AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY

Introduction

-I entitled this message AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY because we use that phrase to delineate between two things that are completely polar opposites from one another—when two things are on different ends of the spectrums.

-We might look at two siblings and say that because of their personalities they are as different as night and day because one of the siblings is an extrovert who is talkative and friendly, while the other is an introvert who is shy and reserved.

-In the context of the passage I am reading today, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about spiritual birth—having told Nicodemus that one must be BORN AGAIN in order to be part of the kingdom of God.

-So there is a true life, a true religion, a true relationship with God that is birthed from a born-again experience in Jesus Christ where Christ is life…, and then there is everything else.

-A life where one has been born-again in Jesus Christ is completely different from a life that has not, even if someone goes to church or is religious or is spiritual. You can be as spiritual and mystical and church-going as you want, but your life is still going to be AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY in comparison to a life that has been spiritually born again.

-That is why pluralism (where people think in the long run all religions are the same) is a complete lie. And that is why universalism (where people think all people will be saved) is an impossibility.

-Jesus said you must be BORN AGAIN, so there is a distinction between lives and religions and philosophies that are in line with a new spiritual birth and those that are not.

-And in this passage, John records how these two different means of existence are distinct from one another, and hopefully it will cause some introspection=some looking deep inside yourself to see on which side of the spectrum you truly live.

-And I hope that for you it goes deeper than mere generalities (I must have spiritual life b/c I walked an aisle and got baptized). Apply spiritual birth to every area of your life.

~You say you want to know how to handle difficult relationships—but you have to ask yourself if you approach your relationships from a place of living out the spiritual life of Christ that is in you, or are you doing so in the flesh?

~You say you want to know more about making plans for your life—but do you approach life-plans from a place of living out the spiritual life of Christ that is in you, or are you just wanting God to rubber stamp the plans you’ve already made for yourself?

-If you have this spiritual life, it permeates everything—so today is a time to evaluate whether this is where your life lies, because between living out a born-again experience with Jesus and every other life, the two are as opposite as night and day.

John 3:16–21 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 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. 18 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. 19 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. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 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.”

-I want us first to consider:

I) Different possibilities: loved or judged

-Now, there is no doubt that the first verse of the passage I read says that God loved the world—and that means the world of humanity. God loved humans made in His image so much that He willingly sacrificed His Son to save them.

-But we could say that this was a general love that caused Him to act on the behalf of humanity for their good—and it even goes on to say that Christ did not come that first time to judge humanity but to save humanity.

-The second time that Jesus returns will be for judgment. And those who will fall under His judgment will not have God’s love upon them, but God’s wrath upon them.

-So yes, God generally loved humanity in that He sent a Savior, but then more specifically there is a remnant/a small group within the realm of humanity in which that love will become an eternal reality.

-We love to say that God loves the sinner but hates the sin—and that is true in the sense that God loved them enough to send a Savior from their sins. But without the Savior, elsewhere the Bible says that God hates the sinner and the sinner is under His judgement:

Psalm 11:5----The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. (Ps. 11:5 ESV)

-So sinners are under the judgment of God—yes He loved humanity enough to give them a Savior, but He eternally loves those who become His children.

-But what makes the difference between being loved eternally or being judged:

II) Different reactions: faith or unbelief

-And what I mean by this is the different reactions to Jesus Christ.

~God gave His Only Son so that whoever BELIEVE IN HIM does not perish but have eternal life—the difference is either placing faith in Jesus or not.

-As you’ve heard me mention a million times before, faith is more than having right doctrine or right thoughts—true faith is a life commitment—or as Jesus says earlier in the chapter it is SPIRITUAL LIFE==BEING BORN AGAIN.

-If you have ever learned the gospel presentation of Evangelism Explosion, I believe it gives one of the best definitions of what true faith is and what it is not. This is what it says:

Saving faith is not mere head knowledge, like believing certain historical facts. The Bible says that the devil believes there is one God [and that he trembles], so believing that there is one God is not saving faith.

Saving faith is also not mere temporal faith, that is, trusting God for temporary crises such as financial, family, or physical needs. Now these are good, and you should trust Christ for these, but they are not saving faith!

Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. It means resting upon Christ alone and what He has done rather than in what you or I have done to get us into Heaven.

“. . . Believe (trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . .” (Acts 16:31).

