“God’s Upside Down Plan”
John 16:16-33
Sermon Series: “Getting Acquainted With Jesus”
Introduction: Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” God does not do things in the way that we would do them or even in the way we want Him to do things. His plan seems upside down to us. Let’s look at how Jesus explained this upside down plan.
1. The Principle: Jesus turns our sorrow and tribulation into joy and peace (v. 20, 22, 33).
2. The Example: Jesus uses the example of childbirth to show how this principle works (v. 21). A woman has great pain and sorrow during childbirth, but that changes to joy and peace almost immediately afterwards.
3. The Working Out of This Principle: Here are several scriptural examples of how we see this principle working itself out in Scripture:
A. I believe the primary interpretation is that Jesus was telling them that He was going to die and the world would rejoice and they would be sorrowful, but He would rise from the dead and bring them great joy. Everything would be turned upside down.
B. It could also refer to the fact that Jesus was going to ascend to heaven and send the Holy Spirit who would bring them great joy.
C. It applies to the fact that Jesus will come again to deliver us from the troubles of this world and bring us to the joy and pleasure of heaven (Psalm 16:11).
D. It applies to the fact that death is an enemy that brings sorrow and grief, but Jesus will raise us from the dead so we can have peace in facing death.
E. Jesus was a man of sorrows who went to the cross for the joy of saving us (Isaiah 53:3, Hebrews 12:2) so this principle was worked out in His life, and He understands our sorrows and suffering.
F. This should help us to understand Communion better as we have sorrow over our sin, but rejoice in what Jesus has done for us and given us.
G. We are to sorrow over our sin so we can experience the joy that comes with forgiveness (Matthew 5:4).
H. We go through suffering in this world, but Jesus will give us joy.
4. The Basis for This Principle-The Gospel: Jesus overcame the world through His death, burial, and resurrection. That is the good news of the gospel. He is victorious, and we share in His victory if we trust Him so we have joy and peace through Him. Jesus alone is the answer! This undercuts our pride and goes against the world, but it is true.
5. Applications:
God does things in a way that humbles us.
We will never find joy and peace anywhere but Jesus. Many people are ruining their lives by looking for these things in all the wrong places.
Repent of sin and trust Jesus today!
This is an honest but hopeful view of life. We need that balance.
This shows why looking for instant gratification does not work.
Learn to be content in our circumstances (Philippians 4:10-13).
