John 3 - New Life in God’s Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Pray
Pray
Father, thank you for the opportunity to learn more about you from your Word.
We all need you to speak to us today, so I pray that you would use me, speak through me the truth of your Word.
I pray that you would open our hearts and minds to receive your truth and be changed into the likeness of your Son.
We ask all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Intro
Intro
Have you ever thought about the difference between earthly things and spiritual things?
Throughout my Christian life I have tried to wrap my head around this concept.
And… to be honest, it has only been recently that I have had any sense of understanding the difference.
It took me so long because I was trying to understand and define the spiritual in terms of the earthly.
Maybe you have never struggled with this, but I think most of us have, and maybe some of you are struggling with understanding this difference right now.
Well, I have good news and bad news.
The bad news is that there isn’t a concise definition of “spiritual” things.
But the good news is that the Bible is full of spiritual truths, so that over time we can begin to understand them and understand how they are different from earthly things.
Because our thinking tends to be earthly, God has clarified the spiritual truth of new life in His’s kingdom in John chapter 3.
We are going to look at three different testimonies in this chapter.
And all three of them clarify the spiritual truth of new life in God’s kingdom.
We are going to spend most of our time looking at how Jesus described new life in God’s kingdom to Nicodemus.
Then we will briefly see how John the Baptist demonstrated new life in God’s kingdom to his disciples,
and finally, how John the author defined new life in God’s kingdom to his readers, us.
And all three testimonies highlight the same four spiritual truths about new life in God’s kingdom:
1. who Jesus really is,
2. why he came in the first place,
3. what he would accomplish in salvation,
4. and how we should respond.
Let’s dive in and look at the first testimony.
New Life in God’s Kingdom Described by Jesus the Christ (1-21)
New Life in God’s Kingdom Described by Jesus the Christ (1-21)
Now, the first truth that Jesus described was his identity.
Who is Jesus? (1-3)
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
This Pharisee named Nicodemus is one of the Jews who believed in Jesus because of the signs he was doing at the end of the last chapter.
But he isn’t just any Jew, he is a ruler of the Jews, one of the Sanhedrin, someone all the other Jews looked to for spiritual guidance.
And he comes to Jesus by night.
We don’t really know why he came to Jesus by night, but John added that detail to this narrative as a sort of illustration for what Jesus would say in verses 19-21.
I’m going to resist stealing my own thunder and leave you in suspense a bit, but you can read ahead if you want.
So, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and makes a statement, not a question, but a statement.
First, he calls him “Rabbi” which means “teacher.”
Nicodemus addressed Jesus as an equal.
Not as an inferior, but also, and more significantly, not as a superior.
Then he says, “We know that you are a teacher come from God.”
He thinks Jesus is merely a man, albeit one who has divine knowledge from God.
He doesn’t understand Jesus’ true identity.
He doesn’t understand that Jesus is God.
Then he gives the reason for his conclusion that Jesus is a teacher come from God.
He says, “for no one can to these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
He saw the signs done in the temple in the last chapter that caused many to believe in Jesus.
But he believed his own conclusions, not the truth of who Jesus really is.
So, Jesus answers with a statement of his own about why Nicodemus has misunderstood Jesus’ signs.
Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus cannot understand these signs rightly, he cannot see the kingdom of God, he cannot see Jesus for who he truly is unless he is born again, and neither can we.
These signs that Jesus did prove that he is the Christ, the Son of God, not just a teacher who has been given divine power.
But the interesting thing is that there is nothing any of us can do to come to that truth.
We must be born again, but being born again is a passive action, something that is done to us.
There are some profound implications wrapped up in this idea of being born again, and Jesus is going to explain it in terms of why he came in the first place.
New life in God’s kingdom is marked by understanding Jesus’ true identity as the Christ, the Son of God, but why did he come in the first place?
Why did Jesus come? (4-12)
Jesus describes the answer to this question in verses 4-12.
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?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 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?
So, Nicodemus, clearly doesn’t get what Jesus is saying.
Because he’s thinking in an earthly way.
It’s impossible for a man to be born when he is old, or for a man to climb back into his mother’s womb to be born again.
This defies the natural order of things.
But, importantly, Nicodemus did not pick up on the passive aspect of being born.
He asks how a person can actively make this second birth happen.
So, Jesus rephrases his statement.
He says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
There are a couple of differences between Jesus’ first statement and this one.
The first difference is the move from the ambiguous phrase “born again” to the specific reference “born of water and the Spirit.”
There are a lot of ideas floating around about what Jesus meant by being born of water and the Spirit.
I’m not going to give you all of those different views because I don’t want to torture you.
