Friday, June 15, 2012,
7:17 a.m. – the Lord woke me this morning with the song “No Less” playing in my mind. Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read John 3:1-21 (NIV 1984):
Now there was a man of
the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came
to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from
God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were
not with him.”
In reply Jesus
declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again.”
“How can a man be born
when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into
his mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “I
tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of
water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The
wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where
it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?”
Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s
teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the
truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still
you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things
and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly
things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven
—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of
Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
“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. 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
he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because
their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not
come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives
by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he
has done has been done through God.”
My Understanding: Nicodemus,
a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, came to
Jesus at night. He had recognized Jesus as being a teacher who had come from
God, because “no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God
were not with him,” he said. Jesus had the advantage of knowing what was in Nicodemus’
mind and heart, and why he had come to see Jesus, so he cut to the chase. He
said:
“I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Born Again
Now, Nicodemus was not familiar with this “born again”
thing. He knew how he had been born of his mother, but that was the only birth
he knew about. So his question was perfectly natural. How could he be born
physically again? It didn’t make sense. So, Jesus explained it. He had to be
born of water and of the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God. Now, many
preachers and theologians try to make this “born of water” associated with
either baptism or the Holy Spirit, but the context does not bear that out.
Nicodemus wanted to know if Jesus was saying he had to be reborn physically.
Jesus was speaking of spiritual birth. So, he explained to Nicodemus that he
had to be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (spiritual birth).
And, he gave further evidence that this was his meaning when he said, “Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Human flesh
produces physical birth, but the Spirit produces spiritual birth. He let
Nicodemus know that there were two kinds of birth – physical and spiritual –
and the one he was talking about was spiritual.
Jesus then told him that he should not be surprised that
Jesus said, “You must be born again.” Evidently Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, was
well versed in scripture and should have known Jesus’ meaning. Yet, he did not comprehend
Jesus’ words or meaning. So, Jesus gave further explanation. Birth in the
Spirit is kind of like the wind. We hear the wind, and we can see the effects
of the wind, and we can feel the wind, but we can’t see where it is coming from
or where it is going. So, it is with birth and life in the Spirit. New birth in
the Spirit is not something one can see with physical eyes such as with physical
birth of a new born baby. It is unexplainable by human logic or reasoning. Yet
it is true, and real, and it transforms human hearts and minds and changes
lives, so we can see the effects of it.
Nicodemus was still confused. I don’t know if it was because
he merely lacked faith, or if it just wasn’t plugging into his brain, or if all
the knowledge he had in his head was blocking his mind from receiving such
simple truth. Yet, it appears from Jesus’ following words that Nicodemus was
just not willing to accept Jesus’ words by faith. It was not just that he did
not understand Jesus’ words, because Jesus did go to great lengths to try to
make it so Nicodemus could understand, but it appears he was unwilling to
understand, for Jesus’ said that even though “we” (he) spoke of what “we” (he)
knew and “we” (he) testified to what “we” (he) had seen, still the Israelites (“you
people”), or perhaps specifically the religious leaders, did not believe “our” (his)
testimony.
Jesus Lifted Up
Jesus let Nicodemus know that he was from heaven, and that
he was the “Son of Man,” i.e. he was God in the flesh – fully man yet fully God
– their promised Messiah. And, then he said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake
in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes
in him may have eternal life.”
The story of Moses and the snake reads like this: The
Israelites were on their wilderness journey. God had just given them a major
victory in battle. Then, they hit the road again. While they were on the way,
the scriptures (Numbers 21:4-9) say, the Israelites grew impatient. “They spoke
against God and Moses and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die
in the desert? There is no bread. There is no water! And we detest this
miserable food.’” They were very ungrateful for all that God had done for them,
and they criticized God and Moses for their circumstances and for bringing them
out of Egypt, the land of slavery, where they had been severely persecuted for
their belief in God.
So, God sent venomous snakes among them. The snakes bit the
people and many of them died. Then, the people confessed and repented of their
sins and begged God for forgiveness and for removal of the punishment (judgment
of God). So, the Lord told Moses to make a snake and to put it on a pole.
