Monday, June 25, 2012
“A New Kind of Vision”
Scripture: John 3:1-15
Today, we begin a 3 week look at the 3rd chapter of John’s gospel. For this week and next, we look at Jesus’ meeting and conversation with Nicodemus and what Jesus’ words may mean for our lives, and the third week will be John the Baptist’s teaching to the people about Jesus. These 3 weeks will be a personal look at the relationships that 2 men were striving for in Christ – Nicodemus’ coming in secret, seeking a greater understanding of Jesus, and John’s very public witness as to who Jesus truly is.
These two men had very different perspectives on how they saw the Lord. Nicodemus was an insider, a Pharisee – he had been part of all the discussions on how Jesus was perverting the faith and what the Jewish hierarchy needed to do about him. John, on the other hand, was just about as far outside that inner circle as anyone possibly could be. Nicodemus was learned, John was, in all likelihood, not. Nicodemus was privileged, John was not. Nicodemus came to Jesus in the depth of the night – masked and blinded and hidden and stumbling in the darkness. John, on the other hand, walked in the brightness of the Lord’s day, and couldn’t care less as to who came to watch his movements and hear his words.
These two were as different as, forgive the pun, night and day(!), and yet, they both would come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with that, let’s begin our look at Nicodemus’ adventure with Jesus.
Read John 3:1-9
What did Nicodemus know about Jesus, or at least how did he see the Lord, before he arrived? First, he came at night. The word “night” can be significant in a couple of different ways. We can see night in the obvious way – that he came secretly, under the cover of darkness, so that no one would know that he was going to this house. Another aspect of the word, and possibly the truer meaning, is that he came without truly knowing God. You will remember that the words “night” and “darkness” imply a separation from God, or the lack of a relationship with God. He was searching for the truth about this man.
Second, he refers to Jesus as “rabbi”, or teacher. He already recognizes Jesus as an authority.
Third, he states that Jesus is a “teacher who has come from God.” The Pharisee is accepting Jesus as a religious figure – perhaps not quite on a par with a prophet, but certainly one who should be listened to.
He makes an opening statement, possibly as an introduction as to why he has come to see Jesus, and, as is Jesus custom, the reply seems to be totally unrelated to the question – “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” The Lord is telling Nicodemus that no matter who the Pharisee thinks Jesus is, he is far greater than he can possibly imagine. The statement “born again” can bring two possible meanings to us – first that “birth” is a matter related to time, and that the birth that initiated his life in this place, taken alone, is not enough – he needs a second and different birth. The other implication is the source of that “new birth”. The Greek word that John uses can also be translated as “from above”. Our first, or original birth, is by our human mother, but this second birth can only be given by God.
Think about this concept of birth. In our mother’s pregnancy, we are sustained by her nourishment, her heart beat, her respirations, and her love until the moment of “birth”, when we immerge into the world as a viable, individual, sustainable person, and we become an integral part of a human family. We continue to grow, certainly, but in a whole new way.
Prior to our spiritual birth, God sustains us by his blessing and his grace until, by faith, we are born as a whole new being in Christ. John Wesley, and some others, described this as “prevenient grace” – the grace that comes before. In this second birth, we become a viable and distinctive member of the family of God, and after this birth, we will also continue to grow in a spiritual way as we walk and study and meditate and serve in the name of Jesus Christ.
When Nicodemus takes Jesus’ words to mean birth in a physical sense, the Lord continues to explain the issue to him. For Israel, a relationship with God was enhanced by all the good things – “good works” – that we do. Jesus tells the Pharisee that there isn’t a single thing that anyone can do, in a worldly sense, to gain God’s joy. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul writes ”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” This “new birth” is solely in God’s hands and has absolutely nothing to do with our abilities.
Read John 3:10-15
And once again, Jesus turns the question back on the man. “What do you mean you ‘don’t know’! You’re a teacher!” He had access to Torah, he had studied the holy writings by the prophets, he could debate and discuss the issues of the day with the finest minds in all of Israel, and he still didn’t understand the truth of Messiah.
The problem was that the Pharisees were hung up with ritual, they were focused on all of the things that they thought they should be doing, and completely missed out on the one thing that they should believe – that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah! For them, knowledge and custom were the important issues, and faith was simply a matter of national heritage.
