Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell: Don't you know that I would move heaven and earth to help you? That is how much I love you and that's exactly what he did. He helped us by giving his own son to make us right with himself as we believe in him.

Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's episode, Pastor Bryan continues a lesson from John 3:16. This is a passage that is so beloved because it so clearly explains the gospel message. God's love is so great that even with knowing our sin, he chose to send his son for us.

You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's book, *The Multi-Generational Church Crisis*. This compelling book asks the question of the church, what could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other? Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, The Gift That Lasts and Lasts.

Bryan Chapell: We are going to be looking at John 3:16. Now since we began the messages in John, some of you have been waiting for this very Sunday. Are we ever going to get to John 3:16? And the answer is yes. Why is John 3:16 so important to us? We can tell amazing accounts of how this verse has been used in the life of the church, maybe in the life of our families.

One of my favorite stories actually I learned here about five years ago. Pastor Ben invited me to be here on a mission Sunday. And when I was speaking, I went during the Sunday school hour to one of the Sunday school classes and heard Nancy Erckert, one of your missionaries, talk about the work of Wycliffe Translators, the ones who translate the Bible into various nations around the world. And here's a story that she told.

In Zimbabwe, there was a Wycliffe translator who worked for a number of years translating the New Testament. And going from his apartment to his office every day, he passed the same street-side vendor whose business was rolling cigarettes. Well, day after day, the translator went past this man whose name was Gambarambi. And finally the work of the translation was done.

So the translator knew he would be leaving the country, and he wanted to give to Gambarambi a gift, the fruit of his efforts. He wanted to give him a New Testament. Here was the problem. He knew how the paper pages would be used by the cigarette vendor. They would be rolled into cigarettes. And so, not wanting to be daunted by how he knew the pages would likely be used, the Wycliffe translator made an agreement with Gambarambi. I'm going to give you this Bible on this condition. You'll read each page before you smoke it.

Gambarambi made the deal. Now some years later, the Wycliffe translator was invited back to Zimbabwe to hear Christian leaders in Zimbabwe talk about the progress of the gospel in their nation. And one of the chief speakers at the banquet was Gambarambi. And here's what he said. He told people about the deal and the condition. And so he said, "I smoked through Matthew. I smoked through Mark and Luke, and I smoked through John until I got to John 3:16. And then I sent my heart to heaven instead of the smoke."

We love John 3:16, and the reason we love it is because we recognize the gospel is there in such a nutshell, in such short form. But that becomes important to us not because it's just in short form, but because it comes with such power. If we wonder if it applies to us, if we wonder if we have wandered too far, that Jesus could still love us, John 3:16 answers.

I'm going to ask that you stand. And because it's just one verse and so many of us know it so well, I'm going to ask that you do the scripture reading with me today as we stand together. Let's look on the screen, and we'll repeat together. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we praise you for the message of the gospel, that you have sent your son to save us. We have already rejoiced this day as we recognize through the ministry of this church many people, perhaps tens of thousands even now, are receiving the witness of the gospel. Some of us need that witness in our hearts, in our families, among our friends even now.

And so as we say and now study these familiar words, we pray for the work of your Holy Spirit to open hearts, to enable all of us to understand and claim the Jesus who was given for us. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.

Kathy and I have dear friends. He is a Jew in background who has become a Christian. And though he is a completed Jew, one who believes now in the Messiah in Christ, he still treasures his Jewish heritage. And so he talks about how his family ended up in the United States. They were driven from Russia generations ago by one of the tsars.

It was one of those pogroms, one of those oppressive movements in which there was a purging of the ethnic Jews as the Russians tried to drive them out of Russia. And at one particular time, the village in which our friend's forefathers were living had Russian troops descend upon it to find the Jews and to murder them. The family escaped by running into the woods outside the village.

And as the tsar's troops began to disperse into the woods to try to find the family, there was a child, an infant in the family that began to whimper. And the father to save the family put his child under water so that the troops would not discover them. The innocent died to save the family. But if all you think about is the family being saved, you have not understood the depth of the gospel that is being explained here.

