Life in God's Kingdom

Good morning. Our passage is John 3:1-21. Follow along as I read.

Let’s pray.

Father, this morning we dive into your Word again. As we look into Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, help us to understand what it means to experience salvation. Help us to see our need for a Savior and your perfect salvation. Help me to preach faithfully and for your Spirit to move amongst all these who are here and hearing. Now, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your eyes, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

INTRODUCTION:

This morning, we are looking at a passage where we’re thrown into a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. This is the first of Jesus’s long conversations in John, and we will be covering all of them in the coming weeks and months. The last couple of weeks, we’ve talked about 2 of Jesus’s signs, as he turned water into wine and restored the right worship in the Temple. The theme of our sermon series so far is ‘Behold the Lamb of God,’ and we believe this to be the central theme of the first half of John’s gospel. We are shown who Jesus is and are called to respond in faith. John has written his gospel so that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in his name, we might have eternal life. That’s according to John 20:31. So what are we doing here?

Each week we are gathering together to hear a sermon from this beautiful book and calling each other to believe in Christ. That’s what our sermon is about today, as well.

Our passage has two characters: Jesus and Nicodemus. One is a humble carpenter from a podunk town, and the other is an esteemed teacher of the Law from Jerusalem. One was born in obscurity and the other was well-known and well-respected. One was the King of the World, and the other had no idea how to enter the kingdom.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night – we’re really not sure why. But he has a serious question for the carpenter from Nazareth, but he doesn’t really ask it. He says, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” We need to notice a few things about how Nicodemus approaches Jesus. He refers to him as “Rabbi.” This is a renowned teacher calling Jesus a term of respect. He is convinced already of Jesus’s ability as a teacher and is trying to do some fact-finding. The crux of why Nicodemus is approaching Jesus is to find out if he is merely a good teacher or a miracle worker or the long-awaited Messiah.

See, the Jewish people had been waiting for their Savior for many generations. This is the leader who would come from God and would be the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies. Jesus had started to fulfill many of these, being born in Bethlehem, being from Nazareth, doing miracles and signs. Nicodemus was trying to figure out if this was the one they were looking for. The Messiah was the one who would usher in a new age of God’s kingdom.

Now, Nicodemus didn’t ask if Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, he didn’t ask a question at all. He made a statement: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” But while his question made it seem like he was merely fact-finding, Jesus cuts to the case: He knew Nicodemus’s heart. He knew that he was actually coming to ask about God’s kingdom.

So Jesus counters Nicodemus’s statement with a statement of his own: “Truly, I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus’s concern was how to truly know if Jesus was the Messiah, and how then he could enter the kingdom. That’s why Jesus immediately jumped into the entrance requirements for God’s kingdom.

Every civilization has entrance requirements. Every club has dues, right? I am not a member of the Rotary Club in this area. So I can’t just walk into their meetings and expect to have any say or authority. In the same way, I am not a citizen of Canada. When I visited Canada, I had to meet certain requirements and if I wanted to stay and become a citizen, I would need to do a number of things to become a naturalized citizen of Canada. In the same way, Nicodemus is meeting with Jesus – who in his mind is possibly the long-awaited Messiah – and he’s wanting to confirm the entry requirements for the kingdom. And again, he doesn’t come right out and ask it, but Jesus knows his concern and starts to tell him more about the kingdom. The kingdom of God is the greatest reality imaginable. In fact, in its fullness, we cannot even come close to imagining it. But Jesus came to bring in the fullness of the kingdom, and it has an entry requirement.

And that brings us around to our main point this morning: You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you experience salvation by the King. To put it positively, only those who experience salvation from God will enter the kingdom of God. That’s the crux of Nicodemus’s concern. How can I enter the kingdom? Through salvation. And Jesus tells him how as we dive into our four main points this morning. We are going to see that (1) salvation requires regeneration; (2) salvation is by God’s will; (3) salvation is spiritual; and (4) salvation brings blessings beyond comparison.

Salvation Requires Regeneration

First, salvation – our entry into God’s kingdom – requires regeneration. Let’s look at the text to see what I mean by the term ‘regeneration.’

What is Regeneration

Look at verse 3: Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Truly, I tell you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Again in verse 7: “Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.” Jesus says twice to Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter – or to “see” – the kingdom of God. In the Greek, this term for ‘born’ is gennathe - from which we get our word “generate”. The next word is anothen - which means either “again” or “from above.” So from this we get the term “regenerate” or, as we’ve translated it here: born again. Generated again. Regeneration.

So whenever we hear the popular phrase ‘born again’ we can think of the term regeneration. I know that’s a word we don’t often use – but it’s a good word worth learning. To be regenerated means to be born again. And that’s what Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about the kingdom of God. He says that in order for someone to enter or to see the kingdom, they must be born again. They must be regenerated.

Why do we need regeneration?

That begs the question: Why must we be regenerated or born again in order to see the kingdom of God? Why must we be born again to be saved and enter the kingdom of God? We can get this answer all over the Bible but let’s look for a moment at Ephesians 2:1-3. Paul in this passage is describing our status before salvation, before entering into God’s kingdom. Here’s what he says: 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which your previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously walked among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts and were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. Paul describes our state as being dead. This status is shared with everyone who has ever lived. We are born in sin and are dead spiritually without salvation.

