THE LOVE OF GOD SEALED WITH BLOOD
John 3:1-16
MESSED UP; KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT WISDOM
V:1-2. ' Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to
Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one
can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
A. Even in the worst crowd there may be some good people.
1. Nicodemus was a
member of the ruling Jews who hated Jesus.
2. He was rich in
money and knowledge of the law, but poor when it came
to the
righteousness of God.
3. He had observed the miracles of Jesus and
concluded that God was
working through Him.
4. Nicodemus had
heard the teachings of Jesus and concluded that He was
teaching God's
Word.
B. The Word of God drew Nicodemus to Jesus.
1. Nicodemus was either afraid or
ashamed to be seen with Jesus, because he
approached
Him at night. (His name means
conqueror of the people)
2. Unlike the
other 69 members of the Sanhedrin council, Nicodemus came to Jesus to
discuss the
Word of God.
3. He gave up his
position of righteous influence by approaching Jesus in secret.
4. Apparently
Nicodemus was going along to get along.
5. There is power
in the Word of God that will separate you from the crowd.
DIE ONCE, TO BE BORN AGAIN
V:3-4. " Jesus
answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
again he cannot see the kingdom of God
A. God will give you the opportunity to preach Jesus to your
enemies.
1. Jesus used His
encounter with Nicodemus to teach the salvation of God.
2. Jesus knows
what we need when we need it.
3. Any study of
the Word will expose our ignorance of the Word.
4. Perhaps
Nicodemus thought that his knowledge of the Law, his position in the
Sanhedrin and
his Jewish heritage, had secured him a
place in heaven.
B. Jesus preached the basic condition for salvation.
1. One must be
born again to enter the kingdom of God
2. By human
thinking, rebirth is impossible and cause for further discussion.
3. According to
Jewish thinking, a relationship with God was secured by
keeping the
Law and a Jewish heritage.
4. Nicodemus
responded in the flesh to a spiritual doctrine.
5. Nicodemus
knowledge of the Law was void of any spiritual enlightenment.
6. The good thing
was Nicodemus came to the Word to get an understanding
of the Word.
THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
V: 5-6. " Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God
A. Basic Christian doctrine is an outward confession (water) and inward
change (spirit).
1. Baptism by the
Holy Spirit is through faith in the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
2. The rebirth
takes place at the moment of confession and belief.
B. Jesus was alive at the point of His discussion with
Nicodemus.
1. Therefore,
Nicodemus redemption would be based on
faith in the Word of Jesus.
2. Since Jesus was
the Word in the flesh in presence of Nicodemus, his
redemption
would have been based on accepting Jesus as the truth.
C. Christians are born twice and die once.
1. We are born
in the flesh and die in the flesh when we accept Jesus as our
personal
savior.
2. We are born
in the Spirit with our confession of faith in Jesus.
3. Jesus is our
living water empowered by the Holy Spirit.
BORN AGAIN; A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
V: 7-8 "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must
be born again.' 8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound
of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is
everyone who is born of the Spirit."
A. Nicodemus was confused by Jesus statement.
1. We cannot understand
the Word of God without the Holy Spirit enlightenment.
2. The Word of God
is foolish to the world.
B. There are some
things we cannot proved with human reasoning.
1. The Word of God
has to be accepted by faith.
2. We can measure
the force of the wind and we can determine it's direction.
3. We cannot see
the wind, but we know it exist.
4. We cannot see
the Holy Spirit.
5. We know the Spirit
exist because it give us an understanding of the Word of God.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT HOW, JUST ACCEPT BY FAITH
V:9-10. " Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these
things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher
of Israel and
do not understand these things?"
A. Nicodemus was full of knowledge, but he lack Godly wisdom.
1. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom and instruction.
Prob 2:7
2. Nicodemus had
been trained in the Law as a tool for crowd control and
personal gain rather
than the promotion of the righteousness of God and love.
