John 3, if you would turn to John chapter 3, as we read together the first 21 verses this morning. Considering that most familiar verse, John chapter 3, verse 16. John 3, beginning at verse 1, as we hear now the Word of God. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know You are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs You were doing if God were not with him. In reply, Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked. Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born. Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. How can this be? Nicodemus asked. You are Israel's teacher, said Jesus, and you do not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe. How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven, the Son of Man. 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. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what He has done has been done through God. Let's bow together asking our God's blessing upon the reading and consideration of His Word. Dear Heavenly Father, as we come before You, we do confess that apart from Your blessing, Your Word is meaningless to us. In this morning hour, we crave Your blessing, O Lord. We pray that indeed You would be favorable to us, that by Your Spirit You would illumina us that we might understand the wonderful truths of Your Word. That through these things as well You would draw Your people closer to Yourself. That indeed You would be glorified. That You would edify Your people. That You would call sinners to Yourself by the power of Your Spirit. We thank You for this, Your Word. And pray that You would hear us for Jesus' sake. In His name we pray. Amen. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you were to take a poll of a number of people and simply ask them this question, what is Christmas all about? Of course, the variety of answers would be as varied as your group, I suppose. And there would indeed be a variety of answers given, but I suspect that among those answers, some would at least say, well, it's about family. It's about love. It's about peace on earth, goodwill toward men. And of course, gifts. It's all about presents. And especially, if you think about it, society has made Christmas about presents, about gifts. For weeks before this day, we hear the economic forecasts about sales revenues with regard to holiday purchases. In the past couple of days, if you've watched the news, you've heard the reports about the busyness of the stores because of all those last-minute shoppers. Maybe some of you were included in that group. It struck me the other day as I was watching the news that there was an interview with a representative from a charitable organization asking for toy donations so that children who would not ordinarily receive a gift would have a gift. But what struck me about that was what this representative said so that we can give them a gift so that they might have a Christmas. Did you catch that? They wanted to be able to give a gift so that a child or many children would be able to have a Christmas. As if without a rapt gift to open, to hold in one's hand, Christmas does not exist. If that were true, then I would suspect that because of the economic climate of our day, that many, maybe even some among us here today, would have no Christmas. Christmas is about a gift, isn't it? But it's about God's gift. And it's about the gift that He came to bring. And that's why on this Christmas day, I would like to reflect with you for a few moments, John 3.16. That verse which is indeed connected by many with Christmas. If you see those like Pete DeYoung who wear the little tag, Jesus is the reason for the season, I'm not sure if his button says it, but I've seen buttons with that saying that have John 3.16 underneath. Early on, some of the Christmas cards that we received, I noticed that those who sent them wrote in there, John 3.16. And of course, John 3.16 is probably one of the first verses of Scripture that is memorized by young children at a very young age. I remember going to vacation Bible school at three or four years old and being presented with that verse. That's one of the first verses that is heard when one is sharing the Gospel with another, and rightly so, because it is the Gospel, the good news, is contained in that one verse. In that one short verse of Scripture, we find salvation in Jesus Christ and how that possession becomes mine. We see in that one little verse, my destiny, our destiny in and of ourselves, but also that great gift in Christ Jesus. And what a message that must have been to Nicodemus, this ruler of the people, this teacher of the people who relied, who trusted in his own works, who didn't understand. when he should have, as Jesus is making clear. He didn't understand, as that historical episode of the snake lifted up in the wilderness teaches, he didn't understand that salvation is only by faith in God. Given from above. Being born again by the Spirit. Indeed, this familiar verse of Scripture is about God's love. It's about God's family, about God's peace, and about God's goodwill toward men, all through God's Christmas gift given. And notice, first of all, with regard to that Christmas gift given, its sovereign source for God so loved. The source, obviously, is God Himself. This Christmas gift was motivated by God Himself. Now, oftentimes, we give gifts, or we give certain gifts, depending on what we think the other person deserves. Whether they've been naughty or nice. Whether they've treated us well or not. But the motivation for this gift, you see, was not man. God's gift was not planned. It was not given based on man's worthiness or merit. Otherwise, it never ever would have been given. Instead, as David confesses in Psalm 103, he does not treat us as our sins deserve. We are so quick to tell another, well, you don't deserve this. You don't deserve that. Praise God, He did not say that