Look to Jesus, the Source of Truth

Read (Lord’s Supper)

John 3:9–15 (ESV)

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Opening Prayer

Recap

So far in this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus we’ve seen Jesus teach...

#1 – The Necessity of Being Born Again

#2 – The Absolute Polarization of the Flesh & the Spirit

#3 – The Obsession of Fallen Man to Prove Themselves to God by Earning their Good Standing with God

#4 – The Necessity of God’s Intervention

Now, we come to the next response by Nicodemus to what Jesus is teaching and...

Nicodemus says in v.9...

John 3:9 (ESV)

9 ...“How can these things be?”

He is still thinking naturally in at least two ways:

He isn’t that bad to need a complete makeover, if you will.

Maybe a few things cleaned up, but no need for a new birth.

How can it happen, if I cannot make it happen?

So, Jesus makes a statement about Nicodemus that should cause him to melt into the hands of the all-knowing Christ.

John 3:10 (ESV)

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

He’s saying to Nicodemus...

The Necessity & Provision of the New Birth in the NC is in the OT

This is critical to our understanding of the gospels...

Many of the conversations that Jesus has in the gospels are His seeking to clarify the misunderstanding of the NC.

Much of the epistles in the NT are teaching or clarifying the biblical components of the NC in Christ.

The Nation of Israel was expecting the Messiah to show up and just include everyone that was of the bloodline of Abraham.

But, their understanding was a gross misrepresentation of the NC in a few ways:

#1 – It grossly misrepresented the NC in that the assumption was that they didn’t need a NC.

#2 – It grossly misrepresented who would be included in the NC by misrepresenting themselves as keepers of the OC rather than a Nation who broke the OC repeatedly...

And, hence, deserved the curses of the OC not the blessings.

#3 – It grossly misrepresented the NC by practically ignoring the “Nations” aspect of the NC.

Here, Jesus is telling Nicodemus, the PHD of Israel, that he has it all wrong...

And, that Jesus’ teaching on the components of the NC should be familiar to him...

And, that it ought to be common knowledge to a teacher of God’s Word.

This is a great proof that understanding the Gospel & NC is possible from the OT

It was not revealed as greatly as it is in the NT...

But, it was revealed nonetheless.

And, that is what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus...

And, that is the scolding of Nicodemus that Jesus is giving...

For him to not understand the OT’s teaching about the Christ, the mission of the Messiah...

And, the New Covenant.

What kept the understanding of the OT from occuring?

The same obstacle that keeps people from understanding the NT...

Their hardness of heart and spiritual deadness to God.

No one will ever be able to claim that God kept them from understanding...

The blindness and deafness to spiritual truth is a result of the sinfulness of man.

J.C. Ryle said...

Be very sure of this, people never reject the Bible because they cannot understand it. They understand it only to well; they understand that it witnesses against their won sins, and summons them to judgment.

This is the condition of mankind, the hardness of the natural man’s heart...

But, the promise of God through Christ in the NC is...

I will give you a new heart so that you actually have faith.

So many times God told Israel that they needed a circumcised heart so they would not be stubborn/hard-hearted towards Him.

...Passages like Deuteronomy 10:14...explain...

They needed a new heart.

They needed a Savior to do it.

A broken and a contrite heart over sin is what God was looking for.

They needed a New Covenant.

A NC, unlike the former covenant that they broke because they didn’t believe. (Heb. 3:16-19)

What they needed, God would deliver in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (ESV)

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah continues regarding this New Covenant...

Jeremiah 32:40 (ESV)

40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

God will put the fear of God in them...

A love for Him, a respect for God, and heart of worship towards God...

Which Romans 3 tells us is not in the natural man...

And, the Bible tells us over and over that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

God, Himself, puts that in us by giving us a new heart...

The circumcision of the heart which takes out our heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.

Which is NC language for a heart that loves God.

Let’s think about this...

How often do you feel like Nicodemus?

How often do you think, how can these things be?

How can this be what I need in my life right now?

Why is God withholding from me what I want?

Why has God taken from me, something dear to me?

Is God listening, does He hear?

The list goes on because of our finite knowledge.

And our natural inclination...

Our first instinct is to look for, trust in, rely upon man’s understanding...