Matt 23:2-12
3. In fact, the
ruling Jews developed their own traditions which they used to over rule
the authority
of the Word of God. Mark 7:9
B. Jesus question to
Nicodemus was an indictment of his
selfish ambition and desire
for prestige and power. Matt 23:13-15
1. Nicodemus like
the rest of the ruling Jews were blinded to the Word of God
by there own
self righteousness and sins against God's people. Matt 23:16
2. It is the power
of the Word of God that convicts our hearts of our sins.
3. We ought not
study God's Word and remain in a condition of sin.
THE TESTIMONY OF GOD'S WORD
V:11-12 "Truly,
truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen,
and you do not accept our testimony. 12 "If I told you earthly things and
you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"
A. The testimony of truth of God's Word is all around us.
1. Look to the sky
and see the proof of God's Word.
2. He created the
sun to be light of the day and the moon and the stars to be light of the
night. Genesis
Chapter 1.
3. Man in his
finite wisdom has concluded that the universe evolved from a huge
explosion
rather than an orderly creation by the almighty God.
4. In fact we
don't have to look any further than our own bodies to see a
testimony of
God's creative power.
B. If we cannot believe the glory of God in what we see on
earth, how can we
believe in God's
glory in heaven.
1. If you cannot
believe you were made in God's image and likeness, you will
not believe
that you are predestined to be in Heaven with Jesus.
2. While Nicodemus
came to Jesus blinded, it is believed that he began
to see the Light in Jesus and became a
disciple. John 7:50-51, 19:39
THE DIETY OF JESUS
V:13 "No one has
ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of
Man. "
A. This is the
doctrine of the deity of Jesus.
1. He voluntarily
left His throne in Heaven to take on human flesh to be known to
us as the Son
of Man.
2. Once His work
was completed on earth, He returned to the Father and is seated
at His right
hand.
B. Jesus had two
natures, He was the Son of Man and at the same time the Son of God.
1. Jesus
accomplished what no other human could do.
2. He came from
Heaven, voluntarily gave up His life and returned to heaven.
IF I BE LIFED UP
V:14-15 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever
believes will in Him have eternal life."
A. This is the doctrine of our salvation.
1. Jesus said if I
be lifted up, I will draw all men to me.
2. Jesus used the
example of Moses in the desert to show how faith in Him
produces
eternal life.
a. The
Israelites had been bitten by poisonous snake and were condemned to death.
b. But faith in
the bronze serpent lifted up before them saved their lives. Num 21:4-9
B. Jesus pointed to
His death on the cross as the atonement of sins for all men.
1. We exist in
the wilderness of sin doomed to the eternal Hell.
2. But by the
Grace of God, His Son was sent to be the salvation of man.
3. The doctrine
of salvation by faith in Jesus is presented.
THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
V: 16 "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."
A. God defines His love for us as the sacrifice of His Son for
our eternal life.
1. The first human
institution created by God is family.
2. God loves
family.
3. In His creative
process, God created an environment suitable for life
before He
created Adam and Eve.
4. The finishing
touch of His creation was marriage.
5. God defined
eternal life as a marriage between the Church and His Son.
B. John 3:16 is a
family verse.
1. God does not
discriminate between gender, race or nationality in the make up
of His family.
2. The "whoever"
includes members of the entire population of the world.
3. The
"whoever" includes all those He predestined to be in Christ before
the
foundation of the world. Eph 1:4
C. God created family to be in His likeness and in His
image. Gen 1:27
1. When Adam
sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, the
relationship
with the Father was broken. Gen 3:6
2. From that
point on, man was born in a condemned state.
3. God promised
His Son as the redeemer of man from
his condemned
state. Gen 3:15
4. Verse 16 is
the fulfillment of that promise.
D. Salvation is by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
1. Salvation is
not by works because someone would boast.
Eph 2:8-9
2. Salvation is a
free gift from the almighty awesome God.
Eph 2:8
3. Jesus fixed man's
broken relationship with the Father with His
death on the
cross.
4. Jesus paid our
sin debt in full with His blood shed on the cross.
THANK YOU JESUS FOR LOVING
ME
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lesson follow me on facebook and my blogs
www.revmmitchell.com
and goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
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