Why do we need regeneration? Because we were dead! We need to be born again because our sin has made us dead. And spiritually dead people are not welcomed into the kingdom.

What does regeneration do?

How does that work then? What exactly happens when one is born again? After we realize that our sinful flesh is unworthy of God’s presence and we need salvation, we must be born again. It’s not optional – our fleshly birth cannot accomplish this. Look at verse 6: Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We’ll talk more about that verse in a bit, but we are seeking a spiritual birth, so our fleshly birth cannot accomplish being “born again.” Regeneration happens at the moment we are saved, along with several other things: adoption into God’s family, reconciliation with God despite our sinfulness, and more. Though many things happen at the moment we are saved, it’s important to see the order of these events.

Regeneration is the act of God in spiritually dead people to give them a new heart – to breathe new life into them. This new heart is fertile ground for the gospel message to take root; therefore a regenerated heart is a heart ready to accept – or have faith – in the message of the gospel. We were not merely injured in our sin – we were dead. Therefore when the Spirit made us alive, he did so by regenerating us, making us born again. Faith must follow regeneration, because dead people are not able to have faith. Therefore, regeneration comes before faith. Now, we experience all these things at the same time. Our hearts are born again, and we believe the gospel, we are adopted into God’s family, and we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and sealed by him for eternity.

If we, like Nicodemus, come to Jesus desiring to know the way of the kingdom, we will hear the same answer: you must be born again. Regeneration is the first step in our entrance into God’s kingdom because it enables our heart to believe the gospel. Salvation requires regeneration.

Salvation is by God’s Will

The next aspect of this salvation that is required of us for our entrance into God’s kingdom is that we can only enter by God’s will. In the first part of the sermon, we talked about the need for regeneration. Why? Because we were dead – we call that being degenerate. Dead people do not have wills. Spiritually dead people do not have godly desires. Salvation is by God’s will alone. We just had a son this summer. It’s our first kid. And when he was born, he was passive. He had no choice in being made or in being born. Think of why Jesus might use the imagery of birth here. We are the infants being born, it’s not the will of the infant.

Look at the passage with me: “8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” So when Jesus is describing being born again and experiencing salvation, he is talking in terms of the work of God. Earlier, we read from Ezekiel 37, when the prophet is asked to go into the valley and he sees a valley full of dried out skeletons. The Word of the Lord comes and brings the bones to life. The bones didn’t muster up the faith to stand. The bones didn’t raise themselves up. The act of salvation is the act of God upon a spiritually dead person. Without action outside of ourselves, we would still be dead in our sins. However, the breath of God breathed on us and saved us. No one can control the will of God. The Spirit moves where it wills and we see the effects of that move.

Salvation is not our will. To say that it is is giving us way too much credit. If we really take the Word at its word, we will see that we were dead in our trespasses, but God has willed that we have been brought to life. It’s only by God’s will that anyone is saved. In fact, the only contribution we – as spiritually dead people – can make, is the sin that made our salvation necessary.

How can anyone enter the kingdom of God? They must be born again. They must be regenerated.And that can only happen by God’s will. It is the right of the sovereign over a territory to determine its entry requirements. Each nation can determine who can come in and who can stay and who can be a citizen. In God’s kingdom, he has the sovereign right to determine how people come in, and who can come in.

Salvation is Spiritual

Salvation requires regeneration and is according to the will of God. But it is also spiritual. Nicodemus and the Pharisees were very concerned with doing all sorts of good works and being obedient to the Law. These were external acts: praying in public, following Sabbath rules to a tee, fasting openly, and other external measures of righteousness. They were concerned with their works. They wanted to make sure that they were seen by others and praised as righteous among others.

The Pharisees sincerely believed that all of these works would gain them righteousness and favor with God and earn their salvation. See, their system was merely earthly, physical. Their works on earth could gain them heavenly salvation. I wonder how many of us believe the same way? If I try harder, if I give more, if I attend, if I do this or do that, I can earn some sort of favor or reward with God. But works of the flesh cannot purchase spiritual favor. When Jesus is talking about salvation to Nicodemus, he isn’t talking about any works we can do. He isn’t talking about anything physical or natural. No he is talking about things that are heavenly. Look at verses 10-13: 10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied, 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven–the Son of Man.”

Jesus is making it clear: Nicodemus cannot get over the physical side of salvation because he was convinced that he could physically earn his way by works. Jesus flips Nicodemus’s beliefs on their head. He’s not talking about a salvation that can be earned by obedience or good works or anything physical. Jesus is talking about a salvation that has come from heaven. He’s saying to Nicodemus: “You know that I am a teacher that has come from God, and I am pointing you to a salvation that has come from God.” He’s astounded that Nicodemus can’t understand that salvation is a spiritual reality.