“You don’t even understand the things of earth.” And what is it about earth that we have to understand? These are the things that humanity should be aware of – not necessarily the physical aspects of life, but those issues of heaven that are within our intellectual grasp.
In Psalm 40 we read “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.”
Amos 5:21-24 also tells us that God doesn’t want burnt offerings or other sacrifices or even their musical gifts – he wanted their never ending love.
In Isaiah 1:12-17, they are told that their sacrifices and incense are meaningless, that God would vastly prefer an improvement in the way they treat each other – that they should be just, they should leave their evil ways, they should defend the orphan and widow, and should reach out to the oppressed.
And with even more words from God, they still missed the point. And they even missed the truth behind Jesus’ comparison of himself with the bronze snake that Moses erected.
Remember the story in Numbers 21:4-9? During their wilderness journey, Israel had begun to fall away from their trust in the Almighty, and poisonous snakes began attacking the people, and many would die. The Lord told Moses to make a bronze replica of the snakes, to put it on a pole, and that anyone who looked up at it would be healed.
The snake was despised by the nation - it was a symbol of torment and death. But when the people looked up at it, the hated thing became the means to salvation. Doesn’t that perfectly describe Jesus? Hated by the world, hung on an ugly stick, but for those who would come to him, joy and salvation would be discovered!
How about us? Do we miss the point of Jesus? Do we confuse baptism and membership with “new birth”? Do we see a token offering of an hour or two on Sunday as enough spirituality to last us for the remainder of the week?
Do any of us still think that our good ways and works and deeds are all that are necessary for eternal life? Do any of us still think that simply attending worship on a regular basis, even weekly, is enough in faith? Does the phrase “washed in the blood of Jesus” make you squirm?
Faith is our only answer, my friends. Faith that the great sacrifice that God has made on our behalf at Calvary is the only act of true value. Faith that the commandments of Jesus are sure and true. Faith that if we give our all; our life, our gifts, our hopes, our hands and feet to Christ, that this is sufficient for our salvation.
Do we see God only in terms of commandments and judgment and condemnation, instead of new birth, and second chances, and new life? Do we forget that our faith, our discipleship, is only the beginning of our walk with him?
We need to claim not only the new birth in Christ, not only the saving grace that comes from the one who was once despised, but we also need to claim a new way of seeing God and his Son of glory. We need to see Jesus as the only way and only truth and only life (John 14:6). We need to see Jesus as the Hope of heaven and the promise of eternity. We need to see him for what he truly is – the Son of God and his gift to us.
In our new birth, we also need to begin to see through new eyes that can bring Jesus into sharper and perfect focus. Do you give yourself, and see yourself, as a “firstfruit” for Christ?
Nicodemus was beginning his entry into a relationship with Jesus, and his vision was beginning to change and become clearer than it had ever been before. He was starting to see Jesus in a whole new way.
How do you see Jesus? Are you beginning to understand him? Is your vision of the Lord becoming clearer every day?
Sunday, June 24, 2012
“Facing the Giants”
Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1-58
A growing problem in society today is that of bullying. We see it most notably in our schools, but it isn’t restricted to the classroom. It occurs in business, in politics, in families, and in social settings. It can take any number of forms, ranging from verbal abuse, to emotional coercion and control, to religious hatred, to physical intimidation.
And it isn’t anything new to our century – it has existed throughout history, and it all began with Cain and his brother Abel. Even Jesus had those who tried to bully him, and of course they failed in every attempt until they eventually took his life, and that must be seen as a victory in every way.
For the past 3 weeks, we have looked at Nicodemus and John the Baptist who would, themselves, be victims of bullying. Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, was emotionally bullied to the point that he had to sneak around at night to get to visit Jesus. John, on the other hand, seemed to take up every gauntlet that was cast down and became more and more intentional in his preaching. His extreme devotion to Christ would, of course, eventually lead to his death. And all of Jesus’ disciples, except for one, would also be executed for their faith.
Spiritual bullying has been a favorite sport for the world since time began. And our scripture today is a familiar story of the game and how the tables were turned.
Read 1 Samuel 17:1-3, 8-11
On occasion, we talk about the “giants of faith” – those people who come into our lives as encouragers, examples, servants, teachers and leaders. They are seldom famous or even obvious to the world, but they always have a huge impact on our life in faith.
