God So Loved the World

Good morning everyone! Glad to be here with you all today. If we haven’t met before, my name is Justin Domino and I’m the Lead Pastor of New Hope Community Church in Cambridge and Isanti. 

INTRO: HALLSTATT, AUSTRIA

In 2014, I studied abroad in Italy. We were 1-hour north of Venice is a picturesque Italian village in the middle of the vineyards in the foothills of the Alps Mountains. The views were incredible. But after my semester in Italy, my friend and I left to backpack for 9 days in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. We saw so many great places, but hands down my favorite place was this little village called Hallstatt [SHOW PICTURE]

Only about 900 people live in Hallstatt, and it’s littered with tourists, but this place is incredible. The views were astonishing. It’s one of those places that you visit and you think to yourself, “could you imagine living here?” We stayed there for 2 nights, rented a room from an elderly Austrian couple who made us breakfast and dinner. We were having breakfast one morning, sausage and eggs, when I looked at the man, with a smile on my face, and I said, “what’s it like to live here?” and he said, “what do you mean?” I said, you live in a place that most people only see on postcards or Instagram explore pages. But what’s it like to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world?” And he said, “I don’t know, I guess over time you just get used to it.” 

And it struck me that beauty is often forgotten with familiarity. The more familiar we are with something, the less we appreciate it. The less we realize what we have or where we live! It’s like the people. 

There’s an author by the name of David Foster Wallace who once shared a story about 2 young goldfish. There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way. The older fish says, “morning boys, how’s the water?” As the two young fish swim along a bit farther, one of them finally speaks up and says to his friend, “what the heck is water?”

The point is that when you live in the same environment day after day, there comes a time when you might not even realize where you are anymore. It’s one thing to not appreciate the scenery, but it’s another thing to forget the Good News of the Gospel. To forget the love of God. To forget the great gift of God: that we can receive salvation through Jesus Christ. 

SCRIPTURE: JOHN 3:16-21

If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter 3, we’re going to start in v.16, which is located on page [725]

John 3:16-21

16 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. 17 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 they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

There’s a reason you see John 3:16 painted on the eye black of Tim Tebow, there’s a reason you see John 3:16 written on cardboard signs at sporting events by crazed fans. This is the single greatest message on earth. It is the Gospel summarized into just a verse, with great truth surrounding that one verse. But let me tell you this: while this is one of the greatest sections of the Bible of all time, while John 3:16 is the most widely known verse of all time, beauty is often forgotten with familiarity. Being a Christian, or even being around Christianity as part of the culture you’ve grown up in, can cause us to miss or forget the greatness, the beauty, the truth of the Gospel. 

POINT 1: GOD LOVES YOU

So, I want to start here: God loves you. For a lot of us, that might sound like it’s too beginner, too elementary, too surface-level. But honestly, if you move past this truth, you will fall off track in your faith very quickly. And in my 10 years of being a pastor, I can tell you this: people treat “God loves you” like it’s a dead and stoic doctrine rather than a life-giving reality. There are people who grow up believing that God loves them because they’ve heard it, “for God so loved the world!” Yet, the sin, shame, guilt, and lies from Satan they hear cause them to forget this great truth and end up saying, “yeah, that’s great for you, but you don’t know what I’ve done.” What you’ve done or haven’t done doesn’t disqualify you or qualify you for God’s love, it’s about what Jesus has done on your behalf. 

But it also begs the question: if God so loves the world and if God so loves people, what about sinners? What about people who are not only unbelievers, but they’re evil? In other words, would it be appropriate to walk into a room full of people you know are unbelievers. Would it be appropriate to walk into a convention full of Atheists who are there to mock God and prove He doesn’t exist, would it be appropriate to walk in and say, “God loves you all!” Yes, it would. That is not to say that God approves of sin, that’s not to say God is a Universalist and all of us will just magically go to heaven no matter what we believe. No, it’s not about how good we are, it’s about how great God’s love really is. 

The fact of the matter is that none of us were born “good.” Of course, there’s a big difference between the average Joe at Renovation Church and Adolf Hitler. But that doesn’t mean we are born good and don’t need a Savior. 

In fact, 48% of people believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things during their life, they will “earn” a place in Heaven. The average person thinks people are fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good. This is a very common belief. But it’s also dead wrong. The Bible says in Romans 3:10, “there is no one righteous, not even one.” 

This matters deeply, because if we believe the lie that people are basically good, we start to think we just need reformation—better habits, stronger discipline, a second chance. But that’s not the gospel. The gospel is not about cleaning up messy people—it’s about raising dead people. It’s about being Born Again. Jesus didn’t come because we needed coaching. He came because we needed a new birth. God’s love toward the world is not because of our goodness—it’s because of His character. Yes, God hates sin, but v. 17 reminds us of the heart of God: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him

But for some, that’s still not enough. We think, “well if God is so loving, couldn’t He just let us all in? Who cares if we’re Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, if He’s so loving, He’ll let us in right?” And my response to that is, “what more do you want from God? He’s already given us the Way of Salvation, He’s already given us Jesus, who was brutally killed on the cross to atone for our sins, He’s provided a way for us! What more do you want?” 

No, we can’t save ourselves because we’re not good. We can’t put our faith in our good intentions, we can’t put our faith in our good works, we can’t put our faith in anything else other than Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Nobody gets to the God, nobody receives salvation, except through Jesus. God is not quick to condemn, but for most of us, we are blessed with about 75 to 80 years on this earth. Every day is a chance for us to put our faith in Him because God is love. He’s patient, He’s love, and He loves you today. 

