Back To The Basics

Introduction to the Text

John 3:11–18 (ESV)

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. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This morning I would like to go back to the basics and unpack what is probably the most well-known passage of the bible. John 3:16 is most likely the most memorized and well-known verse from the scriptures. I was learning John 3:16 at a very early age in children’s classes like Awanas. Before we dig in, I want to discuss the passage for a minute. If you take a look at the beginning of Chapter 3, you will see Jesus is speaking with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. As we work through this passage there are three points I would like to cover starting in verse 11. Bear with me, we will be covering quiet a bit of scripture as we work through this passage.

Point 1- Truly God/Truly Man

Christ starts in verse 11 (READ) by telling Nicodemus he does not receive his testimony. In verse 12 (READ), Christ asked Nicodemus how he could believe heavenly things when he does not accept earthly things. So verse 12 is where we start to see the first point of the passage. I want to stop and spend some time on verse 13. Christ tells Nicodemus “No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”. In verse 13, Christ is speaking of knowledge and not just any knowledge, but heavenly knowledge. Divine knowledge. As I was studying this passage and preparing, verse 13 hit me like a freight train. Starting in verse 12 then moving into verse 13, Christ affirms everything we believe and teach Him to be. Truly God and Truly man, which is our first point. Isiah chapter 55 verses 8 and 9 say “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD…”. No human being can possess divine knowledge nor know the mind of God. In verse 12 Christ speaks of telling Heavenly things and in Verse 13, Christ affirms his Divine knowledge to speak of heavenly things by saying he descended from Heaven. In the Old Testament we see men who ascended into heaven before death. But we do not see any men descending from Heaven except Christ Himself in the manner Christ is speaking of. In order for Christ to accomplish what he came to accomplish he had to be born under the law, to fulfill the law in our place. He had to be truly man. In order to fulfill the law and to fulfill it perfectly, He had to be truly God. God incarnate, God in the flesh.

I want to cover several places in God’s word to finish up this first point. I want to take you through the scriptures to affirm Christ’s Divine nature. The first place I would like you to turn to is John 17:5. John chapter 17 is called the High Priestly Prayer. This is the prayer Christ prayed before he was arrested and taken prisoner to be crucified. If you have not taken the time to read all of the High Priestly Prayer, I would encourage you to do so on your own time. There can be many sermons on John 17. But for this morning I want to look specifically at verse 5. Verse 5 says “And now, Father, glorify me in your own Presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.” If you look in Genesis 1:26, It speaks of Christ being with the father before creation. When man is created, Genesis says “Let us make man in our image”. In John 6:62 the scripture reads “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before.” We have looked at just a few passages of many in the bible that confirms Christ divine nature. Christ was with God before creation, Christ was with God before anything existed. Christ is God in the flesh. The scriptures clearly teach the Divine nature of Jesus Christ. Lets briefly look to God’s word again for his human nature. If you look at John 4:6 and you don’t have to turn there, you will see Christ was weary from his journey to Samaria. Jesus was tired just like a man would be. Luke 4:1-12 speak of Jesus being hungry in the wilderness just like a man would be. This is point one, Christ confirms to Nicodemus what we believe and teach Him to be, Truly God and Truly Man. When Christ tells Nicodemus that no one has ascended from heaven except the Son of Man, he is speaking of his divine nature. His divine and heavenly knowledge. The knowledge that no man possesses, only God himself. Isiah chapter 55 is one of many passages which tell us it is impossible for our tiny finite human minds to comprehend the ways, the thoughts, and the will of God Almighty. Again, point 1 of the passage is Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. “And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.”” It speaks of Christ being with the father before creation. When man is created, Genesis says “Let us make man in our image”. In John chapter 6 verse 62 the scripture reads “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before.” We have looked at just a few passages of many in the bible that confirms Christ divine nature. Christ was with God before creation, Christ was with God before anything existed. Christ is God in the flesh. The scriptures clearly teach the Divine nature of Jesus Christ. Lets briefly look to God’s word again for his human nature. If you look at John chapter 4 verse 6 and you don’t have to turn there, you will see Christ was weary from his journey to Samaria. Jesus was tired just like a man would be. Luke chapter 4 verses 1 through 12 speak of Jesus being hungry in the wilderness just like a man would be. This is point one, Christ confirms to Nicodemus what we believe and teach Him to be, Truly God and Truly Man. When Christ tells Nicodemus that no one has ascended from heaven except the Son of Man, he is speaking of his divine nature. His divine and heavenly knowledge. The knowledge that no man possesses, only God himself. Isiah chapter 55 is one of many passages which tell us it is impossible for our tiny finite human minds to comprehend the ways, the thoughts, and the will of God Almighty. Again, point 1 of the passage is Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man.

Point 2- Poisoned By Sin

As we move into the second point of the passage, I want to focus on verse 14. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up”. Turn with me in your bibles to Numbers chapter 21 and read with me verses 4 through 9. (READ). So I want you to think about this for just a minute. Moses has led the people out of Egypt, across the red sea, Witnessed God Himself crush Pharoah, have been supernaturally fed and taken care of. Some translations say the people “loathed” the food. Loathe is an intense dislike or disgust. In their disgust the people of Israel speak out against God and Moses. And as an act of judgement, God’s send serpents among the people. In verses 4 through 9 we see that the snake bites just didn’t cause pain, it killed some of the people. The snake bites were fatal. So you have a group of people who sin against God, who speak out against God. And because of their sin and the judgement it causes, the people of Israel face death. And they ask Moses to intercede for them. And he does. God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole and raise it before the people. And anyone who is bitten that looks at the bronze serpent will be healed. Does this passage not sound just a little bit familiar? Are we not sinners who have sinned against a Holy and Mighty God? Church, do we as sinners not deserve judgment as well? Before we, as believers, place our faith in Jesus Christ, are we not like the people of Israel who face a certain death? And not just a physical death, but a spiritual death. An eternity in the lake of fire. An eternity in hell as a just punishment for our rebellion against the one true living God. Which brings us to our second point, Just like the people of Israel, we too, are infected with a poison, and that poison is sin. A poison that not just destroys and kills the body, but also the soul. And this leads us into our third and final point.

Point 3- We Have a Savior and He is the Only Way

Read with me verses 14 through 16 as we come to our last point of the passage (READ). And church, this is where we hear the good news. Although we are all sinners, although we face a spiritual death, we are offered eternal life through the only Son of God, Jesus Christ. Just as the serpent was lifted up on the pole and people were saved, so was Christ lifted up on a cross, where he was crushed and died. That we, sinners, can be saved from an eternal death and have eternal life. Verse 16 talks about God’s love for the world. Calvin calls it God’s “secret love”. A love so perfect and so pure, our finite human minds can’t even begin to comprehend it. Verse 16 is where we hear the best news a sinner could ever hear. If you read through God’s word you will find passage after passage about how fallen we really are. In Romans, Paul speaks of there not being even one righteous person, Ephesians chapter 2 says we are “Dead in our sins and trespasses”. In Isiah it says our most righteous works are as filthy rags before the LORD. Turn with me quickly over a couple chapters to John chapter 15 and read verses 1 through 6 with me (READ). The scriptures are absolutely clear, if left to our own works or our on strength, we will surely perish. Verses 14 through 16 are clear that Jesus Christ is the only savior, the only way to obtain eternal life.

Apart from Christ there is no hope for the sinner. Salvation does not come through attending church, through praying a simple sinners prayer, through giving money and food away…Salvation comes through placing your faith in Christ and Christ alone.