There are also those “giants” who come up against us – in life as well as in faith. It sometimes seems as though their only responsibility in life is to tear us down, to drag us down to not only their level, but below. They demean us, they make us doubt, make us struggle, make us fear, and they won’t stop until either we are sufficiently broken or they tire of the game. Goliath was one of these, and he didn’t become exhausted easily!
Israel had been assaulted by “giants” since they left Egypt hundreds of years before. They came in the forms of a desert, of the Egyptian army and a broad expanse of water,of a golden calf, of thirst and hunger, of opposing armies, but every time that they placed their trust in Almighty God, they were rescued from certain death. But they also had problems in facing this “Spiritual Giant” who they knew as Yahweh. He was too big, too powerful, too unknown, and they just couldn’t get a good grasp of whom and why he was. Why did this Giant God let them get into such deep and desperate trouble before he came to their rescue? Why didn’t he make life easier for them? Doesn’t he love them? And these questions have continued to exist for both Israel and the Church throughout the centuries.
And if you think the men of Israel weren’t asking themselves those very same questions that day in the Valley of Elah, then you just don’t understand the situation. A 9 foot tall warrior who wore armor and carried weapons that would overpower any normal man? And this “giant” stood out in the open, defying the army of Israel to attack him, and throwing out a challenge that terrified the most experienced of Israel’s warriors.
Who are your “giants”?
What kinds of challenges do they throw at you?
Are you content to simply let them exist out of fear of confronting them, of naming them, of addressing them, of throwing a challenge back at them?
Nicodemus had at least 2 giants – 1 that was drawing him back, and one that kept calling him forward. Even as he knew that there had to be more to life than just legality, his comfort and security in being a Pharisee was beginning to teeter and slide away as he was being drawn closer and closer to the Light of Jesus Christ, toward new knowledge and understanding and away from the status quo, toward true faith and away from ritualism.
John the Baptist also had two giants – one was the enmity of the world, the hatred of the established way, and the other was his rock solid belief in Jesus Messiah. But in his case, the world held little comfort for him. He gave up comfortable clothes in favor of rough cloth made from camel hair. He gave up bread and meat and wine, in favor of honey and locusts. He abandoned the age old practice of sacrifice, and instead, called the people to repentance and baptism for their sins. He rejected the practice of showing honor to the learned men of Israel, and instead referred to them, face to face, as a brood of vipers.
How do you deal with your giants? Are you trying a sneaky end run around them, as Nicodemus did at first, without directly confronting them, or are you standing face to face with them, naming them for what they truly are? Either way, you need the power of the One who is greater than all of Satan’s giants put together the only One who could create a dry way through the waters, the only One who could topple the walls of Jericho through a shout, the only One who could give Esther the courage to take a public stand against the evil of Haman, the only One who could walk with the 3 Jewish men in Nebuchadnezzar’s roaring furnace, and the only One who could raise up a champion to stand against the Philistine Goliath!
Read 1 Samuel 17:32-40
David reassures the king that he has faced giants just as great and ferocious as the giant that stood before them that day. And he convincingly explained how he was able to do it in the past, and how he would be able to do it today. Verse 37 - “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David would become a giant for Israel because he knew that the One who was the greatest would see him through this and every ordeal.
Saul tried to give him worldly armor and worldly weapons, but David was wise enough to reject them. Scripture tells us that he only took his staff, 5 smooth stones, and his sling, but we also know that the most important weapon that he carried that day was his absolute faith in Almighty God. Saul, even though he knew that God had been the one who chose him as the first king of Israel, put more store in iron and bronze than he did in the Lord. Saul was no giant, even though he could have been. Saul was a spiritual midget.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
--Omar Bradley in a speech, November 10, 1948, quoted in Christianity Today, February 9, 1998, 78.
These words were spoken by General Omar Bradley in 1948, and the reality of it has never rung truer. Saul had put his trust in earthly powers, and had completely forgotten about the power of God. David was just the opposite – his trust was totally in the power of God. Saul would have lost the battle, even with all of his weapons and armor and chariots and warriors. David would win his battle, with only a few small stones and the mighty arm of Yahweh.
With a little faith, we, too, can take a mighty stand against the giants of today, for it is our Omnipotent, our all powerful God, who will seize the day through our humble faith.
