Becky Austin

An Intimate Conversation with Jesus (John 3)

11:30 AM


Our Reading: John 3


Have you ever wished that you could have an intimate face to face conversation with Jesus? What would you want to ask him? Surely, you would seek to have a better understanding about something, perhaps something that didn’t make sense or that peaked your curiosity about the grand scheme of life and the universe. Nicodemus was a very important member of the ruling Jewish council, and he was granted the very special privilege of just such an intimate conversation.


“He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”” (3:2‬)


Jesus knew that Nicodemus thought of him as a teacher and that he was seeking a better understanding of God. But, Nicodemus, like the other Jewish rulers had become too engrossed in rules and regulations ( many of which were man made) to realize that the Jewish people had lost connection with the heart of God. Jesus wasted no time in challenging Nicodemus’ faulty belief system.  He put the spiritual faith of Nicodemus to the test. 

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ”” (3:3‬)‭

 

Nicodemus doesn’t connect to what Jesus is saying initially but Jesus tells him that he is speaking of a spiritual birth and that he expects him to be able to grasp the concept. “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (3:7‬)

He goes on to say, ‭”The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”” (3:8‬). For someone who thought he was in right standing with God because of all the rules and rituals he followed, I imagine the concept of needing something more, something only available via spiritual transformation was hard for him to wrap his mind around and accept. 


““How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”  (3:9-10‬). Nicodemus would have been very familiar with the Old Testament scriptures and within those scriptures God had made it clear that He would require spiritual transformation of the heart of man. Man could not keep the Law on his own effort. He would need a spiritual heart change. For example, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭36:25-27‬ )


Notice all of the statements beginning with “I will”. Nicodemus has to understand that in his own efforts, he could not save himself. Jesus challenged Nicodemus to look beyond the tangible rules of the Law to save and to see from the scriptures that it would be a person who would provide this salvation of spiritual transformation. Nicodemus needed more than the Law, he needed to believe in the Son of Man. Throughout the OT is the foretelling of Jesus coming as the Messiah and Jesus gives such an example with its spiritual significance. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”” ‬ ‭(3:14-15‬ )


The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would free them from Roman oppression and set them up as a powerful, elite people. To reconnect Nicodemus to understanding the heart of God, he explains that God loves “all” the people in the world, not just the Jews and has a desire to save “all” of mankind. God is providing a gift, the precious gift of his Son and everyone, including you and I make a choice to accept or reject that gift. The gospel is just that simple.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (3:17-18‬)


If Jesus were to sit down face to face with you and I, I am sure that his most pressing concern would be to relay to our wounded, tired, confused, and fragile hearts that we don’t have to save ourselves with human effort. What we do have to do, however, is make a choice to accept the forgiving grace of God in the form of his Son, Jesus and to allow his Holy Spirit to transform our hearts. 



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1 John

Praying According to God's will {1 John 5}

3:33 AM


BORN AGAIN OR NOT?


Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

What are the signs in your life that God has caused you to be born again? 

Evidences of the New Birth according to 1 John

* Those who are born of God keep his commandments. {1 John 2:3-4, 1 John 3:24}
* Those who are born of God walk as Christ walked. {1 John 2:5-6}
* Those who are born of God don't hate others but love them {1 John 2:9 ,1 John 3:14, 1 John 4:7-8, 1 John 4:20}
* Those who are born of God don't love the world {1 John 2:15}
* Those who are born of God confess the Son and receive (have) him. {1 John 2:23,1 John 4:15,1 John 5:12}
* Those who are born of God practice righteousness. {1 John 2:29}
* Those who are born of God don’t make a practice of sinning. {1 John 3:6, 1 John 3:9-10,  1 John 5:18}
* Those who are born of God possess the Spirit of God.{1 John 3:24, 1 John 4:13}
* Those who are born of God listen submissively to the apostolic Word. {1 John 4:6}
* Those who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ.{1 John 5:1}
* Those who are born of God overcome the world. {1 John 5:4}

Nevertheless, mistakenly we tend to make two conclusions based on these verses:

“If you’re born again, you’re perfect. If you’re born again you don’t sin at all. There is no defeat in the Christian life. There is only victory.”

" we can loose our salvation. That is, we can be born again for a while and then begin to fail in these tests and die and lose the spiritual life that we were given in the new birth."

But John knew that his words could be misunderstood, so he explains further that Christians are not sinless, and born-again people cannot lose their spiritual life and be lost.