I’ll just tell you what I think is the most compelling view.
Being born of water and the Spirit is a reference to the New Covenant as articulated in Ezekiel 36:25-27.
This is an important reference, so let’s turn over and read Ezekiel 36:25-27.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Jesus came to wash us clean from our sin with the spiritual “water” of his blood shed on the cross for our sin.
He also came to give us a new heart and to pour out the Spirit in our hearts in the New Covenant so that it’s a delight to obey God rather than a chore that we resist without his Spirit.
Back to John 3:5, the second difference between Jesus’ first statement and his clarification is what the second birth affords us.
In the first statement Jesus said that the second birth is necessary to SEE the kingdom of God.
In the second statement he said that the second birth is necessary to ENTER the kingdom of God.
Seeing the kingdom is necessary to understand Jesus’ identity as the Christ, the Son of God.
Providing the means of entering the kingdom, the New Covenant, is the reason why Jesus came in the first place.
Well, Jesus goes on to explain the evidence of this New Covenant second birth.
Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
It’s not something that can be witnessed in the natural world.
There’s no physical mark or physical change with those who have been born again because this is a spiritual birth, not a physical one.
The analogy of the wind highlights this truth very well.
And Jesus purposefully uses this analogy because spirit and wind are the same word in both Greek and Hebrew.
We cannot see the wind, only the effects of the wind.
We also cannot see the Spirit, but we can definitely see the effects of the Spirit as he changes hearts in the New Covenant.
Well, Nicodemus still doesn’t get it.
But instead of asking specific questions, he simply asks, “How can these things be?”
And Jesus, point blank, rebukes him for not understanding these things.
He is THE teacher of Israel, he should know this like the back of his hand, but he doesn’t because he stubbornly refuses to accept Jesus’ testimony and the testimony of Scripture.
When Jesus says “WE speak of what WE know, and bear witness to what WE have seen, but you do not receive OUR testimony…”
When he says this is talking about his own experience and testimony as the Son of God along with the experience and testimony of the prophets of the Old Testament, specifically the passage in Ezekiel he just referenced.
The religious leaders rejected Jesus and stood against him, and their rejection of him caused them to reject everything he said on principle.
But the point Jesus is making with verse 12 is that it is impossible to understand heavenly things without the Spirit.
Heavenly things are not irrational or illogical, but the heart and mind that has not been born again will necessarily reject and dismiss these heavenly truths.
New life in God’s kingdom is marked by 1) understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 2) who came to fulfill the New Covenant prophesied in the Scriptures, but how would he accomplish this?
What did Jesus accomplish? (13-17)
Jesus describes what he came to accomplish in verses 13-17
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.
Jesus came to earth from heaven.
We already saw this truth in great detail in John chapter 1.
But here, Jesus states his incarnation briefly as an important foundation for the truth of how he would bring in the New Covenant.
This is foundational because only God could accomplish what Jesus did on the cross.
If Jesus is just a teacher come from God, then he is just a man, and his death on the cross would not be sufficient to satisfy the righteous requirement of the law for all who believe in him.
Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God must be lifted up in death, resurrection, and glory to save his people and grant them eternal life.
Jesus refers to a story from Numbers 21:4-9 where God sent venomous snakes to bite and kill the Israelites as a judgment against their complaining and lack of trust in God to care for them.
But after Moses prayed for the people, he was told to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and anyone who was bitten by a snake just needed to look at that bronze snake and they would be saved from death.
Jesus says that he, the Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of Man, must be lifted up like that bronze snake so that all who put their faith in him will have eternal life.
Being lifted up is referring to his death, resurrection, and subsequent glory.
Our eternal life is based on our faith in Christ, just like the Israelites salvation from death by venomous snake was based on their faith in God’s Word through Moses.
They had to believe what God said, that looking at this bronze snake lifted up on a pole would heal them.
And we must believe what God said as well.
We must believe in Jesus who died on the cross for our sin, rose from the dead three days later, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf and ruling with the greatest authority.
Jesus was sent by the Father to accomplish this because of the Father’s immeasurable love for us.
John 3:16 is the most well-known verse in the entire Bible, and for good reason.
This verse is one of the clearest articulations of the gospel in all of Scripture.
But this verse and the following verse are actually explanations of verses 14 and 15 that we just looked at.
The word translated “so” is like saying “in this way,” and it refers back to what Jesus had just said.
The way that God the Father has loved the world is by providing the means for eternal life.
Then the word translated “that” is like saying “so that,” and it explains how God’s love is linked to the salvation articulated in verses 14 and 15.
God’s love for the world, us, is what motivated him to give his Son to be lifted up in death, resurrection, and glory.