For if the parallel were true, the child dies not merely to save the family, but to save those who are pursuing the family. That's the gospel. While we were yet his enemies, Christ died for us. Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above, deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior's love. It's what we sing and don't even recognize the words anymore as we sing, *And Can It Be?*

That God for me would die. I who him to death pursued. It was my sin that nailed him to the cross. It was my fault, my shame, my wickedness, my wrong. All that was about me is what nailed him there. And the wonder of the gospel is that God's love was so great that he knowing me and you, our sin, would nail his son to the cross nonetheless, sent his son. It is the message of the wonder of the gospel as God again leans over into the darkness of our world and says, "Don't you know?"

I would send my son from heaven to earth for you. I love you that much. And what we want to know of course is what that really does ultimately for us. Because if there is such a great heart with such a great gift, what's the impact for us? And what John 3:16 is saying is you have a great hope that by faith you would be forever safe. The "by faith" you understand, right?

God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him would have eternal life. Now, what are we supposed to believe? Well, again, that's the message that just preceded last week. As there John is telling us that Jesus says, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

The serpent was emblematic of the poison coming out of the lips of the people of God as they were complaining against the very God who had delivered them. And as Moses was now pleading to God, how will we save them, Lord? God says, "Put a serpent on the pole. You represent their sin in that serpent and lift it up, and if they will face their sin, they'll be saved. If they'll really face it and believe I provided the means, they will be saved."

Now Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and he says these very same words. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Which is saying this, in order to believe in Jesus, what that actually means is you must believe that Jesus was sent for you and was sin for you. That God sent his own son, and his very purpose was to die upon that cross.

So that when you face the cross and all the images that we know are so awful even to consider, the thorns on the brow, the nails on the hands, the blood pooled beneath him, to actually believe that is the penalty for my sin on him. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for me. If that's what I believe, it's kind of undoing a lot of what religion tends to teach for a biblical faith instead.

I mean what we tend to think makes us right with God is belief in our religious background. I'm from a good family, I'm from a good church, I belong to a good denomination, whatever that is. But background is not pointed to here. Well, maybe my faith is in some ritual. I was baptized, I became a member of a church. Of course, our belief is not in a ritual that leads to eternal life.

Well, maybe it's in some performance. After all, in the ancient religions, you know, you sometimes had to mutilate your own body or climb some mountain or go on some long pilgrimage, do some amazing feat. Of course, that's not belief in him either, that's belief in your performance. Sometimes we think it's belief in just having the right frame of mind. I'll have enough faith. I mean, really good high quality faith. But listen, if your faith is in your faith, that's just another form of faith in you.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell.

It may seem hard for younger Christians to believe, but people over 50 were raised during an era when 90% of Americans identified as Christian. These older believers were once part of a majority group that understood the mission of the church was to take control of our culture, to halt its evils. At the same time, Christians under 50 have lived their entire lives perceiving themselves as a minority that needs to make credible their faith to a secular pluralistic culture.

These distinct experiences and perceptions have a profound impact on the priorities different generations have for church ministry. It's no wonder that younger and older believers don't always see eye to eye. In his new book, *The Multi-Generational Church Crisis*, Dr. Bryan Chapell asks the question, what could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other?

This practical and hopeful book is backed by thorough research, revealing how to open the lines of communication, appreciate the experiences that shaped each generation in your church, and unite in one mission to impact your community and the world. You can request your copy of *The Multi-Generational Church Crisis* when you donate online at unlimitedgrace.com or by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: What is this belief in him alone? This belief that God sent him and that he is sin for me? It's total dependence on Christ's provision and not anything in me. I don't know how to explain it exactly because it's so counter what we think faith is about, being good enough or having sufficient faith or all these religious rituals that we think one has to go through. And what the Bible is saying is, no, it's dependence on another. It's not so much doing as depending.

I think of it in these terms. Some years ago, Kathy and I had the opportunity to take a hike up one of Colorado's high mountains. It wasn't a 14,000, it was something like 13,850, almost a 14,000 foot mountain. And we went with some friends of ours and their daughter named Abby Doriani at the time. Abby was an elite athlete. She was an elite athlete playing ultimate frisbee on the national championship team. I mean, this gal could run forever and like lightning.

And we had the misfortune of trying to go up a mountain with her. I mean, this little antelope is going and we're just trying to make it. But at some point, as she got toward the top of the climb, she stepped wrong off a rock, badly sprained her ankle, and despite all of her ability, all of her strength, could make it no further and certainly could not make it down.