He says in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin [present tense], we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins [present tense], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” So John is at pains to say that “walking in the light” (1:7) does not mean walking flawlessly. It means that, when you stumble, the light of Christ causes you to see it and hate it and confess it and move forward with Christ.

1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Jesus never promised that obeying him would be easy. But the hard work and discipline of serving Christ is no burden to those who love him. And if our load starts to feel heavy, we can always entrust Christ to help us bear it  {Matthew 11:28-30}

PRAYING ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL




1 John 5 vs 14 and 15 teach us about prayer and God's will.

It is only when we know God's will for our lives that we can certainly ask for those things boldly.

In everyday situations when we are unsure whether something will be God's will or not {specially because we don't have a Bible verse to back up our specific petition} we must pray that His will is done and not ours. 

Another  thing to consider when praying for God's will in our lives is his timing. Many times we can pray for something that is the will of God, but until His timing is right in our lives we will not see the physical manifestation for our answer.

To ponder:

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:11) If you have the word of God to back up your requests, stand in faith and persevere in prayer until you see the results. But remember, real faith causes us to enter the rest of God, so waiting on Him should be a pleasant experience, not one of frustration and depression :-)

LET'S PRAY

God, thanks so much for the confidence we have that if we ask anything in Your name, according to Your will and in agreement with Your plan your are always faithful to listen and hear us (1 John 5:14)

Born Again

A Visitor in the Night {John 3}

2:22 AM



By Lisa Moore

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who belonged to the exclusive Jewish ruling council known as the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin was the most prominent religious group in Israel who ruled the religious life of the Jewish people.  Now as a Pharisee, Nicodemus' focus was strictly on obeying all of the traditions and laws of the Old Testament.  He was educated, wealthy, and was a highly respected teacher.  He lived a life of privilege and enjoyed the esteem given to him by the people.  And in John chapter 3,  we find him risking everything by searching through the night for Jesus the man from Galilee.   The same man his fellow Pharisees were plotting to kill.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus warned of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees which blinded them from seeing their need for repentance and for a Savior.  In Matthew 23:13-33, eight times Jesus pronounces woes against the Pharisees and calls them hypocrites, fools, and serpents. Jesus compares them to whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful but inside are filled with dead man's bones and all uncleanness. They cared only about the outward appearance of righteousness.  They saw Jesus not as their Messiah, but as a threat to everything they held dear.  But Nicodemus was different.  He acknowledges Jesus as a teacher sent by God, and comes to Him seeking the truth.  

Jesus begins by telling Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  This of course throughly confuses Nicodemus who asks, "How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born can he?"  Jesus answers, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Sprit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Sprit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again'."  (vs. 4-7)  I can just imagine the wheels spinning in the mind of Nicodemus.  He knew he observed all of the laws of cleanliness and piety, yet Jesus told him that it wasn't enough to be physically clean, (water isn't enough for true purification).  A person's nature also needs to be cleansed, or sanctified, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  But what did Jesus mean about being "born again"?  I love this explanation...

"The new birth is an instantaneous spiritual experience which occurs when the Holy Spirit leads a person to understand that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to provide forgiveness for their sins.  We are born again the moment we accept that Jesus Christ is the only One who can redeem us and we confess Him as our Savior and Lord." ....(Dr. Charles Stanley)




Jesus goes on to explain, "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.  As Moses lifted up the servant in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  (vs. 13-16)  Numbers 21 tells the story of the people of Israel becoming impatient with God and speaking against Him and Moses.  In return, God sent poisonous serpents as a judgement.  Many died before the people finally repented. God told Moses to set a serpent on a staff so that everyone who looked upon it would live.  In the same way, those who face death can look upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and receive eternal life.  An eternal life paid for with His precious blood.

This is the beautiful truth Nicodemus not only received, but believed.  We know this because Nicodemus is mentioned two more times in the book of John.  In 7:50-52, we find him arguing in Jesus' defense, and in 19:39-42 we find him boldly beside Joseph of Arimathea  preparing the body of Jesus for burial.  Nicodemus brings a mixture myrrh and aloes.  Spices which weighed about a hundred pounds, the amount usually reserved to bury a great king.  

The transformation of Nicodemus is a beautiful example of God's redeeming love.  Through his story we learn that when we come to Jesus with a heart that seeks the truth, day or night Jesus is there.  We learn that only through receiving Jesus as our Savior can salvation be found, and we learn that no matter how much we give,  it could never compare with the greatest gift Jesus gave by laying down His life for all.