Read 1 Samuel 17:41-52
David, in faith, made victory look so easy and so complete, that he inspired the entire army to rise up and pursue the enemy all the way back to their home towns.
Dr. David Kundtz writes of an inspiration that he received from Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He writes:
[The] Russian dissident and novelist, said, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. That includes mine and yours. If we could have the courage to embrace our scary shadows, we would thereby take a giant leap to heal our deep and lasting pain... .”
-Dr. David Kundtz, Stopping (Berkeley: Conari Press, 1998), 156.
Did you notice that he didn’t say that we could eliminate those giants, those “scary shadows”? He said that we could “heal our deep and lasting pain”. Nicodemus didn’t initially sever his ties with the Pharisees, he went around them. John the Baptist didn’t destroy his opposition, he faced them. Jesus wouldn’t destroy those who opposed his message of Good News, he continued to share those words of eternal life with all who would hear until he took his last human breath. The apostles would never end the hatred and hostility that the world would show toward them, but, by the power of God, they continued to spread the words of hope and life and Jesus for all who would stand still and listen.
Did the giants come against them? Absolutely! All of them! Totally!
Will the giants come against us, even after we claim faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Without question. But in Jesus Christ, we will have power and a glory that can accomplish every task that the Lord lays out for us. And while others have been spiritual giants for us, we can also be spiritual giants for others.
We must stand face to face against the “evil giants” of this world, and walk arm in arm with the “spiritual giants” that the Lord sends to us. Never doubt, never waiver, never turn back, because the Lord Jesus is out in front - leading and preparing and setting all things in motion. And never forget the message that we are to carry – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Look to the Lord as the only Giant worth caring about. And he will make you a Giant for him.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
“Receiving the Gift of Heaven”
Scripture: John 3:22-36
For the past two weeks, we’ve been talking about the changes that come over our vision when we begin to see Jesus in the light of his truth. First, it was Nicodemus and the newness that was to come into his life as he started to see the reality – the truth - of Jesus. Last week, we read about Jesus’ explaining to the Pharisee what this “new birth” is about, that it is because of God’s intense and perfect love for all of humanity, that the light of truth can become ours.
Today, we look at the vision that another person had of the Christ. John the Baptist had an insight into Jesus’ nature that few others ever have had or ever will have. On that day when Jesus’ mother Mary and John’s mother Elizabeth came together, while both were still pregnant, John experienced the power of God’s grace. When he was brought into the presence of the Divine Glory, and even though he was still in his mother’s womb, he leapt for joy. (Luke 1:39-56) Before the Baptist was even born, he knew Jesus for who he truly is.
And today, we consider the witness that John was able to offer in his life of faith.
Read John 3:22-26
A life with Jesus is never easy. Even these two groups of disciples got in an argument over who has authority to teach and who has the right teaching. Truth is an elusive thing, at best, and that truth hasn’t changed since the days of Cain and Abel! So, what was the controversy all about, and just who was this “certain Jew” that John mentions? The truth is that even the writers of the commentaries don’t definitively know. And since no one else knows, I may as well throw my personal opinion into the mix as well.
First, the apostle doesn’t name the Jew in question, either because he didn’t know who it was, which is unlikely, or because he didn’t want to name him. And since John consistently refers to himself in the third person throughout his gospel, I will suggest that this “certain Jew” is the apostle himself.
And the argument over ceremonial washing? I think that the Baptist’s disciples were confronting Jesus’ disciples over who had the right to baptize, to ceremonial cleanse these people in this particular place and at this particular time. Territorialism and jealousy was very strong in those days, and no one wanted to lose any prestige to another rabbi or his followers. “This is my place – you go find your own!”
Do I have any evidence that my interpretation is any more credible than that of the learned scholars who write the commentaries? None whatsoever. I just wanted to put this verse in a possible context for our thoughts today.
But this passage does bring up a couple of interesting points.
First, we now see that Jesus himself baptized people. As far as I know, this is the only reference in scripture to Jesus baptizing the masses.
Second, we see that the opposition to Jesus’ ministry, in whatever form it may have taken, came from many different sources – that it wasn’t limited solely to the Jewish hierarchy. Even those who had heard Jesus’ message weren’t always on board, and John’s disciples had heard the word about Jesus from the Baptist’s own lips. So John would have to tell them one more time.
