Jesus and Nick-Part 4
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” John 3:11-12
After explaining that it is the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing the new birth to a living soul, and that He operates in a manner as mysterious as the wind, Jesus mildly rebuked Nicodemus for not understanding. Jesus called attention to the fact that the one to whom He was speaking was a teacher of the law who had no doubt sat under the tutelage of elders, scribes, and priests, experts in the Pentateuch and the words of the prophets. He should have been aware of the great men of God, like Abraham and Moses, who believed God for His promise of a Savior. Knowing of all the times that God had to punish the people of ancient Israel for their sin, Nicodemus should have at least in part realized that the law was not sufficient to make man right before God because of man’s inability to obey the law perfectly. From that fact, another way of acceptable righteousness before God would be required. Jesus’ implication was that Nicodemus’ education should have prepared him for the good news of the gospel, but all that Jesus had taught and the miracles that He had done went right over Nicodemus’ head. He failed to “connect the dots”. What does it take for one to believe the truth?
Jesus used an earthly metaphor of wind to illustrate the power and purpose of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. If Nicodemus could not believe that Jesus asked, then how could he believe the deeper things of God? One must begin with the basics before he can move on to higher spiritual insight. How would he ever believe in the Trinity or the resurrection or the afterlife if he didn’t believe that a person’s entrance into the kingdom of God began by being born from above while still on earth? Jesus told Nicodemus that, He, the Messiah, is the only One who occupies both heaven and earth, making Him the ultimate authority on earth and in heaven.
Jesus even began to tell Nicodemus about future events that would occur in a short amount of time. These events would prove that Jesus was the Messiah sent to save men and women from their sins. Jesus alluded to His coming crucifixion by reminding him of the time that Moses made a brass serpent and placed it high on a pole so that all the Hebrew people who looked at it would be spared death from bites of fiery serpents whom God sent because of their murmuring against Him and against Moses (Number 21:4-9). Jesus used this as an example to teach Nicodemus that He, Jesus, would also become a sacrifice unto which people could depend to save them from God’s wrath as He would also be lifted up on a cruel cross. Jesus’ sinless blood would be the only way to permanently cover the sins of any and all who would believe in Him as Lord and Savior.
Jesus then issued to Nicodemus the entire gospel message wrapped up in the most quoted verse of the Bible, 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”. Because of God’s great love for His creation, He sacrificed His own Son on the cross of Calvary in order to restore man’s relationship with his Creator. God was not obligated in any way, form, or fashion to provide redemption for mankind. When He created Adam and Eve, He gave them the “run of the garden” so to speak but set the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as “off limits” with the penalty of violating that one command as death, that is, spiritual death and then physical death with no hope of redemption. BUT GOD, in His mercy and grace, planned from the beginning to make a way whereby man could be reconciled to Him and live eternally with Him, sending His own Son to take on the sins of the entire world, dying on the cross, and resurrecting to new life.
Jesus did not come to condemn but to save sinners (3:18). Those who repent and receive Christ as Lord and Savior are in the state of salvation which will be finalized when the believer closes his eyes in death and immediately awakens in the presence of Christ in heaven. Those who reject Him and His offer of forgiveness remain in a state of condemnation. When they pass from this life, they will remain under condemnation with no hope. They will finally understand that their love for their sin was not worth it. “Born again, the Savior said; Born again, for us He bled; Born again, O happy day; Born again, the only way”.
Next time: Jesus and Nick-the Epilog