to you and me. This gift was not motivated by man. God determined it. Ephesians 1.5, Paul says, In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons in accordance with His pleasure and will. On Pentecost, Peter's sermon in Acts 2, verse 23, Peter says of Jesus, this man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. God's gift given was motivated by God Himself, more specifically as the text teaches, motivated by God's love for God so loved. He loved with a deep love. A parent's love for a child, as great as that might be, does not match God's love. A husband's love for his wife or the wife's love for her husband does not even come close to God who's so loved. We rightly sing in that other Christmas carol of the wonders of His love. God's love is unfathomable. It is so unlike ours which is conditional. It is unfathomable so unlike ours which He demonstrated while we were still sinners, Paul says. For God so loved to such a degree that in a sense He put Himself aside to help the helpless, to help those who have absolutely no hope without Him. There is no plan B, beloved. There are no other options available for you and me. God's love is described in Scripture as a great love, Ephesians 2. In Ephesians 3, Paul speaks of it as an infinite love as he talks about how wide, how long, how high, how deep is the love of Christ. It is a giving love. That's the heart of John 3.16. A giving love. God gave absolutely everything that was necessary. All that we needed. It's an unchangeable love. That means that we cannot alter it. Praise God, otherwise we would find ourselves out of His love daily. His love is an eternal love. He so loved. Not would love. Not might love. He loved. His love reaches back in eternity. It came to fruition in Bethlehem and at Calvary. And that means, beloved, that God put thought into His gift. He put eternal thought into His gift. Probably unlike some of us here who were out scrambling yesterday when the shelves were pretty empty and maybe had to settle for something that you really didn't plan on getting and you hoped that it will be sufficient. God put thought, eternal thought, into you and me. It's clear that the source of our salvation is the unmerited love of God, especially as we consider in the second place its undeserving object. Its undeserving object, which of course is unmistakable based on the Scripture that we've already quoted, speaking of our sins and speaking of us as sinners. But notice the undeserving object of God's love here. For God so loved the world. For God so loved the world. What does that mean? Well, we know that the word world in Scripture is used to mean a number of things. It can mean a variety of things. That word is used to mean the universe, the earth, all of creation, all that God made. In a more limited sense, it is used at times to talk about the human race, mankind in general. A little more specifically, in an ethical sense, it is used to talk about mankind in his alienation from God, lost in sin, exposed to the judgment that is coming, and in desperate need of salvation. And it's also used to talk about, to refer to the realm of evil, wicked mankind, openly rejecting, openly hostile to God and to His Christ and to His people. What does it mean here? For God so loved the world. It's not talking about creation in general. The stars, the trees, the flowers. The verse says, whoever believes, these things cannot believe. It's mankind that believes. He's not talking about the wickedness of mankind, those who openly reject, those who are openly hostile to God. God does not love evil. Psalm 5, verses 4 and 5, the psalmist there says, You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil. With you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong. Of course, that's disturbing to you and me. We wonder, well then, where's the hope? Yet, you see, in a way that is deeper than we can even comprehend, than we can even begin to imagine, God loves the world of mankind that He made in His image from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, but is lost in sin, is desperately needing salvation, those helpless and hopeless without the work of another. The soul that God has made is precious to the One who made each and every one. And therefore, He says, In Ezekiel 33, As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. You see, beloved, the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all is we consider how man has offended God both corporately as a human race and individually. How man has hated God. How he has desired and tried to be rid of Him. How man has rejected Him and wanted nothing to do with Him and ignorantly thought He didn't need Him and how from eternity God knew this would be the case. Well, the wonder of His love is that He didn't say as we would, forget you. You're not worth my time. You're not worth my effort. Instead, He gave. He provided a way. He so loved those He made in His image. He gave a glorious Christmas gift to this world. And notice with regard to that gift, its divine character, His one and only Son. He is unique. We confess that He is the only begotten Son of God. He is one of a kind. We are adopted sons of God for Jesus' sake. Jesus always has been the Son of God. He always was with the Father from all eternity. He always has been the Father's delight. He is God Himself. This gift is unique. Also exclusive. There's no other gift possible. None other is needed. God's Son is the absolute best there was and is. Beloved, how much does God love you and me? He gave us the very best. He gave us a sure thing. He gave us Himself. Unique, exclusive, but also indescribable. