THE LOVE OF GOD AS THE SOURCE, AND ETERNAL LIFE AS THE RESULT
[p. 9] THE LOVE OF GOD AS THE SOURCE, AND ETERNAL LIFE AS THE RESULT
It is the feature of John’s writings that he takes you back to the source of things and then takes you on to the final result. He does not take up what is intermediate. There is not much in John about grace and righteousness and justification, but what does come out is desire, love and eternal life — he takes you back to what is the source of grace. So you get the statement here in the 16th verse, the love of God as the source and eternal life as the result. Grace and righteousness come in between the two. Christ is the fountain of the water of life. Where the love was expressed no one was outside the “whosoever”, but now many are outside it. All is brought to an issue by the presence of the light. The light has come in and man has not believed it, so he is already judged. This issue is universal in its aspect and bearing, or rather, was universal. There was a moment when God came into the world, and His coming into the world has altered things greatly. Light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light. Love finds its rest and satisfaction in those who have eternal life. The coming of God into the world was light and men were found out by the light.
“God is love”. No one of us can understand a Being who is love. We accept it, but cannot understand it, because we are finite. Judas was in the world when God gave His Son, but Judas was the son of perdition. God’s love has gone out to every man — God so loved “that he gave”. The testimony of the cross is towards every man. The testimony of the gospel is the testimony of the grace of God. “He that believes not has been already judged” (verse 18) — they are irreconcilable and we could not say that God loves them. God [p. 10] knows them, I do not know them. We are justified in telling people that God came into the world in the Person of His Son and He is the object for faith, so there is the chance of eternal life for man. Paul prays that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men because “all men have not faith”. God knows them. There is in the world irreconcilable hatred to God. If a man has turned away from the faith you can have nothing to say to him. The love of God was expressed in sending His Son into the world.
God’s attitude towards the world is not changed but the world’s attitude to Him is changed. He proved His love to the world and it was the end of the world because His love was rejected. His love has achieved its purpose and found its rest and satisfaction in those who have eternal life.
The state of the case is that God’s coming into the world brought irreconcilable hatred to God. In preaching you want to present the truth. We are perfectly safe in saying that the love of God is proved by men having eternal life. There is the purpose of God — the purpose of love. “God who is rich in mercy” etc. This verse 16 is not purpose — it is on the ground of “whosoever”. All the world were enemies to God and God loved the world in spite of its enmity. The world is condemned already. The presence of Christ brought out man’s enmity. The fact of our being sinners did not hinder God’s love — He loved us in spite of our being sinners. What we can say to any man is that God’s love has been manifested: and on the ground of that is “whosoever”.
If you see a soul accept the testimony you know that there is a divine work there. You cannot say that God loves all men, for there are men who are obnoxious to God — those who are “already judged”. Those who have eternal life have left the world. Men are not “already judged” until they have rejected Christ. If a man is not subject to the Son the wrath of God continues [p. 11] on him — he is already judged — it is not ‘he will be judged’. There is a door out to any and every man but there is no such application to an apostate. God came close to man in love and this was the test to man.
Virtually in the eye of God the world is divided into two classes — those who do not believe in the Son — and those who have everlasting life. The heathen are in a different position to christendom. You could take John 3: 16 to the heathen. God proves His love by coming into the world and the door is still open. The difficulty in this day is that christendom has been formed by the testimony. If the purpose of God’s love had effect all would have eternal life. Verse 16 is a great revelation of God and in this way a man may be greatly affected by it. The testimony was clearly set forth at the outset — but now it is obscured.
The difference between grace and love is that you could not say God is grace but you do say God is love. Grace is the way God adapts Himself to the need of the sinner. Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. God is the creditor — man the debtor. Grace meets him and love is behind the grace. There are those who are in the purpose of God’s love. Paul was one — a pattern of the elect. The attitude of God is grace toward all men. “Not willing that any should perish”. The glad tidings are glad tidings of the grace of God. The love is behind it and it has eternal life in view. Grace is an activity of love. Love will satisfy itself. Love was there before the necessity for grace existed. The door is open for everyone and the love of God has come in to open the door — so that anyone may go out. “Whosoever will, let him take” etc. Those who go out at the door which God has opened go out into the love and leave the world. You could not apply this to sinners generally. Christ had to come in and meet the state of every man (verse 14). God’s purpose had to be accomplished.
Christ is the Son of man on behalf of men and Son [p. 12] of God on behalf of God. Romans 5: 8 refers to saints. The cross is a standing witness to the love of God. God has done all that love could do. All that remains for God to do in regard to the world is to judge the world. There is nothing for the world, as the world, but judgment. “Now is the judgment of this world;” John 12: 31. Christ wants people to be saved and leave the world — the door is still open — because of the death and resurrection of Christ. God, at the cost of His own Son, has opened the door out of the world. I can preach Christ as far as I know Him, and no more. If people are determined to remain in the world, they are “already judged”, but we preach a way out of the world. It is there for “whosoever will” to go out of it. Satan is the god and prince of the world — but anyone may leave the world by faith in Christ — Christ receives sinners in grace. I should tell sinners that Christ receives them in grace. God does not love us because we were sinners but in spite of our being sinners — it was the love of purpose. When you have got the Holy Spirit you are proved to be the elect of God. Romans 5: 8 is spoken of those who have the Holy Spirit. The grace of God brings salvation to all men and they are tested by the light. On the one hand they get eternal life and on the other they are “already judged”. The kindness and love of God our Saviour has appeared — you cannot improve upon that! Things are far more accurately expressed by the Spirit of God than we can express them. God made man and He loved the man He made, but that was not when the man was a sinner. Man now finds a place in heaven and Satan is cast out because he has corrupted the man whom God loved. If a man rejects Christ he puts himself outside the love of God. The gospel comes in by Christ holding the door open for man to leave the world. The great object of all preaching is to lead souls to Christ so that they may get living water, but in order to reach Christ they must leave the world — they [p. 13] cannot find Christ in this world. That is when baptism comes in — it means a man leaving the world. A man is manifested before God. Repentance is preached in the way of grace, not in the way of demand. A man cannot repent until he believes. The great subject of preaching is Christ. Death is upon man and judgment is before him. The great point is to preach what you know and what you know is by the Spirit. The lake of fire is connected with the sovereignty of God — it is beyond me altogether. If the preacher does not preach Christ he has nothing to preach.