Who Is This Jesus?
3. He is the source of eternal life
John 3:1-18
September 25/26, 2004
Don Jaques
MAIN IDEA: All people can experience eternal life through belief in Jesus.
1. Every person needs to be born of the Spirit. (John 3:1-8)
2. We experience spiritual birth through belief in Jesus. (John 3:9-18)
a. Jesus can deliver this because he is the Son of Man (John 3:9-13, Dan. 7:13-14, Rev. 1:10-18)
b. Jesus can deliver this because he was lifted up (Num. 21:1-9) and removed us from under the curse of God’s wrath. (John 3:14-18)
3. When we are born of the Spirit, we are set free from self-centered living. (John 3:19-30)
INTRO:
Who is this Jesus?
Over the past 2 weeks we’ve looked at the first two chapters of John. We’ve learned a few very important things about Him already. From chapter one we learned he is God in the flesh. Not only was he with God – but he IS God. Last week as Terry taught us, Jesus is the one who can bring real change to our lives if we allow him to – he can turn our common water into the finest of wines, and that he is jealous for our complete devotion to Him.
Today we have the privilege of looking at one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Bible – and one of the most important/foundational ideas for us to understand. Today as we look at chapter 3 of the gospel of John, we’re going to understand that Jesus is the source of eternal life – and that all of us can experience eternal life, if we’ll follow the instructions the word of God gives us.
Let’s pray.
Background: Jesus has just cleared the temple of those who made a mockery of worshiping God and had a small debate with the Jewish religious leaders over his authority to do this. We pick up the story now in John 3:1.
John 3:1 ¶ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
John 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
John 3:3 ¶ In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
John 3:4 ¶ “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
Here I don’t think Nicodemus really thinks Jesus is advocating we somehow enter our mother’s womb – he’s asking the same question we ask ourselves sometimes. Can I really have a new start? Is it possible that with all my habits and experiences and failures and successes I can really be born AGAIN?
John 3:5 ¶ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
John 3:6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
1. Every person needs to be born of the Spirit. (John 3:1-8)
We all know that every person needs to have a physical birth. But what Jesus is teaching here is there is another part of us that needs to experience a birth. Our Spirit.
That part of us which is eternal – it is that which truly makes us who we are, and is that which will continue existing even after this physical body rots.
Flesh gives birth to flesh. That’s obvious. What is not so obvious, and is overlooked by so many in this modern age, is that second part of verse 6: the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Author Philip Yancey, in his book Seeing the Invisible God, wrote:
Every animal on earth has a set of correspondences with the environment around it, and some of those correspondences far exceed ours. Humans can perceive only thirty percent of the range of the sun’s light and 1/70th of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy. Many animals exceed our abilities. Bats detect insects by sonar; pigeons navigate by magnetic fields; bloodhounds perceive a world of smell unavailable to us.
Perhaps the spiritual or "unseen" world requires an inbuilt set of correspondences activated only through some sort of spiritual quickening. "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above," said Jesus. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned," said Paul. Both expressions point to a different level of correspondence available only to a person spiritually alive.
Citation: Philip Yancey, "Seeing the Invisible God" Books and Culture (May/June 2000), p.8
As Jesus has this conversation with Nicodemus, he see in front of him a man who has the right lineage (he’s a Jew), and the right experience (he’s a Pharisee) – but he says to him, “If you want to experience the Kingdom of God – you’re going to need something else. A spiritual birth. You must be born again.”
But just like Nicodemus, we and the people around us are confused about where to go or what to do to experience this spiritual birth.
If you’re looking for a complicated answer – you’re in the wrong place. The answer is very simple.
2. We experience spiritual birth through belief in Jesus. (John 3:9-18)
John 3:9 ¶ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
John 3:10 ¶ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
John 3:11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
John 3:12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
John 3:13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man.
John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
John 3:15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:16 ¶ “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.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
In the clearest terms possible, the word of God tells us that the way, the only way, for us to experience the spiritual birth required to receive eternal life, is through believing in Jesus.