But, man’s wisdom, disconnected from God’s Word, leads us away from the wisdom of God.

God beckons us to:

trust His answers

run to Him for wisdom

find your strength and comfort in Him

trust that He is with you through every circumstance

And, Jesus calls us to humble ourselves...

To submit ourselves to His teaching, His wisdom, His answers...

Just as He is calling Nicodemus to do the same in this passage.

The truth is...

Unless You Claim to Be a Fool, You Can Never Be Wise

John 3:11–12 (ESV)

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

What stands in the way of fallen man is pride.

God says it, we reject it.

God proves it, we ignore it.

God interjects Himself in flesh within the realm of human history, we suppress it.

We are full of pride:

Pride that says we know better than God.

Pride that says only I can define my self.

Pride that says I’m the ruler of my life.

Pride that says I’m the determiner of my path and end goal.

Pride that says I’m the judge who determines good and evil.

The Bible is an infallible Manual of our fallen condition and our need for God to rescue us.

But, if we don’t take God at His Word in the elementary things that even creation testifies...

We will never believe God in the spiritual truths of His Word.

That is what Jesus is seeking to help Nicodemus understand...

And, Jesus puts the exclamation point of this argument by revealing that He is...

Immanuel, God with Us

Look at what Jesus says here...

John 3:13 (ESV)

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

The only One who can reveal heavenly truths is the One who is the Source of them.

The One who is the Author of them.

The ultimate revelation of God is the Son of Man descended.

And, since the Son of Man is God in the flesh...

He is the ultimate source, revealer and authority on heavenly things.

And, He will ascend once again once He has accomplished His mission of setting the prisoners free from the bondage of sin...

And delivering them from this domain of darkness into His Kingdom...

The eternal Kingdom ruled by God.

This is the truth.

Deliverance is through Me, Nicodemus.

That is what Jesus is saying.

Look at...

John 3:14–15 (ESV)

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Here Jesus is pointing Nicodemus to Moses...

Pointing him to a foreshadowing of the gospel in Numbers...

Numbers 21:4–9 (ESV)

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

This is a lesson that faith in God is the cure for the death brought on by being bitten by the serpents...

Likewise, faith in God as the cure for your condemnation for your sin is the cure for eternal death...

And, in Numbers the object of God’s means for salvation was the Bronze serpent...

For salvation that reconciles us to God...

The means for such is the eternal Son of God.

Jesus is saying, Nicodemus the Kingdom of God is looking to God for salvation, not yourself.

The Kingdom of God is looking for righteousness outside of yourself.

You’re sick and dying and you need a Physician...

And, I am He.

Look to Christ

Faith in God, no matter what the circumstances, is what unites one to God.

John 3:14–15 (ESV)

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This takes us back to what Jesus previously said...

No one can ascend to heaven, except the Son...

And those who look to Him to be saved.

For one to be in heaven equals one being guiltless in the presence of God.

The flaming sword quenched...

And the gates of heaven opened.

Reconciliation with God achieved...

And, that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Only the One who came down from heaven can go back and He will lead a host of people with Him...

And, that host is those who believe upon the Son of Man for eternal life.

Let’s think about this...

If you’re someone that is contemplating Christianity...

Thinking about these truths...

Think about God’s provision in the Sun, Moon, stars, rain, plant growth which feeds us...

The beauty that surrounds us.

The air with the needed oxygen that you breathe every day.

All the ways in which God has provided for your care.

Think about this...

If God can meet you physical needs...

Which he’s proven every second of your life that He can and does...

Why are you not trusting Him for the more important things like salvation?

Oh, how God brings into your life things to beckon you to heed His call to look upon His Son.

His provision for you to be here this morning under the preaching of the gospel is a mercy from His hand.

Trust God. Rest in Christ.

If you’re a Christian...

You’re trusting in Christ for your justification.

For forgiveness.

For reconciliation with God.

For salvation and eternal life.

Why would you hesitate in trusting Him for the lesser things?

Your daily provision.

His guiding you every step.

His mercy that is new every morning in leading you in the path you should walk.

Hasn’t He already proven His faithfulness.

Trust God. Rest in Christ.

Closing Prayer (Lord’s Supper)