There’s a lot that to learn about this life and eternal life. Jesus came to teach us what we needed to know. Jesus came to help us understand God. There were many Jewish rabbis who studied, but who did not fully understand. It is the same way today. There’s so much to learn.
The Pharisees believed that a Messiah would come and they believed in an afterlife, but they did not believe that Jesus was that Messiah. The Pharisees believed in following the Jewish law very strictly. They also believed that they should be separated from all non-believers. The Pharisees were against Jesus. Nicodemus recognized that Jesus came from God, but he was afraid to be seen with Jesus. He came at night so that the other Pharisees would not see him. Nicodemus also recognized that Jesus was a great teacher.
Nicodemus asked Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus is telling us that we have our physical bodies which are flesh. We also have a spiritual body after we are baptized. We are one dimensional until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. We are just flesh. Once we are born again, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus uses the example of the wind to describe the Holy Spirit. We can’t see the wind blowing, but we feel its breeze and see the impact of the wind on the leaves of the trees. Jesus is trying to explain that just as we see the impact of the wind on the trees we will see the touch of God on everyone who is born of the Holy Spirit. We are changed. We are new and different.
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Nicodemus was really confused with the transformation that happens at baptism. Jesus was amazed that Nicodemus could spend so much time being religious and still not understand the change which happens when we are baptized. Jesus said that the religious leaders speak about what they saw and the Pharisees still didn’t believe the preaching of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus didn’t believe the Pharisees would understand about the easy facts that they could see. The biggest fact is that they could see Jesus. If they couldn’t see Jesus and believe, how were they going to understand and believe about heaven and the Holy Spirit?
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus explained to Nicodemus that he had been to heaven. Jesus also used the term “Son of Man” to explain that he is the Son of God and he is also Mary’s Son. This is the concept that Jesus is fully God and fully man. Jesus said for the first time that he would be crucified on the cross. Moses lifted up the snake on a pole to save the lives of people who believed. Jesus is trying to explain that we will not perish if we believe. In fact, we will have eternal life if we just believe. The next verse if the one verse that almost everyone learns in Sunday school.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The first point in this verse is that God loves us. The second point is that God gave us his only son. The third point is that we must believe and have faith in God. The fourth point is that we will not perish and have eternal life if we just believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
This verse is so important. God did not send Jesus to destroy the world. God sent Jesus so that the world could be saved. The world did not understand God before God sent Jesus. God was hoping that having God in the flesh would make it possible for the world to understand the truth about God’s love.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Jesus is the light of this world. Satan is the evil of this world. Satan is the darkness. If we are following God, we want to be in God’s light. If we are following Satan, we will want to hide in the darkness. Light and darkness are such strong contrasts. It feels good to be in the sunlight. A cold, dark night can make our skin crawl. It is hard to hide in the bright sunshine. It is much easier to hide on a moonless night. We are drawn to the light of this world if we love God and want to be his children.
I love 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” We no longer have our old self after we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our old self is gone. We are brand new. We are a new creation! We can start over. Our old lives and our old sins are forgiven. We are children of God. As soon as we believe and are baptized we have the God’s helper and counselor to guide our path. That helper and counselor is the Holy Spirit. We no longer have to dwell on the mistakes of the past. We can celebrate our lives with God and the future that he promises for us here on earth and in heaven.
It is by God’s grace that we are saved. Salvation is a free gift. We can’t earn it. We can’t buy it. We can’t do good works to sneak into heaven. We just have to believe and ask Jesus Christ into our lives today and every day. Our lives are transformed the moment that we say “Yes, Lord.” We believe that Jesus is the son of God. We believe that Jesus died on the cross so that we could live and be free of our sins. We believe that Jesus rose on the third day and ascended into heaven.
We can be thankful that God loved us so much that he sent Jesus Christ into the world so that we could believe and have eternal life. We are celebrating Holy Communion today to remember that Jesus Christ loved us so much that he gave us life up for us. Also, the altar is open today for prayers after communion for those who need to receive a prayer. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment