John 3:1-3 – The Message – Bible study

John 3:1-3 The Message Johns is the unusual gospel. The other three are referred to as the synoptic gospels because they are so similar. Each of them, with their own emphasis and style, details the story of Jesus life. John does that too, but the Holy Ghost did not lead him to give a chronological record of Jesus life. Instead, John picked out a few miracles Jesus did and a few lessons that Jesus taught and detailed those to his readers, sometimes spending an entire chapter or more around one event. In this account, a Jewish Rabbi, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night. The way that Nicodemus came makes us think that he did not want others to know that he was coming. A conversation ensued. While we do not know how their meeting lasted, we do know John spend the entire chapter summarizing it and what they discussed is still being discussed even to this present hour. This morning, lets consider that account. I. A Spiritual Statement John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. A. It appears that near the beginning of their conversation together, Jesus made that statement to Nicodemus. 1. It was given to Nicodemus, but it is for everyone. 2. If you want to see heaven, you must be born again. 3. Chances are very good that you know what they means. a. It has been 2,000 years since it was given and you are in a church, so we should know it. b. \#4\ But Nicodemus did not. It was the first time heor anyone elsehad ever heard it. c. So Jesus explained it to him. B. What is the New Birth? 1. It is a spiritual birth. John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. a. Jesus overall emphasis here is that the first birth is not sufficient. b. Some people think that the phrase, "born of water," has something to do with baptism, but I believe the context clearly shows it does not. (1) Our first birth was of "water." (2) \#6\ He is emphasizing that what is born of the flesh (through the water birth) is fleshly and so faulty. (3) \#12\ He tells Nicodemus that He had been teaching of "earthly" things. You cant get much more earthly that being water born. (4) To be honest, there is no reason to think anything Jesus said in this section of Scripture had anything to do with water baptism. c. No, Jesus point was the first birth was insufficient and we must be born again. d. From the beginning, Jesus tells us that the second birth is a spiritual birth. (Jesus used the word "spirit" 4 times \#5-8\.) 2. Spiritual births are produced by the Holy Spirit of God. a. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Old Testament but not very much. b. And up to this point, the Lord has not spoken about the Holy Ghost either so some explanation of Him was due. John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. c. The Holy Spirit is like the wind. (1) WIND (a) You cant see the wind. (b) Most of us cant explain the wind. (c) But when the wind shows us, you can feel it and see the effect. (2) HOLY GHOST (a) We cant see Him. (b) We cant explain Him. I dont know when He will deal with people or why He deals with some for so long or with so much force. (c) However, we can feel Him, and we can see His effect. 3. And while no verse here tells us, just like the water birth brings us into an earthly family, the spiritual birth brings us into Gods family. a. It is because of this image that Christians call God our Father and He refers to us as His sons/daughters. b. Jesus was telling Nicodemus and us that we must have that born-again experience and be brought into Gods family. II. Sovereign Explanations A. Nicodemus was a teacher of Gods law, but he had never heard anything like what Jesus was saying. John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 1. And to be honest, it is no wonder. 2. Nothing like this was taught in the Old Testament. B. So Jesus gave Nicodemus some added details on what causes the new birth. As it turns out, there are some things which will aid in birthing people into Gods family. 1. Lift up Jesus. John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: a. Adoration (1) Adoration is our love and worship. (a) To love Jesus is to put Him ahead of all other loves. (b) To worship Jesus is put oneself down while exalting Jesus. (c) These two both help us to understand Jesus statement. (d) We must sacrifice ourselves to lift Jesus up. (2) Every Christian must examine himself to see what things are more important to us than Jesus. (a) Look at your loves, your hobbies, the things you spend your money and time upon. (b) If you cannot find anything, ask those who know you the best and who will be brutally honest. (3) To lift up Jesus, He must be first in our hearts. b. Demonstration (1) To lift up Jesus, He must be first in our lives. (2) If we are lifting up Jesus in our heart, people will see it in their lives. (3) Some people like to say, "My religion is personal. It is just between me and God." (a) That is a copout given by people who do not live right and dont want to be called on it. (b) No one is asking you to put on airs or be arrogant or haughty, but if Jesus is first place in your heart, He will be see in your life. c. Proclamation (1) People cant drink from a fountain that they do not know exists. (2) Someone has to make people aware of Jesus. (a) Who He is. (b) What He has done. (3) That is our job. (a) By the way, it is the only job we have. (b) Im afraid we arent doing ours much better than those "You had one job" memes on Facebook. (4) We lift Jesus up with our words. 2. Teach them that God loves them. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. a. Interestingly, all of this was revelation to Nicodemus. (1) \#10\ He was a master of the Old Testament, but he did not know anything about the love of God. (2) The Old Testament taught the justice and finality of God. It did that through the law and some harsh penalties. (3) However, that is not all there is to God. He is also THE God of love. b. Even though this truth has been known to the world for 2,000 years now, it has largely been lost. (1) I have been considering how truth is lost this week. (2) Truth, once deeply loved, seems so easily lost. (3) I see a cycle: (a) Truth heard and believed. (b) Truth loved and defended. (c) Truth taken for granted. (d) Truth neglected. (e) Truth compromised. (f) Truth denied. (g) Truth lost. (h) Truth despised. (4) We are in the "Truth Lost and Despised" Stages. (a) That seems strange, but truthespecially spiritual truth, can never be merely forsaken. (b) For people to have been exposed to it and to walk away from it, they must first hate it. (c) That is whyas far as I knowevery country that has ever had a spiritual awakening becomes so cold to the gospel. (d) Germany, England, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Wales, Scotland, Spain, Portugal. (Reformation) (e) Now the US. (f) Every one of these nations now has either an apathetic or a negative view of God love. 3. Tell them to believe. John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. a. More and more I see that we have to point out the necessity for faith in Jesus Christ even among those who call themselves Christians. (1) There are good moral people with their own set of beliefs and even their own religions. (2) However, being good, being moral, even being devout in religion does not save you. (3) You must believe the truth: b. There are two categories you must believe: (1) Things that must be believed about Jesus. (2) Things that must be believed about what Jesus did. c. Even as I have worked on this message, I have considered that some things may not have to be believed, but they cannot be disbelieved. (1) We must believe Jesus is God or, at the least, we must not disbelieve that Jesus is God. (2) We must believe that Jesus was sinless, or at the least, we must not disbelieve that Jesus was sinless. d. We must also believe some things about what Jesus did. (1) Jesus died for our sins. (2) Jesus rose from the dead. (3) Jesus will save us if we believe, repent, and ask Him to do so. 4. Tell them to turn from evil. a. We cannot leave repentance out of our message and Jesus did not leave it out of His. John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. b. Many a believing soul will go to hell because he did not repent of his sin. III. An Eternal Result John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. A. This is taking place at the burial of Jesus. B. It appears that at some point, Nicodemusthe Nicodemus who came to Jesus by nightbecame a follower of Jesus Christ. 1. He came secretly. 2. He believed secretly. 3. He lived secretly. 4. But Nicodemus will be a secret Christian no longer. C. This is Nicodemus coming out. 1. It was his display of adoration, the beginning of his demonstration, and the starting of his proclamation. 2. He got the message that Jesus gave him. Have you?