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, verse 15, Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. Think about that again. God come in the flesh to do for us what none other could do. What none other would to do. How can you even begin to describe that? How can an inmate on death row, for example, who all of a sudden, with no warning, is set free? Not only taken out of his cell, but taken out of the prison walls and set free. How can that one even begin to describe what that means, what it's like? How can we even begin to describe it? To what can we compare it? This gift, unique, exclusive, indescribable, and again, given. It's an accomplished fact. He was given for us. He came with power to reconcile God and man, but to do this by like the snake being lifted up in the wilderness, by being lifted up on the cross and there, by suffering God's wrath and punishment against our sin and dying as the ultimate sacrifice in order to remove our guilt from us and to satisfy God's wrath that was against us. This one has been given for us in our place and to us as our very own. God's Christmas gift. In the fourth place, it's saving power. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. That saving power, beloved, is also really indescribable. He shall not perish but have eternal life. You see, our direction in Christ Jesus is completely changed. We would have perished. That was the path that we were on because of ourselves, because of our sin. And that word perish there is not talking about simply the end of this physical life. It's not talking, as some would have us believe, about annihilation that after this life, very simply, poof, we are no more. But that word perish there is talking about that final destiny of ruin in hell where one is very much conscious of what is going on. That word perish is talking about being condemned by God completely and forever so that one is banished from the presence of God's love and instead dwells forever in the unbearable presence of God's wrath. Jesus Christ took all of that on Himself. And the direction then has been changed to God's direction. Eternal life. The very opposite of what we have just described. Again, really, very much indescribable. The everlasting presence of God's love. The fellowship in His glorious presence in Christ and partaking of His love and joy and peace without end. unspeakable happiness. For whom? For whoever believes in Jesus Christ. For whoever receives the gift of God, the gift of God's Son and the work that He has accomplished, whoever believes in Him by true faith, having been given that new birth that Jesus talks about, must be there. Being born again, being born from above, being born by the Spirit, being given a new heart to believe. whoever believes having new birth by the Holy Spirit believing the record that God has given the record of myself the record of my sin and my unworthiness and my inability and my hopelessness if left to myself but at the very same time believing the glorious record that God has given of the birth and the ministry and the suffering and the death and the resurrection and the ascension and the coming return of Jesus Christ and all that that means. Believing it all to be true. And trusting by faith. By faith, trusting. Putting one's confidence in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of all of our sins and being made righteous before and forever right with God. Beloved, there is no greater Christmas gift than this. For whoever believes. You see, beloved, the Gospel message is offered to all of mankind. God invites all indiscriminately to believe in His Son. And therefore, those who reject Him, those who want nothing to do with Him, are completely without excuse on that day of judgment. They have no excuse. Those who believe by the grace of God are given eternal life. Those who reject will perish forever. Jesus said, all that the Father had given to Him will come to Him by faith. for them, for you, for me. His work is sufficient. Nothing more is needed and it is effective. He really, truly saves us, has saved us. Dear people of God, on this Christmas day, we are reminded once again that much of what we have in this life, much of what we have with regard to the things of this life, really are not necessary for our lives. They're not necessary for our survival. God gives us, as we are reminded, what we need. And in His providential care, He gives us often what we want, much more than we need. But in Jesus Christ, He has given what is absolutely necessary for our eternal survival and salvation. Not so that God would love us, but because He loved you and me. Have you received this King Jesus? May we reflect today and every day on that unspeakable love of God that alone saves us. We were completely lost in sin, but God provided the way out and He has delivered you and me. Indeed, Christmas is all about a gift. Not those that might be under your tree. But it's about the one and only gift of God's love planned, prepared, presented by God that we might have life abundantly and eternally. Dear people of God, how much does God love your soul? The answer is simple. Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, O Lord, what can we say? For indeed, You have done it all. From the beginning, You have loved us. You have not left us in the sin and misery into which we had cast ourselves. But You have given Your only begotten Son who gave His life to pay for our sins that we might be made righteous in Your sight. He has accomplished it. He has delivered us. You have given to us that precious gift of fame by which we might know You and love You and receive all these precious gifts that Jesus Christ Himself has accomplished for us. O Lord God, may we rejoice to know this truth. Fill us with joy day by day to live according to it and to be those whom You use, O Lord, to bring that truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, to our neighbors, to our co-workers, to those with whom we have contact, so that the message of Jesus Christ may go forth to all the world. We praise You, Father. Bless us in this day as we go forward. May You be praised. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.