This week God helped me prepare a lecture on John 3.
Nicodemus came to Jesus with questions about who Jesus was, but Jesus turned
the conversation around to be about who Nicodemus was in the family of God. He
needed to be born again to see, enter and enjoy the kingdom of God! Jesus also highlighted
that anyone who believed could have eternal life.
John 3:1-7, 9-10,
14-15 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member
of the Jewish ruling council. 2He 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." 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the
truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 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!" 5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives
birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You
should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 9"How can this be?" Nicodemus
asked. 10"You are Israel's teacher," said
Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? …14Just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have
eternal life.
In
studying this passage, I was reminded of the day my son, James, was born again.
It was a Monday night at dinner - Sarah looked outside at the darkness and said
she was scared. I asked what she could do about being scared and she said “go
to church.” James then interjected and told her she could talk to God and
Jesus. I confirmed “Yes!”
Then,
James stopped eating and said he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart.
Unprompted, he said “Jesus, will you come into my heart?” [pause] “Jesus said
yes!” We then talked through what having Jesus (through the Holy Spirit) in our
hearts means - He forgives our sins and helps us love and obey Him. James was
able to tell me what some of his recent sins were. At some point in the
conversation I asked James what he wanted Jesus to do for him (to test the
genuineness of his faith) and he said “forgive my sins!” So, I said he could
also pray and ask Jesus to forgive his sins and help him love and obey God. He
immediately and voluntarily prayed on his own in his own words about all
that!!!
I hugged James and told him he was a child of God! After dinner was over, James got down and hopped to the bathroom to wash his hands, chanting “I’m a child of God! I’m a child of God!” Yes, he was born again and adopted into God’s family!
Have you responded to Jesus’s offer of salvation? Have you believed in Him, His testimony, His words, His work and His authority? If so, are you and I enjoying abundant eternal life now? Who else might God be leading us to share these truths with today and this week?
Alice