And Jesus restates verse 15 in the context of the Father’s love.
This legitimate offer of eternal life is for the whole world because the Father loves his creation, but only those who believe will actually receive eternal life.
And as we saw earlier, belief can only happen by being born again.
It’s very easy to look at the Old Testament and conclude that God is all about condemning people for not living up to his law.
But verses 16 and 17 are so clear that God’s love is the primary motivation for sending Jesus.
New life in God’s kingdom is marked by 1) understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 2) who came to bring in the New Covenant, 3) by saving us through his death, resurrection, and glory because the Father loves us enough to give up his Son to save us… so what do we do about it?
How should we respond? (18-21)
Jesus described the proper response to these spiritual truths in verses 18-21.
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. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
So how should we respond?
In a word… believe.
It’s so simple, but also so difficult to wrap our heads around sometimes.
The mark of one who has been born again is belief or faith in Jesus, but belief in Jesus is also the only thing we must do to be saved.
The problem comes when we place too much weight on our faith, like it’s something we have done to earn our salvation.
The only thing we must do to be saved is realize that we are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf.
Salvation is given, not earned.
The whole world is in a state of condemnation because of sin.
But for those who are marked by their belief in Jesus, that condemnation has been removed.
The difference between those who are saved and those who remain condemned can be seen in the response to the exposure of sin.
Jesus, like the Law, exposes sin.
Those who are not saved run AWAY from Jesus, rejecting him and trying to hide their sin in the darkness.
But those of us who are saved, who have been born again, we run TOWARD Jesus because we’ve been forgiven.
And Jesus says that we come to the light so that it may be clearly seen that our works are carried out in God.
The good things we do as born-again citizens of God’s kingdom are planned out and given to us by God.
And we want them to be exposed so that we can praise God for the good he does through us.
This is exactly the opposite of how Nicodemus came to Jesus.
Remember back in verse 2 how Nicodemus came to Jesus by night?
Coming to him in the dark of night vividly shows us that Nicodemus wanted his actions to stay hidden in the dark rather than exposed in the light.
He was very evidently not a born-again citizen of God’s kingdom.
New life in God’s kingdom is marked by 1) understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 2) who came to bring in the New Covenant, 3) by saving us through his death, resurrection, and glory, 4) and all you need to do is run to him in faith.
These four truths combined are what we typically call the gospel.
The word gospel just means good news, but we use that term to mean the specific good news of these four truths.
So, that was Jesus’ testimony describing to Nicodemus these truths about new life in God’s kingdom.
Next, we are going to see these same four truths demonstrated as John the Baptist responds to a potential conflict in his ministry.
We are going to see…
New Life in God’s Kingdom Demonstrated by John the Baptist (22-30)
New Life in God’s Kingdom Demonstrated by John the Baptist (22-30)
We see that the context for this demonstration is baptism in verses 22-24.
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).
Jesus begins his ministry of baptism which is the same ministry as John the Baptist.
The Judean countryside was not too far from the supposed location of Aenon near Salim.
So, both John and Jesus were doing the same thing, in pretty close proximity.
This makes me think of the famous line from one of those old western movies.
“This town aint big enough for the both of us!”
And it says that people were coming to John to be baptized, so Jesus’ ministry hadn’t completely decimated John’s ministry.
And as a side note, the author locates this incident before John’s imprisonment.
The other gospel accounts don’t contain the incident here in our passage, but John the author helpfully places it on the timeline of John the Baptist’s life to show that this is not in conflict with the other accounts.
Next we see a potential rivalry in verses 25-26.
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”
We don’t exactly know what the discussion was about between John’s disciples and this Jew.
It had something to do with purification.
Perhaps it was regarding the differences between ritual purification washing and baptism of repentance.
Regardless, the discussion highlighted the fact that Jesus was drawing people away from John.
So, his disciples came to him and complained about this potential rivalry between Jesus and John.
It’s implied that they expected John to have some sort of strategy.
They expected him to do something to get the people to come to him for baptism again.
But John’s answer is not what they expected.
We see the resolution to this potential rivalry in verses 27-30.
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John is living in God’s Kingdom.
John knows his ministry is not his, but God’s.
We see that very clearly in verse 27.
He didn’t build it in his own effort… it was given to him from heaven.
He has run to God in faith and rejoices in God’s work through him rather than running away from God and hiding in sin and self-righteousness.
This is truth #4 of new life in God’s kingdom, running to God in faith.
And John knows Jesus’ identity as the Christ, the Son of God.
Again, we see this very clearly in verse 28.
He asserts that he is not the Christ, but he has been sent before him, acknowledging that he knows Jesus’ true identity.
