This is part one (points 1 and 2) following Samuel Davies famous sermon on John 3:16, "The Method of Salvation." Next week: points 3-5.
1. That without Christ, you are all in a perishing condition;
2. That through Jesus Christ a way is opened for your salvation;
3. That the grand pre-requisite to your being saved in this way, is faith in Jesus Christ;
4. That everyone, without exception, whatever his former character has been, who is enabled to comply with this prerequisite, shall certainly be saved;
5. And that the constitution of this method of salvation, or the mission of Christ into our world, as the Savior of sinners—is a most striking and astonishing instance and display of the love of God.
in this sermon I try to show chiefly that all the world is a fallen and wicked place, but that God so loved even this wicked world that He gave His only Son for its salvation.
God was unwilling to let all mankind slip into destruction because of their sin. Therefore, He who was sinless stepped in to fallen creation in order to pluck out a chosen people for His own possession. Samuel Davies first point emphasizes that as a result of the fall, the world and every person in it is in a "condition of perishing."
In John 3:16, the word "so" is not a matter of emphasis. it comes from the Greek (Οὕτως) meaning, "in this manner, or, in this way." It was in this way that God loved the world, He gave His only Son. And what did it mean for God to "give" His Son? It meant to He gave His Son to die as a substitute in the place of sinners. It meant, in this passage, the God gave His Son to be lifted up on the cross just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. |