-And our passage, then makes clear:

III) Different destinies: salvation or condemnation

- 18 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. (Jn. 3:18 ESV)

-There are only two possible eternal destinies for humans. There is no Buddhist nirvana, there is no Hindu brahma, there is no Islamic paradise, and there is no purgatory. There are only two roads: salvation or condemnation.

-But what we notice here is the wording that Jesus uses. He says that whoever does not believe is condemned already, which seems to indicate that humans are born already under judgment, because we are not only sinners by choice, we are sinners by birth, and the only cure was given by God through Jesus Christ.

-So, suppose that I was exposed to some tropical disease and it always leads to death. But some scientist in Germany came up with the only cure that there is to this disease. I have a choice, I can go to Germany and get this medicine and be cured of the disease. But if I choose not to take this medicine, I am going to die. It wasn’t my choice of not taking the medicine that killed me, it was the disease that killed me.

-Jesus is trying to make this point that every human has the sin-disease, and He is the only cure. If you do not trust in His saving grace, it is the sin-disease that you already have that will condemn you.

-And there are some implications for this life that we live on the earth right now:

IV) Different realms: light or darkness

-Jesus is the light of the world, and those who have spiritual life through Him live as if they are in the light.

-That means that they have no problems living their life for others to see because there is absolutely nothing to hide because they are living for Christ. This new spiritual life in Jesus is on display for everybody to see.

-But when you are doing wrong, you try to hide it from God and anybody else that isn’t joining you in your wrong, and so you try to hide in the cover of darkness.—or as the passage says in v. 19

People loved darkness rather than light because their works were evil.

-The picture analogy used to be that crimes were done in the dark where no one can see. Of course, nowadays people are so bold to do it in the daytime. But the picture of darkness has always been one of doing something wicked and sneaky and deceitful.

-And so, depending on where your life lies in the previous distinctions I’ve mentioned goes a long way in determining which realm you are truly living in.

-Now, this is not to say that all unbelievers are completely dark, Satanic, immoral people. But, without Christ, the realm in which they are a part is the darkness because Jesus alone is light. NO JESUS, NO LIGHT.

-Now, on the flipside, just because someone is a pew-sitting, church-going, choir-singing, pulpit-preaching kind of person does not mean that they are in the light either. Ultimately, their choices and lifestyles will bear witness to the truth.

The apostle John warned elsewhere (in 1 John 1:6-7):

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:6-7 ESV)

-And so one’s lifestyle bears witness to which realm one really belongs in—and in our passage Jesus puts it like this:

V) Different lifestyles: truth or evil

-Jesus states this in an interesting way in v. 21:

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." (Jn. 3:21 ESV)

-Did you catch how he put it? Jesus doesn’t say that whoever believes what is true is in the light. He doesn’t say whoever knows what is true is in the light either. He specifically says: whoever DOES what is true.

-We normally speak about knowing the truth or believing the truth, but Jesus uses an action here: DOING THE TRUTH? What does it mean to DO THE TRUTH?

-I believe it means to live a life of obedience to the Words of Christ, because not only is Jesus the light, He is the way and the TRUTH. When you live as Jesus taught us to live you are DOING TRUTH. And when you are DOING TRUTH, you have no problem living in the light.

-Not that this means a sinless perfection—but it does mean that there is more to your faith than merely saying that you have faith. I mean, anyone can say that they believe in Jesus—it’s very easy for those words to come out of your mouth. But whether it is true or not does not come from your words, but the truth is found in the results seen in your life.

-James, Jesus’ brother, gives us this challenge:

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (Jas. 2:18 ESV)

-You say you have faith, how is that demonstrated in your life? If we were able to see a video of what you do all week, would we determine you are in light or in darkness?

-Words are not enough. James goes on to say:

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-- and shudder! (Jas. 2:19 ESV)

-You say you have the right theology and believe in one God and all that. Good for you—the devil believes the same things. Actually, he knows them to be a fact. What makes you different from the devil? It’s the lifestyle. Doing truth.

-Because if you’re not doing truth, you’re doing something else according to v. 20:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (Jn. 3:20 ESV)

-You can talk all you want about how you love Jesus. But the spiritual birth will show itself in the distinction of your life by the fact that you are loved and saved by faith in Christ which leads to a lifestyle of light and truth.

Conclusion

-Not that someone loses their salvation, it’s just that their lifestyle demonstrates that they never had spiritual life to begin with.

-Maybe that’s you, and invite you to come forward and receive Jesus and be born again today.

-But maybe you are saved, but you have wandered from the light. Come to that altar today and bring yourself to the light of Christ.