Evangelism - The Message


It is often said that the church must evangelise and get out with the good news. But what is the “good news”? In a previous article we looked at the need for evangelism. In this one we will focus on the message from God that we have to proclaim to the world. To do this we will refer particularly to John 3:16 which is the best known verse in the Bible and sums up for us the glorious gospel.

God Loves the World
Salvation starts not with man but with God. His love is unmerited and freely bestowed. This is what we mean when we talk of sovereign grace. We are all sinners; guilty, condemned, on the road to hell and helpless. Even to good-living Nicodemus, Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (Jn.3:7). That is something as totally beyond the power of Nicodemus as to enter into his mother’s womb a second time. God loves and God saves.
But whom does God love? Does He love everyone indiscriminately and in exactly the same way? The Bible reveals two kinds of love in God:

  1. General Love This is the love that He has to all. A better word for it is benevolence or goodness. Jesus says: “Love your enemies...that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mat.5:44-45). Paul refers to this as a great motive for seeking salvation: “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance”(Rom2:4).

  2. Special Love This is love in the fullest sense of the word. Like all the other attributes of God it is infinite, eternal and unchangeable. Only the elect “whom he did foreknow”(Rom.8:29) enjoy this and He will always love them and they shall never perish. To the rest He will say: “I never knew you: depart from me” (Mat.7:23). He knew that they were workers of iniquity but He did not know them in a loving way.

But what is meant by “world” here, for Jesus says that “God so loved the world”? (1) Traditionally “world” is seen as meaning Gentiles as well as Jews. God loves not just His ancient people but folk from every nation in the world. How great is God’s love when it reaches out to all races! (2) B.B.Warfield looking at the use of the word “world” in John’s writings sees it as linked with the flesh and the devil. He argues that it refers to the intensity of evil and man in his opposition to God. How great is God’s love when it reaches to that which is the opposite of Himself! He saves even the worldliest. (3) A third possibility is to see “world” here referring collectively to the entity. The following verse says “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”(Jn.3:17). The world as an entity shall be saved, even though many end up lost. Christ triumphs in his mission and there will be new heavens and a new earth, a saved world. This is the interpretation I prefer. God loves this world that has fallen and has sent His Son to save it.

God gave His Son
The measure of the greatness of God’s love is seen in the gift which He bestowed. The Son of God is His beloved who was in His bosom from all eternity. None is more precious to God and yet He handed Him over to become one of us, to bear our sins and to suffer in our place. He “spared not his own Son” (Rom.8:32). Abraham was allowed to spare Isaac but the Son is not spared. He must experience what it is to be the “Lamb of God”(Jn.1:29). As the Passover Lamb He dies to protect us from the destroying angel. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up”(Jn.3:14). Healing comes only through His suffering on the cross for us. This is the heart of the gospel. He “bare our sins in his own body on the tree”(1Pet.2:24). In agony He cried: “My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?”(Mk.15:34). He suffered God-forsakenness for those whom the Father had given Him (Jn.17:2). The foundation of our justification is not our works nor even our faith but Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross. The good news is that God in His great love provides us with a Saviour.

You must Believe
Often the gospel is presented in words such as: “God loves you. Christ died for you. Believe in Him”. However, our warrant to believe is not some universal atonement or even some universal love of God but rather His own Word. Praise God for the “whosoever” in this verse. God makes this salvation available to all who want it. But what if I am not in the elect? Leave election to God and plead the word “whosoever”. But the new birth is essential and that is God’s work. Should I just wait for God to begin working in me? No, your duty is to repent and believe. Having tried to show people their need and guilt we present to them Christ as the answer and call upon them to turn from their sins and to put their trust in Him. There is a free offer. God gave His Son that, “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Receive Christ and you will be saved. As we present the message we rejoice in the irresistible grace of God. No one is too hard for God to save.


Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.

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