Anyone who was bitten by the snake could look at it and live.
I have always struggled with this story of the snake on the
pole and why God chose that the people look at the snake in order to live. I
have also been troubled with why Jesus would make a parallel between Moses
lifting up a snake on a pole and Jesus being lifted up, in this case on a cross
(his crucifixion), not on his throne in heaven. He was exalted, though, for his
obedience in what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, so that at
the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess one day that Jesus
is Lord to the glory of God the Father (see Philippians 2).
As I read this story in Numbers of the snake, Moses, and the
people once again, I saw these parallels: 1) There was a sin problem; 2) God
punished the people for their sin; 3) The people responded to the punishment
with confession, repentance and a call to God to forgive their offense; and 4)
God gave them a remedy: They had to look at the snake - their punishment on the
pole, and they could live. Compare that to what we know of Jesus and the new
covenant: 1) There was a sin problem; 2) The people had to be judged for their
sin, so Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin - he took the punishment for us;
3) We must respond to what Jesus Christ did for us in taking our place by
confessing and repenting of our sin, and trusting Jesus Christ to forgive us of
our sins; and 4) We have to look at our punishment on the pole, i.e. we have to
look at what Jesus Christ did in taking our punishment for us and in dying for
our sins, and we have to put our hope, faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior in order to live eternally with God in heaven.
God’s Love for Us
Why did Jesus Christ go to the cross and take upon himself
all our sin? He did this because he (God) loves us. God loved us so much that
he sent his Son Jesus Christ (God) to die on the cross for our sins, so that
whoever believes in Jesus Christ (God) as Lord and Savior has eternal life with
God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in heaven. What a great and precious
promise! Jesus Christ was not sent into the world (the first time) to condemn
the world, but to save it. The next time he comes, he will come to judge, but
he will also come to complete our salvation and to take us to be with him
forever! If we believe in Jesus Christ, we are free from condemnation (eternal
punishment in hell), we are free from the control of sin over our daily lives,
and we are free to walk in fellowship and faithful obedience to Christ. Yet, if
we choose not to believe, we are condemned, and eternity in hell is what awaits
us.
We have a choice. We can choose Jesus Christ or we can
choose to continue to live in sin and for ourselves. We can choose heaven or we
can choose hell. We can choose to live in darkness (absence of light) or we can
choose to come into the light of truth (belief in Jesus Christ and in the
gospel of Jesus Christ). If we choose to remain in the darkness (lies;
wickedness; sin), it is because we love the darkness instead of the light, and
because our deeds, usually done in the dark (in secret), are evil. If we do
evil, it is because we hate the light (Jesus; the truth; the gospel). Ouch! In
fact, the reason we will not come into the light is out of fear that our evil
deeds will be exposed. Double ouch!! “But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God.” Hallelujah! Praise Jesus! Great things HE has done!!
John (in 1 John 1) said that if we say we have fellowship
with God and yet we continue to walk in the darkness, we lie and we do not live
by the truth. But if we walk in the light of truth (the gospel), as Jesus
Christ is in the light, we have fellowship, not just with God, but with other
believers in Christ, and Jesus’ blood purifies us from all unrighteousness.
Amen! May we all be ones who choose to walk in the light of truth, in the light
of the gospel, and in the light of the cross of Christ, taking up our cross
daily and following Jesus Christ. Amen!
No Less / An
Original Work / March 19, 2012
I can do no less than
praise You,
Lord, for all You’ve
done for me.
You died for my sins
to save me,
So I would be set
free.
I adore You! Lord, I
praise You!
Jesus, Savior, King of
kings!
You provided my redemption.
Your grace has
pardoned me.
I can do no less than
serve You.
Lord, Your witness I
would be,
Telling others of Your
love,
And why You died on
that tree.
Tell of how You gave
of Your life,
So from sin we’d be
set free,
So we could worship
You forever,
And live eternally.
I can do no less than
love You,
Lord, for You have
first loved me.
You gave of Your life
so willing,
Because You cared for
me.
Turn from my sin! Obey
freely!
Live for You each
passing day.
Read Your word, and
follow Your lead,
Lord, as I humbly
pray.
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