14And 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. 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. 21But 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." ESV
Nicodemus was not born again and therefore was not able to understand. But his questions were sincere and, starting in verse 14, Jesus gave him a series of glorious answers. These answers should be included in our witness to unbelievers.
How can one be born again? Jesus’ first answer was that the new birth is possible because of the sacrifice of the Son of Man. This is the cause of the new birth … Because Jesus died for us, the Holy Spirit comes to make us born again. Through faith in the Son of Man lifted up, sinners gain eternal life.
Jesus’ next answer to Nicodemus comes in John 3:16. Having named the Son’s sacrifice as the cause of the new birth, Jesus gave the love of the Father as the reason for the new birth: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” How simple, profound, and wonderful this is. The reason we can be born again, receiving eternal life, is that God loves the world …
Jesus’ first answer to Nicodemus was the sacrifice of the son and His second was the love of the father, so we would expect His third answer to deal with the Holy Spirit. This is right …How is it that you can be born again? Because the light of Christ is shining today through the illuminating work of God’s Spirit. This is the means of the new birth; this is how people are born again today …
Nicodemus was right that Jesus’ teaching on the new birth was stupendous. He asked, “How can this be?” It was a very good question. Jesus answered with very good news. There is life through His death, there is love from the heart of God, and there is light shining in God’s Word through the Holy Spirit. This is why we can be born again. (Phillips, 75-79)
Phillips identifies three answers from John 3 in Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ question. Since John was written that people would come to believe, these answers are significant! There must be a satisfying response to the evil of men. Despite all of man’s attempts to dodge responsibility for sin and shift blame to others, people know deep in their hearts that there must be an accounting for the wrongs they have done. As Christians, we can address that deep reality – Jesus made that accounting right on the cross. Jesus sacrificed himself for others. He made this sacrifice because of the love of his Father and thus made his Father’s love effective for those for whom he died. The Holy Spirit completes the mission by bringing illumination to those who have been given this sacrificial gift of divine love.
Brothers, this is Phillips’ point: You have the answers that those around you who are lost so desperately need! What then will you do with these precious answers? Here are three suggestions:
First, pray earnestly for those you know who are lost. Make a specific list of people with whom you have regular contact. Pray for them by name. Pray that God would give the opportunity to give these answers to the questions they secretly ask themselves.
Second, plan your conversations with these folks so that you could 1) address the seeming hopelessness of the shallow answers of this world, and 2) speak of the love of God where there is no hope.
Third, believe that God’s Spirit will provide you with opportunities to provide these answers. Ask God for an attitude of optimism and eagerness to give these powerful answers to others.
· Tell your group about this list of folks.
· Pray for them as a group.
You have the answers!
No comments:
Post a Comment