The problem is that many of us are standing in condemnation today. We haven’t received salvation. We don’t have a relationship with Jesus. And John lays out 3 reasons why. He says, 

POINT 2: 3 REASONS PEOPLE ARE CONDEMNED

1.We are condemned because we prefer sin

“Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil”

People are condemned because they love sin, but real Christians hate it and fight to be free. Jesus didn’t say people were just curious about sin—He said they loved the darkness more than the light. That’s a heart problem.

I have a family member who thinks she’s hilarious, but her answer when she’s asked about heaven and hell, Jesus or religion, she always says, “well, hell sounds like more of a party, so I’d rather go there and have some fun!” See, it’s always funny to me. The Bible says, people prefer their sin. They’d rather sin than follow Jesus. Like it’s something fun and exciting. And sometimes I think to myself, “I don’t know, wouldn’t the average person realize how their sin hurts them?” But it’s true! People love darkness! 

But when you're truly born again, there’s a war inside of you. You don’t want to be the same. You may still struggle, but you hate the struggle. That’s the difference. Christians don’t coddle their sin—we crucify it. Have you stopped fighting sin? 

2.We are condemned by our unbelief

“…whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Let’s be clear: people aren’t judged simply because they don’t know about Jesus—we’re judged because they reject Him as our Savior and Lord. Not just His name, but His authority. We treat Him like a historical figure rather than the risen King. You can’t say, “Yeah, I believe in Jesus,” and then live like you’re the one in charge. Real Christians don’t just admire Jesus, we surrender to Him. We submit our relationships, our money, our career, our desires, everything, under His Lordship. Are you resisting the Lordship of Jesus over your life? 

0.We are condemned because we hide in our secrets

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 

People are condemned because they hide their sin, but real Christians walk in the light. This might be the most important test of all: do you hide, or do you confess? Hypocrites live double lives. We want to look clean on the outside while keeping secrets in the dark. But Christians, step into the light. We confess. We get help. We stop pretending. We don’t fear exposure because they know Jesus already paid for our sin. We don’t run from the light—We run toward it.

Let me ask you this, is there something in your life right now that you are hiding? An addiction to pornography? Are you drinking too much? The Timberwolves are in the playoffs, so let me ask you this, are you gambling excessively? Are you being a gracious, loving father at home like the way you present yourself in public? 

CLOSING: INTIMACY WITH GOD, NOT JUST RELIGION

But here’s the thing, we don’t go through all of this simply because now we want to become religious people. No, the heartbeat of John 3 is to help us realize that while we are sinners in need of a Savior, God loves us! He wants to know us! It’s not about dry, stoic religion, it’s about knowing Jesus and Jesus knowing you. 

When Jesus was speaking to a church in the Book of Revelation, they were struggling with false teachers and immorality in their church. They had their struggles, but Jesus also complemented them and encouraged them to keep the faith. That no matter what happened in life, keep the faith. And if they did, here’s what He said would happen: 

Revelation 2:17

To the one who is victorious…I will give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

I was at the dentist a couple weeks ago and I’m in for a teeth cleaning. I had to bring my 2 kids with me, Izzy and India, they’re 7 and 3. But I’m sitting there in the dentist chair, I’ve got my mouth wide open, the dentist is working on my teeth, and Izzy goes, “hey Peanut…” Peanut was my childhood nickname my mom gave me. And then she goes, “hey Buster…” another nickname I got from my parents. Gotta love it, right? I can’t talk cause the dentist is in my mouth, and my 7-year-old is just rattling off embarrassing nicknames. The hygienist is laughing at me. She takes her hands out of my mouth and I’m like, “are you just gonna tell the whole world these embarrassing things?” I love it. Being a dad is the best. 

But have you ever thought about this: the name people call you is often directly correlated to how well they know you. I’m like you, it drives me crazy when I answer the phone from a number I don’t recognize and I get the, “is this Mr. DomEEno?” I’m like, have you never had pizza before? When I hear “DomEEno” it’s an easy click and hang up the phone. They don’t know me, they just wanna sell me something. 

When I’m at Walmart and I hear, “Pastor!” I know that it’s someone from our church before I even turn to look. They know me a little bit better. My kids, they call me daddy and I’ll spare their embarrassment, but Madi and I have nicknames for our kids. And we call them these names that people would never know, but when we do this, it signifies that we’re close. They’re my kids, they’re my babies, we’ve got special names. 

Do you guys wanna hear the name that only Madi calls me? You can’t. because that’s a name that’s known only by the one who receives it, ok, but that’s my point! What you call someone, it indicates your level of familiarity with them. Your level of intimacy with them.

That’s the beautiful thing about Jesus. He’s not a distant God that we worship merely out of fear, He’s is the King of Kings, Defeater of Death, yet He calls you by name and knows you like a loving father knows His son.

But, can I be honest with you? Hear me when I say this, because I’m not saying this as a judgmental, religious man. I’m saying this because I love you, but the reason you don’t have that relationship with God, is because there is a barrier between you and God and that barrier is sin. For too long you’ve let unbelief run your life, you’ve let sin run your life, you’ve let secrets run your life. 

Right here, right now, it’s time to get right with God. Because the way you’ve been living isn’t working anymore. In fact, let’s bow our heads together. In a moment, I’m going to pray a prayer and ask you to pray it with me. If you’re ready for Jesus to know you, and you want to make that decision to follow Him, I want you to pray with me. 

Sinner’s prayer: Lord, I admit I am a sinner. I need and want Your forgiveness. I accept Your death as the penalty for my sin, and recognize that Your mercy and grace is a gift You offer to me because of Your great love, not based on anything I have done. Cleanse me and make me Your child. By faith I receive You into my heart as the Son of God and as Savior and Lord of my life. From now on, help me live for You, with You in control.

Follow up: "If you prayed that prayer for the first time today, we'll get you some important information and next steps right after the service."