But the question we keep on coming back to is, “Who is this Jesus anyway?” What authority does he have to give us a spiritual birth simply by believing in him?
a. Jesus can deliver this because he is the Son of Man (John 3:9-13, Dan. 7:13-14, Rev. 1:10-18)
In verse 13 he refers to himself as the “Son of Man”. From the earliest times I ever read the Gospels this title has always sounded strange. What does he mean when he calls himself the Son of Man?
The answer is found in two passages: one an ancient vision, and one a vision that John was to have much later in life.
Dan. 7:13 ¶ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
Dan. 7:14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
When Jesus refers to himself as the “son of Man” his Jewish audience, at least those who were familiar with the scriptures, would have understood that he was saying he was the person in this vision of Daniels from 500 years earlier.
He was saying that though he was here in a humble carpenter’s appearance, his true nature was one who was worthy of worship from all people. He could stand in the presence of God Himself. And his Kingdom is eternal.
The other place this title is used in Rev. 1:10-18
Rev. 1:10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
Rev. 1:11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see.… “
Rev. 1:12 ¶ I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
Rev. 1:13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
Rev. 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
Rev. 1:15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
Rev. 1:16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Rev. 1:17 ¶ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
Rev. 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Jesus – the Son of Man! When John, the author of this gospel, saw a vision of him in his true splendor, his first reaction was to fall at his feet as if dead! Once again – this humble carpenter’s son is not who he appears to be – he is so much more! When the Bible says that eternal life is found by believing in Jesus – we can trust that he is able to deliver on that promise because he is the Son of Man!
TRANS:But there is another reason we can trust Jesus to be able to deliver this spiritual birth for us…
b. Jesus can deliver this because he was lifted up (Num. 21:1-9) and removed us from under the curse of God’s wrath. (John 3:14-18)
Going back to verse 14-15: it says
John 3:14-15 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Again, a Jewish person like Nicodemus would know exactly what he was talking about – but maybe you don’t. Let’s take a look at Numbers 21:4-9 to understand what Jesus is saying better.
BACKGROUND: After being delivered from the Caananite King Arad by the power of God, the people of Israel continued their wilderness wandering.
Num. 21:4 ¶ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
Num. 21:5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
Num. 21:6 ¶ Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
Num. 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Num. 21:8 ¶ The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
Num. 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
The people of Israel here were in a bad spot. They were being rebellious, ungrateful, and sinful. And the Lord’s judgement came down upon them in such a way as to get their attention very quickly. And to their credit – they repent of their sin! But instead of just making the snakes go away, God instructs Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then, whenever the people felt the sting of that snake bite – which I think is symbolic for the sting of sin – their only hope for deliverance was to look to something beyond themselves. They had to look at that snake on the pole. And when they did – they were delivered!
And so Jesus says in just the same way he is going to be lifted up – speaking of his coming death on the cross – and all who look to Him for deliverance from the curse of sin and death will be delivered!
As we already read in verse 18:
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
So let me ask you: where do you turn when you sense you are under judgment for your sin? When you sense your life is going down the wrong road and everything is falling apart. Do you look to your inner self? Is strength found within?
If you are wise, you understand that just like those snakebitten Israelites – you have no hope of saving yourself. You have no way to make yourself well from the disease of sin.
And just as you had nothing to do with how you came to life physically, but it was given to you from others – so you need to be born Spiritually through the power of Jesus working in you to bring that eternal part of you alive.
CONCLUSION: What we learn from these verses in John 3 is really quite simple – but so profound. It doesn’t make any difference who you are or what your background is , whether you’ve gone to church every week of your life or today is your first time ever. You need to be born again. You need to be born of the Spirit. And the only way to get this spiritual life is to look to Jesus, believe in him as the only way to bring about that Spiritual birth in you – and then begin living your life for him.
D.L. Moody was one of the great evangelists in America in the 19th century. And I close with a quote of his:
Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all-out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto his glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.
D.L. Moody
You know your physical birthday. Have you experienced your spiritual birthday? If not – you can do so right now through prayer. Let’s do it!