Salvation is not something we can do. It’s not something that money can buy. It’s not something that we can be born into. It’s not something that we can earn. Salvation is a spiritual act with a spiritual nature. We aren’t dead physically – we’re dead spiritually. We need an act of God’s Spirit to bring about new spiritual life. Look at verse 6 again: Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Fleshly works produce fleshly results. Spiritual works produce spiritual salvation. If we want to experience life in God’s spiritual kingdom, we need to be saved from our spiritual deadness and that can only happen with a work from the Spirit. A new birth from the Spirit. Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation Brings Blessing

But what are the results? What is the fruit of salvation? That’s where Jesus goes after he explains that salvation requires regeneration, is by the will of God, and is a spiritual experience. This is my last point today: Salvation brings blessings. And these blessings are beyond anything we could ever imagine. Our passage shows us four blessings that are brought on by salvation. If we continue forward with our extended illustration of citizenship, it might look something like this: If I become a citizen of Canada, there are certain rights and privileges that I would be privileged to have. I would have access to all the freedoms Canadiens enjoy. If someone experiences this salvation that I’ve described so far, they become a citizen of the kingdom of God.

There, they can experience all the blessings and privileges of living as a citizen of God’s kingdom, living under God’s rule and reign and blessing.

Eternal Life

First, Jesus describes eternal life as a blessing of the kingdom. He uses the example of Moses having a bronze snake in the wilderness. The Israelites sinned against God, and he sent poisonous snakes to them as a punishment. However, they could look at this bronze snake on a pole lifted up by Moses and experience healing. With Jesus, he says that he himself will be lifted up, and everyone who believes might experience healing, but not temporal healing – eternal life. Jesus is referencing his being lifted up on the cross of Calvary, and also his being lifted up from the grave in resurrection. Everyone who looks upon the resurrected Jesus as their Savior in faith – having been regenerated – will experience this blessing of eternal life.

Greatest Expression of God’s Love

And that leads into this second blessing of salvation: it’s the greatest experience and expression of God’s love. This is where we have one of the most famous verses in Scripture. Motivated by his love for his people, God sent Jesus to earth on a mission. This mission was to live a perfectly obedient life, die a sacrificial death, and rise again victorious over sin and death. And all of this was motivated by God’s love of sinners like you and me. For he so loved the world… We are blessed to be loved by God. Despite your sin, despite your past, despite your journey in faith so far, despite how much you have messed up, you can experience the faithful loving-kindness of God today by entering into his kingdom through salvation.

No Condemnation

And as a citizen of the kingdom of God, you have therefore now no condemnation to fear. God will condemn. Look at verses 17-18: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of of the one and only Son of God. If we are saved and citizens of heaven, we do not experience God’s condemnation. However, those who do not believe will experience God’s judgment. These are those who love darkness rather than light and never call on the name of Jesus for salvation. There is a judgment coming, and those who do not believe will be judged by God. And the result of this judgment will be an eternity in a real place called hell, experiencing the unmediated wrath of God for eternity. That’s what happens without believing in Jesus as savior. For those who do believe, we know that we deserve this eternity in hell, but Christ has stood before us and we are able to claim his righteousness as our own. Praise God for his grace and unmerited favor to us. We do not have the condemnation we deserve.

Life as a vessel of God’s good work

Finally, we have new life to live in God’s kingdom, and that new life is as a vessel for God’s good works to be done through us. Look at the final verse of our passage, verse 21: “But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” The reality of living in the kingdom of God – and the blessing – is that our lives are now not our own, but we belong body and soul to Jesus Christ. Our works are not our own, but God working through us. This is good news. On our own, we are not capable of living a pleasing life to God. But when he intervenes in our lives and saves us by his grace alone, he gives us his Holy Spirit to work through us for all of our days. So we can glorify God, not by our own works, but by God working through us.

CONCLUSION:

So as we close out, what does all this mean for us in 2024? It means that if you are here with us this morning, we are so glad to have you. You have now heard the gospel message: Jesus Christ came to earth to bring the kingdom in its greatest expression. We are waiting for him to come back and usher in the kingdom for eternity, where everyone who believes in Christ as Savior will live with him for eternity. The entry into this kingdom is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This brings you to a place of response. If you would like to enter the kingdom of God today through salvation, please talk with me after the service. I’d love to help you out.

And finally, brothers and sisters, what does this look like for us who are in Christ already? Well, it’s always good for us to be reminded of the gospel and reflect on God’s salvation of us. We can also follow the example of Jesus when engaging with those who are lost, making sure we are always pointing people to belief in the Son of God and to the gospel. But this is also a reminder that we are living as ambassadors in a foreign country. Yes we have our own physical citizenships, but we have been granted citizenship in God’s kingdom, and until he comes back, we are acting as ambassadors for his kingdom. And we gather with other ambassadors weekly in local churches that act as embassies or outposts for this kingdom. We need to press in to our local churches and be encouraged in this. Christian, today, be encouraged that you have been saved by God’s will, God’s work, and God’s Spirit. Be encouraged that you have been called into a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and that by grace alone you are a citizen of God’s kingdom, living under his rule and blessing. As we take communion in a moment, reflect on what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom, and what that looks like in your life with this local church.

Let’s pray.