This is truth #1 of new life in God’s kingdom, understanding Jesus’ identity as the Christ, the Son of God.
And John knows that Jesus came to begin the promised New Covenant.
In verse 29 he uses an analogy of a bridegroom and the friend of the bridegroom to show the covenantal aspect of Jesus’ ministry.
A marriage is a covenant between the husband and wife, just like Jesus began the New Covenant between God and his people.
This is truth #2 of new life in God’s kingdom, Jesus came to bring in the New Covenant.
And John knows that Jesus would accomplish salvation.
In verse 30 he responds to Jesus’ influential rise by commenting on the necessity for Jesus’ ministry to increase and his ministry to decrease.
He says this because he knows that Jesus will “take away the sins of the world,” and he could never do that.
This is truth #3 of new life in God’s kingdom, salvation through the death, resurrection, and glory of Jesus.
John the Baptist responds to this potential conflict by giving way to Jesus’ ministry because he understands that 1) Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 2) who came to bring in the New Covenant, 3) by saving his people through his death, resurrection, and glory, and 4) he ran to God in faith and praising him for the good works God did through him in his ministry.
John’s testimony perfectly lines up with Jesus’ testimony, and finally John the author gives us his definition.
This is a final summary of these four truths…
New Life in God’s Kingdom Defined by John the Author (31-36)
New Life in God’s Kingdom Defined by John the Author (31-36)
He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
In verse 31 we see a definition of Truth #1… Who is Jesus?
Jesus is he who comes from above.
He’s not just a teacher come from God like Nicodemus thought.
He’s not of the earth, belonging to the earth, and speaking in an earthly way.
He’s the Son of God who came from heaven, and he is above all because he is God.
In verses 32-33 we see a definition of Truth #2… Why did Jesus come?
Jesus bore witness to what he has seen and heard along with the prophets of the Old Testament.
He specifically bore witness to the truth of Ezekiel 36 to Nicodemus, that he came to bring in the New Covenant.
Most people will not believe, but whoever does believe agrees with the truth of God’s Word which prophesied this New Covenant.
In verses 34-35 we see a definition of Truth #3… What did Jesus accomplish?
The Father sent Jesus, to save the world through his death, resurrection, and glory.
Jesus spoke the words of God leading up to his death, resurrection, and glory.
He gave the Spirit without measure at Pentecost shortly after his death, resurrection, and glory.
And he has been given all things by the Father whose love initiated the plan in the first place.
And finally, in verse 36 we see a definition of Truth #4… How should we respond?
We should respond by believing in Jesus for eternal life and running to him in faith.
If we don’t, then we remain in our state of sin and condemnation because we loved our sin and the darkness that hides our sin rather than loving Jesus.
New life in God’s kingdom is marked by 1) understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 2) who came to bring in the New Covenant, 3) by saving us through his death, resurrection, and glory, 4) and all you need to do is run to him in faith.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If you are already a believer, then the application of this message is one of remembrance to the glory of God.
Remember who Jesus is, why he came, and what he accomplished, and then run to him rather than hiding from him in your sin.
The reality is that we are not yet freed from the presence of sin, so when it rears its ugly head, and it will… run to Jesus, not away from him.
Run to the light and rejoice that your sins are forgiven.
And we should also run to him and praise him when he gives us success in obedience and good works because that success is his, not ours.
Now, if you are not yet a believer, then I beg you to believe these truths.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
He brought in the New Covenant, spiritual cleansing, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
He did this by dying on the cross in your place, rising again three days later, and ascending to the glory of the right hand of the Father to intercede on your behalf all because the Father loves you SO MUCH!
And all you have to do is believe.
Run to Jesus for forgiveness.
Stop hiding in the darkness.
Confess your sin to God in prayer and believe in Jesus, God’s Son, for the forgiveness of your sin.
If you believe in him, then you will have eternal life, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit living inside of you in the New Covenant.
This is the truth of new life in God’s kingdom.
Pray
Pray
Father, thank you for showing us these truths so clearly in your Word.
We believe and confess that Jesus is the Christ, he is your Son.
And he brought in the New Covenant that you told us about beforehand.
You are so gracious and amazing to replace our dead, lifeless, stony hearts with hearts that love you and hate sin.
And you have given us your Spirit, living inside of us so that we can cry out to you and run to you for help and forgiveness.
And you did all of this by sending your Son to die for us and rise again because you love us so much!
Your love is so amazing, I can’t ever get over it.
I pray that you would help us to understand these spiritual truths and remember them each and every day to worship you for the rest of eternity.
We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name, Amen.