Read John 3:27-30
John offers his followers 4 truths.
The first is that we can only receive that which is given from heaven. But this raises one more question, as scripture tends to do(!) – what “gift” is John talking about? Is Jesus the gift for all to receive, or is the gift the people who are coming to Jesus, or is it the baptism that both men are offering on behalf of God?
It could very well be any of these, but let’s assume for the moment, that it is the baptism itself.
Baptism is truly a gift from heaven. It has little to do with the pastor who officiates at the sacrament, other than our understanding and reverence for the act. It is all about the gift that comes from the Spirit. And I think that John was reminding his followers that the significance of baptism, this “washing”, came from heaven, and was not in the hands of the mortal.
Second, John’s disciples are reminded that John himself was not of heaven, but was simply acting on behalf of the Almighty, that he was not the long awaited Christ, but was simply the one who came to proclaim him.
John’s baptism could only become significant and effective because of Jesus.
Third, John tells a parable about a wedding, and as we discuss the meaning that it has for us, remember to keep these words in a spiritual context and not a human one. John says that it is the bride who belongs to the bridegroom, and not the other way around. John puts Jesus, of course, in the context of the bridegroom, and Israel as the bride, and the roles can never be reversed. He then says that when we serve the bridegroom, we wait for his words, his presence, his lead, and when we hear his voice, our joy will be complete. And John’s joy is as complete as any joy could possibly be. He knew the joy of Christ before he was even born, and now he is not only ministering alongside the Messiah, but he had actually baptized him. (Matthew 3:13-17) His joy is not only complete, but it is overflowing.
And last, John tells us that Jesus must become greater, and we must become less. And since Jesus is God Incarnate, his becoming greater is not in context of heaven, but in that of our hearts and minds. This might even be a chastising to his followers – that they had been trying to make themselves out to be the authorities on baptism, to the detriment of Jesus. Once more, the light of heaven is being shined on the darkness of earth, and it is revealing an uncomfortable truth – that we have significance only because of our relationship with Christ, and that his is totally based in heaven. It has nothing to do with us.
These four truths are as pertinent for the church of today as they were at that moment for John’s followers. Baptism is a gift from heaven, and the cleansing that it promises and the truth that it brings can only be lived out in the glory of a relationship that is with and in Jesus Christ. He is the head, and we are the body and when we come to acknowledge this fact, and begin to walk in this truth, our joy is fulfilled. We must always let Jesus be our joy, our thrill, our sufficiency, our purpose, our cleansing, and when we finally understand that we are simply the recipients of his grace, and not the cause, not the source, we can begin to walk with him in confidence.
That’s what John was trying to tell his closest friends that day, and he is telling that to us.
Vaclav Havel, the Czech poet/President, spoke these words from his years of suffering oppression and persecution:
“I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart.... Life without hope is an empty, boring and useless life. I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me. I am thankful to God for this gift. It is as big a gift as life itself.”
--Reader's Digest, February 1991.
The hope and trust of Christ, given to all who will believe, is the greatest gift of all time.
Read John 3:31-36
This passage is about seeing, through new eyes, the vista of grace and glory that is illuminated in the light of Jesus Christ. It is a gift that is offered to everyone, but one which will be rejected by many. For those who will receive it, though, the possibilities are endless and eternal.
As I was putting the finishing touches on this message, our dog was pestering me. He wanted to play fetch and I wanted to work, and along with that comes “tug of war”, but I wanted to think. And if that wasn’t enough, this 55 pound black lab puppy thinks that he’s a lap dog! I love that dog dearly, but he seems to think that it is always about what he wants and when he wants it. And I was reminded that we have a tendency to be the same way, at times, with Almighty God. Do you know of anyone who thinks that their own desires, their own opinions, their own beliefs are what are important, and that God should drop all that he has ever commanded to turn around and embrace their understandings? Verse 33 says “The one who has accepted [Jesus’ testimony] has certified that God is truthful.” It doesn’t say that God has to accept ours!
