In the dark, Nicodemus comes to talk to Jesus. As a member of the ruling council he has a great deal to lose if he’s seen with Jesus, but he has to talk to him because of the miracles. Jesus tells him to experience the Kingdom of God requires being “born again.”
The problem is that people choose darkness over the light. Too often, we choose to hold on to our power and our ways rather than to surrender all to follow God’s ways.
The hope for all is that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life….” (John 3:36a NIV)
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Video:
Message Notes:
In the dark, Nicodemus comes to talk to Jesus. As a member of the ruling council he has a great deal to lose if he’s seen with Jesus, but he has to talk to him because of the miracles.
Jesus tells him to experience the Kingdom of God requires being “born again.”
Nicodemus does not understand. “How is this possible?”
Jesus describes a spiritual birth that opens our eyes to a whole new perspective.
In this chapter of John we discover:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall 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.” (John 3:16-17 NIV)
The problem is that people choose darkness over the light. We choose to hold on to our power and our ways rather than to surrender all to follow God’s ways.
John the Baptist is not bothered that many people are being baptized by Jesus and his disciples because “He must become greater. I must become less….” (John 3:30 NIV)
Jesus came from heaven. John the Baptist prepared the way for him by warning the people of Israel to turn back to God or they would face God’s wrath.
The word wrath conjures up all sorts of images in our mind. God is love. God is compassionate, gracious, forgiving, and slow to anger. His anger is not random or the result of being triggered but more like the discipline of a loving father who wants to protect his children from harm. Often God’s wrath means He gives us what our rebellious hearts want so he stops protecting us from the consequences of their evil actions.
For the people of Israel, often the consequences included oppression from neighboring nations which led to exile from the Promised Land.
The hope for all is that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life….” (John 3:36a NIV)
When reading this passage what stood out to you?
How do you sense God may want you to apply what you discovered?
