Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Speaker 2All right day . Four , the most famous verse , probably in all of America for sure , and it's John 3 , 16 . So you already know this one . For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life . Now again , this verse comes right after Jesus gives the snake illustration from Numbers 21 , so that Nicodemus can begin to get his head around what Jesus Christ came to do . He did not simply come to do miracles , he did not simply come to teach stories . He did not simply come to give us a moral example . He came to give his life as a ransom , as a sacrifice . And so he says , for God so loved the world , that the reason that Jesus came is not a start of new religion .
Speaker 2The reason that God came in the form of Jesus Christ is because of God's love , that God's mission in the person and work of his only begotten son , Jesus Christ , is about love . For God so loved that word , so is an amplifier , it's a magnifier . The God doesn't sort of love us or kind of love us , but he lavishes his love on us . I love the way John says it . He says , oh , what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we would be called children of God . For God so loved the world that he gave that when you love somebody , love is our joy and the Lord towards one another at great expense to ourself . So we are never more like Jesus than when we are giving of ourself . For God so loved the world that he gave his .
Speaker 2The English translates it his only begotten son , or his one and only son . The Greek literally is monogenous . So even if you don't know Greek , you can figure this out . Mono means one , genus means like gene , it means of the same essence . One and only is not enough . I have one and only , Harley Davidson , but it is not monogenous of me , it's just a possession of mine . Jesus the Son is of the same essence as God the Father . And God the Father so loved the world that he gave his monogenes of the same as his Son .
Speaker 2That whoever believes and whoever means whoever doesn't matter what you've done or where you've been or how long you've been doing it , or if you were raised in church or not whoever believes and that word believes is pastuo . It doesn't just mean believe that . There's . A lot of people believe that God created the world and sent his son , Jesus , to die on the cross . Demons even believe that and shudder . But they have not pastuo . They have not trusted in . They have not believed that when Christ died on the cross , somehow it counted for them . But whoever believes or trusts or pastuos in Jesus should not perish but have eternal life .
Speaker 2Now I told you that Jesus was the master teacher , that when he lays out the gospel for Nicodemus , it goes right over his head , and so he was going to use two rabbinical tricks . The first one it's really a remez . He tells him part of a story knowing that Nicodemus would know all the rest of the story . What he's about to do right here is what's called protologos In Greek . It's called protologos , the first words , the moment that Jesus says for God , the Father so loved the world , he sent his only begotten son , then Nicodemus , who was a scholar , a Hebrew scholar , and he had memorized literally the entire Old Testament . One of the things that was very important is the first times the words were used and the first time in the Bible .
Speaker 2The Bible talks about a father's love for his son and a sacrifice being . There is talking about Abraham and Isaac . Now this is review from just a few weeks ago . Kyle covered this already , but let me just repeat it . Okay , Again , if you look at the incident , the event of the Bible , of Abraham being told by God to take his son , Isaac , the son of his love , the son of his promise , and take him up on a mountain to sacrifice , then what you see is a foreshadowing of what Jesus is going to do .
Speaker 2And remember , Jesus is trying to Teach Nicodemus who Jesus is . And so when Jesus says , for God so loved the world , he gave his only begotten son , then Nicodemus would be thinking okay , the first time this is ever used is Abraham's love for Isaac , a father that loves his son , a son of promise , a son of his love , a miraculous son , a son of faith . And this son , Isaac , carried the wood for the sacrifice up a mountain , and that mountain is called Mount Moriah , which means the Lord will provide mountain , and that mountain is called Mount Moriah , which means the Lord will provide . And this son , as Kyle covered and I've covered before , when Isaac goes up the mountain to be sacrificed , he has to trust his father . He is at least a teenager . He could be as old as 33 . Scholars kind of fight about that , but whatever , His dad would have been 100 years older than him . This means that the son willingly laid himself down on the altar at the will of the father .
Speaker 2And yet the reason that Abraham could lift up the knife to take his son is because he believed God . He trusted that God keeps his promises . And so he says we will go worship and we will return . And then , sure enough , as Kyle pointed out a few weeks ago , that an angel of the Lord says whoa , whoa , whoa , Abraham , hold up . And then Abraham looks and there's a ram , an adult male lamb with his head caught in some thorns . It is to point us to the fact that the lamb of God , Jesus , had a crown of thorns on his head . And God , essentially out Mount Moriah , says hey , Abraham , I know that you believe me . We're not going to sacrifice your son in a few thousand years , We'll sacrifice mine . And so what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is I am that sacrificial son . I am the lamb that will be the substitutionary atoning sacrifice . I am the one that has been sent to die in your place , and whoever believes in me receives eternal life .
Speaker 1Amen . Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .