. While we were there, we ate supper with her parents. Mrs. Colley had prepared a nice meal of spare ribs and other foods, including cantaloupe. I had never eaten cantaloupe. I had never wanted to eat cantaloupe. But I wanted to impress Kim and her family, so I ate cantaloupe. Later, after I had gotten to know Kim’s parents better, they learned of my pickiness. We went to a restaurant where Kim and her parents ordered an appetizer of stuffed snails. We were at a fancy restaurant, so we ordered escargot, but it was snails. I was offered one. I tried it. I had a trick of chewing and swallowing the smaller parts until I could get it all down. You can’t do that with snails and mushrooms. Whether it was the snail or the mushroom, it would not break into pieces. I chewed and chewed. Kim and her parents said I turned a shade of green as I chewed. We do strange things for love.

God’s love for us is great. His love is so far above what you and I can understand. He loves us because He is love. God wanted to demonstrate His love for us, and so He sent us His Son. God gave the supreme gift to us because His love is supreme. As Jesus mentioned in v. 15, God’s plan was for Jesus to be lifted up on a pole in the desert, just as God ordered Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole to bring healing to the people who looked on it. Jesus was to be lifted up in order to die for us.

I think trying to eat a snail was a show of love. That’s nothing compared to God’s gift of love.

Why did God send Jesus? Because of His great love.

2. To accomplish reconciliation (16b)

. . . that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We look back at the things that happened in our lives to remember meeting people and getting to know them. Some remain acquaintances, some we lose contact with, but there are a few that remain good friends for the rest of our lives. These special relationships sustain us through life’s ups and downs.

When God decided to send Jesus, He did so with the express purpose of two things: to cleanse us from sins and to have eternal life.

The cleansing from sin occurred at Calvary. There, Jesus offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice, once for all time. In offering Himself in this way, Jesus takes away the sins of all those who believe in Him. The idea of belief is more than an intellectual acknowledgement of what Jesus did. It is a word more accurately translated “faith.” It means that a person who places their faith in Jesus’ atoning act are forgiven of our sins.

This faith is more than Jesus dying for our sins. It is a faith that acknowledges a loving God who is also a righteous judge. It is a faith that holds to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by God to die for our sins. It is a faith that Jesus not only died for us, but shows us how to live. And it is a faith that God, through Jesus, gives us eternal life.

Eternal life is given to us the moment we believe. Eternal life is more than just having a spirit that will never die. It is more than a glorified eternal body. As Jesus’ prayer tells us in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”

God sent Jesus to give us cleansing from sin and eternal life in knowing God and Jesus.

3. To establish a relationship (John 1:12-13)

Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

I was talking with a fellow attorney a few years ago. I remarked to him that the practice of law is almost always involved in someone’s misfortunes or troubles. Because it involves these things, most people may appreciate their attorney, but they don’t like attorneys.

My friend said that’s true in almost all areas except one. He said everyone loves the attorney when a child is adopted. The new parents are grateful that the lawyer was able to make it happen. The child is grateful because the attorney made it happen. He said when an attorney is involved in an adoption, everyone leaves the courthouse happy and glad.

That’s what these verses are about. It is the fact that God sent Jesus to make us His children. This is what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus that a person must be born again. When we place our faith in Jesus, God gives us a new birth, cleansed of sin and living a new life. Our new life is one in which we not only know God and Jesus, but we know the Father and the Son.

John is very clear that this new birth into God’s family is purely due to God’s activity, not ours.

If we ask random people what their religion is, most will identify with the religion of their parents, particularly if that person is not really involved in church. They may say they’re Baptist or Methodist or Catholic, but what they’re really saying is their family identifies that way. John tells us that isn’t how we are born again.

Some people will say they decided on their own to take up a particular religion. They may say they’re Christian but not affiliated with any particular church. Or they may say they converted to Judaism or Islam or Buddhism. John tells us that our decision does not allow us to enter into God’s family.

The only way to become a child of God is to let God make us one of His children. And the only way to do that is to receive Jesus, to believe in His name, in Him. Only then do we do what Jesus told Nicodemus that night. When we believe, God saves us, and He makes us born again into His family.

God sent Jesus to give us a family, a relationship.

Conclusion

What John 3:16 tells us is that we have a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son. It tells us that Jesus loved us enough to willingly lay down His life at Calvary, only to take it back up in the empty tomb. It tells us we have a relationship with the God of the universe, the God who created us and cared for us and provides for us each day. John 1:12-13 tells us is that not only do we get to know God and Jesus, but God takes the step to make us a part of His family. We are more than friends; we are the children of God.

Why did God send Jesus? Why do we celebrate Christmas? God sent Jesus because of His great love. We celebrate Christmas because we are the recipients of God’s great love and grace. We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came into our world to make it all possible.