Back to the dog – he kept bugging me to the point that I finally told him to go to bed, and he did. I know that he didn’t really want to quit for the night, but he knew that I was serious, and he did what he was told to do. And he found himself back in my good graces. And that also reminded me of our relationship with God. The moment will come when we have no other choice but to listen to the Lord when he tells us to stop, and it is then that we discover that he hasn’t given up on us, and that his anger over our foolish and selfish insistence could never cloud his love for us. When we accept Jesus’ word for our lives, we are, in essence, proclaiming God’s truth.
God sent his Living Word into our lives, and he has told us to listen to him. (Matthew 17:5) We haven’t been told to negotiate with him, nor to dicker, nor to demand our own way, and definitely not to refuse his way. Verse 36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life”. And if we believe in the Christ, our only option is to accept and believe in his word.
The Baptist made this very clear to his followers, and the apostle John is making this very clear to us. Those who desire to follow Jesus can no longer see and understand and live in their own broad and all encompassing way. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life, and his words are the only ones that can make his way and truth and life ours.
My friends, we have to see through Jesus Eyes, walk in Jesus Light, follow in Jesus steps. For there are no others that have any worth.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
“Seeing Through Our New Eyes”
Scripture: John 3:14-21
Last week, we met Nicodemus as he was sneaking in to see Jesus and then began to discover the truth behind this itinerant rabbi. He came, as do all who come seeking Jesus, with preconceived notions as to who and what he may be, and, as with all who begin to discover the truth of the Lord, his ideas regarding the Christ would soon be shattered.
God can never be easily defined, he can never be put in a box. And whenever we begin to think that we finally have a good understanding of the Lord, he seems to have a way of showing us just how wrong we can be. The truth is that we can never fully know who Jesus is and how he works – we can only consider his words and their meaning for our lives. That’s what Nicodemus was beginning to understand that night.
“You must be born again.” These are words that both the church and world are still trying to come to grips with. And the fact is that Christianity is the only religion in the world that requires faith as the basis for ever lasting life. Every other religion is either founded in “good works” for life beyond this plane, or else it offers no concept or hope at all for eternity. Being born anew is solely a Christian concept – so why shouldn’t a “second birth”, a new beginning in life, be hard to grasp? Its a foreign concept to us! But Jesus doesn’t just leave Nicodemus, or us, to stew over this concept of being “born again”. In our passage for today, he gives us an explanation.
Read John 3:16-18
Last week, we ended with the thought that “everyone who believes in [Christ] may have eternal life.” And now Jesus tells us why – why it is faith that brings us to life, why God would even want this new life for us, why the world needs this new beginning.
Why can faith bring us to new life? Because God has willed it. Now this is also a hang up with the world’s people. No one wants to be dependent on someone else’s benevolence! After all, they might change their mind – they might change the rules – they might decide that this was a bad idea after all – and they just might have intended this to be a grand joke all along.
We want to judge God by the same standards that we use to judge people. But the Lord exists in a completely different way, and human standards and ideals just can’t apply. Almighty God wants us to live with him forever, and he gives us his Son to accomplish that!
And why has God willed this gift? Because his love goes beyond all human measure. “For God so loved the world” is not a throw away phrase. Jesus didn’t say that God will love those who believe in the Son – he said that God loves everyone! Not just the righteous, not just the perfect, not just those who are worthy – and praise the Lord for that, because that list would be an extremely short one and not one of us would be on it! He never said that sinners need not apply, he never said that he had no use for the deformed and crippled and ignorant, he never said that if our parents and grandparents had never come to him then there was no use in our seeking him, either. Praise the Lord again!
“For God so loved the world” means just what it says, and that is the basis for our great hope – the Almighty’s love.
And why do we need to place our hope in Christ? Because he is the only way to life. Now listen carefully – Jesus didn’t come to condemn those who don’t agree with him, because there is no need for that - we already stand condemned. Without God’s grace and mercy, without the salvation gift that Jesus offers to the world, this life would be all that there is. Last week we read that “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven.” (v. 13) No one has ever gone into heaven, and no one ever will go into heaven, without Jesus Christ in their life. We are already condemned, and there is no need for the Lord to offer judgment and condemnation – it already exists. The one and only purpose of Jesus’ human existence was to bring the way of salvation to the world – a complete and total pardon from condemnation – and it is for all who would simply believe and trust in him as the Son of God and in his great redemptive act on Calvary.