Her dad was with us, huffing and puffing to keep up with her. Finally, as we got up to her and we recognized we were going to have to carry her down, her dad offered. Now, listen, all of us offered, but she didn't want the sweaty backs of any of the other men. She only wanted her dad. Now Abby could have just said, "Dad, I believe you can carry me down. I mean, I think you can do it."

But ultimately that would not get her down. Ultimately, what she had to do is submit herself to letting her dad pick her up and get on his back and let him carry her. Her dependence totally on him. Not her energy, not her effort, not her background, not all the great wind and strength that she had. She had to depend upon another. And when she did, his destination became hers.

That's what happens here too. If you believe in him, you will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus died on the cross, but then what happened? He rose again and is even now at the right hand of the Father of Glory. And that same Jesus is saying to you and to me, "If you will depend upon me, not your ability, not your strength, not your ritual, if it's total dependence upon me, you believe I was sent for you and I was sin for you, taking the penalty that you deserve upon a cross."

When you believe that, then my destination is your destination, and that is eternity. And that means totally loved by God. That means not only totally loved, but the corruptions of our sin with we are with God, put behind us. No more sin, no more suffering, no more disease, no more illness. Tears gone, pain gone, reunited with loved ones. It is the promise of heaven itself.

As when God says when the husk of this body, this mortal body dies, nonetheless, our souls are made right with God and we are united with him forever. You shall not perish. I'm not saying the body doesn't go in the grave, but the spirit that God gives us unites with him, and at the resurrection we are made one with him, whole and pure and right forever. And that is the promise to those who are suffering from sin and from disease and hurt and grief and shame.

God is saying, "I will make this right." He is looking over into the darkness of our world, whether it's the darkness of our guilt, the darkness of our shame, the darkness of our grief, and he says, "Don't you know? I would move heaven and earth to help you. That is how much I love you and that's exactly what he did. He helped us by giving his own son to make us right with himself as we believe in him."

He was sent for me. He became sin for me so that I might be with him forever. What difference does it make? You have to think of your own life circumstance to know. I think of friends of ours. A few years ago, it was right after Christmas and Marge, our friend, put out at the end of her driveway all the Christmas trash. And Sam, the recycling man, came, saw the big load, went knocked on the door and said, "Miss Marge, too much."

She went to the end of the drive with him. "Oh, Sam, please. Would you please take it?" Finally, he said, "Okay, Miss Marge, I'll take it." "God bless you, Sam," she said. He cocked his head, he said, "Miss Marge, are you a Christian?" She said yes. He said, "Isn't it great to be a Christian? It doesn't matter what you drive, doesn't matter what you done, doesn't matter what your background is. You are with Jesus and you're going to be with Jesus forever."

She said that really is great. She said, "You know, I believe that. I wish my husband did, because he's dying of cancer." Sam the recycling man, there at the end of the driveway, said, "Well, then Miss Marge, we're going to have to pray for him." And he put one hand on her shoulder and he lifted up another hand to heaven and he began to pray for Miss Marge's husband even as the neighbors drove by.

Marge would look up every now and then wonder what they were thinking. And then she wondered what Doug was thinking when he came out of the house to go to the end of the driveway to collect the paper. Sam spoke to Doug. "Mr. Doug, I don't know where your heart is, but I hope you will receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, because he will make you right with God forever and you will have eternal life no matter what happens on this earth."

Nothing more was said in that meeting. A few weeks later, Doug died and went to heaven because he had believed in Jesus and named him as his Savior. A lifetime without Jesus, a lifetime lived for self, but even in his dying recognized wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above, deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior's love. I, though so unworthy, still am a child of his care, for his word teaches me that his love reaches me everywhere.

It's God's great offer to you even this day. Do you recognize the things that would separate you from God? Do you recognize the things that would say, listen, there's no reason he should care for me, that he should give his son for me? But even in saying so, be willing to say, "I believe he was sent for me and he was sin for me so that I might be right with God now and forever."

If that is what you believe, then God says, "You are mine." And when that happens, you have eternal life in Jesus Christ now and forever. Can you believe this? Heaven starts now. Really, if there's no end, if you know that you're secure and your sins are gone, heaven starts now. There may still be a few hurdles here, some difficult things to go through. But if you are secure in him, forever safe, you are his and he is yours forever.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you would like to hear more from Dr. Chapell, you can find a collection of valuable resources at unlimitedgrace.com. When you visit, you will find today's message and many others from Pastor Bryan.

Once again, go to unlimitedgrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.