But people have always hesitated and fought and chafed against this concept. And it’s not because the world doesn’t want to live in eternity – I think everyone would like to. For some, though, it just looks too easy, for others, it makes no sense, and for still others, they want some personal control of their eternity.
They don’t trust God enough to put their destiny in his hands. And that is the crux of the matter – giving God our complete trust. He is the only true certainty, and yet we still look to the things that we know, or at least think we know, as our reality.
Read John 3:19-21
The light of Christ has been given for all of the world – the problem is, though, that God has also given each of us the option of either looking into the light to see the reality of our lives, or that of shielding our eyes from its revealing glare. And the word tells us that some prefer to remain in the darkness, and not only that, but they love to live in the dark. And the reason is that they – we – are afraid to confront our failure to live as God would have us live. And that failure is, by definition, sin.
Sin isn’t just an act that hurts other people or even that which does damage to our own selves. Sin is the act of disobedience to God and is the very source of great pain for the Almighty. For the nonbeliever, this is an absolute, and there is no way out. But for the one who believes in Christ, who has put their faith in Christ, they have access to the gift of forgiveness. But we have to be in the light if we are to first, recognize our sinful ways, and second, to know that they are not of God. And then we reject the sin – we repent – and forgiveness can begin the healing that we need for both ourselves and for our relationship with the Lord.
The country and folk singer Buell Kazee wrote:
"The difference between a lost man and a saved man is, the lost man sins and loves it, the saved man sins and hates it."
--Buell H. Kazee, Faith Is the Victory (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1951).
My friends, we have to begin hating our own sin instead of only hating the sin of others. And it is by walking in the Light of heaven that allows us to do this. But the world “loved the darkness” more than they love the light.
David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, commented on the findings of a survey on the attitudes of young adults toward the Church. He wrote:
"They want to do what Jesus did and to get into peoples’ lives and figure out what makes them tick – figure out where they are broken. [But] they’re not offended by sin."
Adam Hamilton, When Christians Get it Wrong, Abington Press, pg 80-81, 2010
The world wants Jesus, but on their terms, not on God’s. We want to earn our salvation, we want to be the ones who define what is right and wrong, we want God to make sense to us. But it doesn’t work that way.
A theologian giving a lecture was asked, “When were you saved?” “When was I saved?” he asked rhetorically. “I was saved two thousand years ago.”
-Hal Brady, 19 January 1992, Dallas Texas.
Salvation is for us, not by us. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Are you walking in the light of Christ?
Have you given him, not only your best, but your all?
Have you discovered the love of God for your own life?
Note: At this point in the service, an altar call was offered for first time commitments, renewals in faith, and for loved ones who have not yet received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Several responded.
Last week, we met Nicodemus as he was sneaking in to see Jesus and then began to discover the truth behind this itinerant rabbi. He came, as do all who come seeking Jesus, with preconceived notions as to who and what he may be, and, as with all who begin to discover the truth of the Lord, his ideas regarding the Christ would soon be shattered.
God can never be easily defined, he can never be put in a box. And whenever we begin to think that we finally have a good understanding of the Lord, he seems to have a way of showing us just how wrong we can be. The truth is that we can never fully know who Jesus is and how he works – we can only consider his words and their meaning for our lives. That’s what Nicodemus was beginning to understand that night.
“You must be born again.” These are words that both the church and world are still trying to come to grips with. And the fact is that Christianity is the only religion in the world that requires faith as the basis for ever lasting life. Every other religion is either founded in “good works” for life beyond this plane, or else it offers no concept or hope at all for eternity. Being born anew is solely a Christian concept – so why shouldn’t a “second birth”, a new beginning in life, be hard to grasp? Its a foreign concept to us! But Jesus doesn’t just leave Nicodemus, or us, to stew over this concept of being “born again”. In our passage for today, he gives us an explanation.
Read John 3:16-18
Last week, we ended with the thought that “everyone who believes in [Christ] may have eternal life.” And now Jesus tells us why – why it is faith that brings us to life, why God would even want this new life for us, why the world needs this new beginning.
Why can faith bring us to new life? Because God has willed it. Now this is also a hang up with the world’s people. No one wants to be dependent on someone else’s benevolence! After all, they might change their mind – they might change the rules – they might decide that this was a bad idea after all – and they just might have intended this to be a grand joke all along.
We want to judge God by the same standards that we use to judge people. But the Lord exists in a completely different way, and human standards and ideals just can’t apply. Almighty God wants us to live with him forever, and he gives us his Son to accomplish that!
And why has God willed this gift? Because his love goes beyond all human measure. “For God so loved the world” is not a throw away phrase. Jesus didn’t say that God will love those who believe in the Son – he said that God loves everyone! Not just the righteous, not just the perfect, not just those who are worthy – and praise the Lord for that, because that list would be an extremely short one and not one of us would be on it! He never said that sinners need not apply, he never said that he had no use for the deformed and crippled and ignorant, he never said that if our parents and grandparents had never come to him then there was no use in our seeking him, either. Praise the Lord again!
“For God so loved the world” means just what it says, and that is the basis for our great hope – the Almighty’s love.
And why do we need to place our hope in Christ? Because he is the only way to life. Now listen carefully – Jesus didn’t come to condemn those who don’t agree with him, because there is no need for that - we already stand condemned. Without God’s grace and mercy, without the salvation gift that Jesus offers to the world, this life would be all that there is. Last week we read that “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven.” (v. 13) No one has ever gone into heaven, and no one ever will go into heaven, without Jesus Christ in their life. We are already condemned, and there is no need for the Lord to offer judgment and condemnation – it already exists. The one and only purpose of Jesus’ human existence was to bring the way of salvation to the world – a complete and total pardon from condemnation – and it is for all who would simply believe and trust in him as the Son of God and in his great redemptive act on Calvary.
But people have always hesitated and fought and chafed against this concept. And it’s not because the world doesn’t want to live in eternity – I think everyone would like to. For some, though, it just looks too easy, for others, it makes no sense, and for still others, they want some personal control of their eternity.
They don’t trust God enough to put their destiny in his hands. And that is the crux of the matter – giving God our complete trust. He is the only true certainty, and yet we still look to the things that we know, or at least think we know, as our reality.
Read John 3:19-21
The light of Christ has been given for all of the world – the problem is, though, that God has also given each of us the option of either looking into the light to see the reality of our lives, or that of shielding our eyes from its revealing glare. And the word tells us that some prefer to remain in the darkness, and not only that, but they love to live in the dark. And the reason is that they – we – are afraid to confront our failure to live as God would have us live. And that failure is, by definition, sin.
Sin isn’t just an act that hurts other people or even that which does damage to our own selves. Sin is the act of disobedience to God and is the very source of great pain for the Almighty. For the nonbeliever, this is an absolute, and there is no way out. But for the one who believes in Christ, who has put their faith in Christ, they have access to the gift of forgiveness. But we have to be in the light if we are to first, recognize our sinful ways, and second, to know that they are not of God. And then we reject the sin – we repent – and forgiveness can begin the healing that we need for both ourselves and for our relationship with the Lord.
The country and folk singer Buell Kazee wrote:
"The difference between a lost man and a saved man is, the lost man sins and loves it, the saved man sins and hates it."
--Buell H. Kazee, Faith Is the Victory (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1951).
My friends, we have to begin hating our own sin instead of only hating the sin of others. And it is by walking in the Light of heaven that allows us to do this. But the world “loved the darkness” more than they love the light.
David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, commented on the findings of a survey on the attitudes of young adults toward the Church. He wrote:
"They want to do what Jesus did and to get into peoples’ lives and figure out what makes them tick – figure out where they are broken. [But] they’re not offended by sin."
Adam Hamilton, When Christians Get it Wrong, Abington Press, pg 80-81, 2010
The world wants Jesus, but on their terms, not on God’s. We want to earn our salvation, we want to be the ones who define what is right and wrong, we want God to make sense to us. But it doesn’t work that way.
A theologian giving a lecture was asked, “When were you saved?” “When was I saved?” he asked rhetorically. “I was saved two thousand years ago.”
-Hal Brady, 19 January 1992, Dallas Texas.
Salvation is for us, not by us. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Are you walking in the light of Christ?
Have you given him, not only your best, but your all?
Have you discovered the love of God for your own life?
Note: At this point in the service, an altar call was offered for first time commitments, renewals in faith, and for loved ones who have not yet received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Several responded.
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