TRANSCRIPT
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hey well good morning everyone it is great to see you all and I I’m sorry I wish I could tell you how to take off your mask but I can’t so I appreciate how all of you are keeping your mass on but um it’s really good to see you this morning and you know I really thank Alex uh giving me the opportunity to uh to preach I know we all want to hear Alex more and more you have to put up with me this morning so uh we’re going to be looking at a passage in John chapter 3 if you want to turn to that but um I would just start by saying you know it was a couple weeks ago Kerry and I had a terrific opportunity we went back east we went back to lancaster pennsylvania which was a place uh where I pastored the first church I ever pastored in and uh it was a terrific time of reminiscing they were dedicating a new part of the building they had they
had built but Kerry and I were there because it was the 40th anniversary which gives you a little bit of an idea how old I am um but we had a a wonderful time of celebrating with them and then we got to go up and see my 98 year old mom mom if you’re watching sorry about that um but that was about a six or seven hour drive and you know when you drive a long time you uh a lot of time get these books on tape or audio books so uh we downloaded an audio book and we listened to it and it was a fascinating journey I have no idea what the title that book was because I was so enamored with what the story was it was the true story of a felon I’m just gonna flip here uh a a doctor although they never did prove he was a doctor he was a fellow who emigrated from slovenia and he just had a heart for babies for premature babies and this
was back in late 1800s early 1900s and the medical community wasn’t quite in sync with this fella this fellow was developing what was now known as the incubator and uh it was amazing that as he would perfect these incubators um hospitals were not pleased in fact for the hot for the medical establishment at that time they kind of felt that premature babies yeah that wasn’t really a good use of their time so a lot of the babies that he took care of came from hospitals who had just given up on him came from parents who were desperate and he couldn’t do this in the hospitals themselves so guess what he moved to coney island and he set up a sideshow almost like a freak show and if you look down there in the bottom of that picture it says baby incubators it was a display on the side show on the um on the fair of coney island he he actually
adopted the name dr coney and that didn’t fly too well so he finally changed it to dr cooney amazing and he had nurses that would work with him people would pay 25 cents to come in and see these premature babies and that’s how he uh paid for the care of these children because he never charged the parents a penny and he did this for about 30 years and in those 30 years folks listen to this he saved 6 500 lives and people went through and and uh interviewed some of the some of the little kids who had grown up into adults it was an amazing story toward the end of his time some doctors began to take notice of the results and they began to wonder boy is this credible what he’s doing and they began to try to find out more and more how dr cooney had transformed this whole thing of incubators and now we find
incubators in every hospital amazing story it made me stop and think I wonder what it was like for Jesus and the religious establishment of the day did they look at Jesus as kind of one of those odd sideshows and and most of them criticized Jesus and what he was doing and this ragtag group of men that were following him men and women um they had a hard time with him this morning though we’re going to take a look at one of those religious leaders that was actually I believe kind of courageous to kind of step out just like some of those doctors embraced dr cooney at the end of his time I believe this man we’re going to look at this morning Nicodemus in John chapter 3 is going to teach us a lot about courage so let me read this pat in fact let’s read it together I’m going to throw it up on the screen here John chapter 3
beginning of verse 1 we’re going to read through this first 17 verses so join with me there was a man named Nicodemus a Jewish religious leader who was a pharisee after dark one evening he came to speak with Jesus rabbi he said we all know that God has sent you to teach us your miraculous signs or evidence that God is with you Jesus replied I tell you the truth unless you’re born again you cannot see the kingdom of God what do you mean exclaim Nicodemus how can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again and Jesus replied I assure you no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water in the spirit humans can reproduce only human life but the holy spirit gives birth to spiritual life so don’t be surprised when I say you must be born again the wind blows wherever it wants just as you can hear the
wind but you can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going so you can’t explain how people are born of the spirit how are these things possible Nicodemus added asked and Jesus replied hey you’re a respected Jewish teacher and yet you don’t understand these things I assure you we tell you what we know and have seen and yet you won’t believe our testimony but if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things no one has ever gone to heaven and returned but the son of man has come down from heaven and as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness so the son of man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life from this is how God loved the world he gave his one and only son so that everyone who
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life God sent his son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through him powerful words powerful words let’s just bow for a word of prayer and then let’s dig in oh father I thank you for the scripture yeah I thank you for uh just the words that are put down here and lord I’m not sure how you you transferred this all to John whether it was Nicodemus telling him about it or whether it was uh whether it was your spirit just inspiring John to write these words down um I know that it was you filling and having just the right words that you wanted for us today that you wanted for all these generations from John’s time till now lord thank you thanks for loving us enough to do that and now as we dig in I just pray that you would make them come alive to us ah thank you father I pray this in
Jesus name amen amen now let me just confess right off the bat I’ve always approached these verses that Nicodemus was kind of one of those religious leaders that was coming to kind of be a little snorky with Jesus um and and when I would look at these like I’ve just kind of highlighted some he was a pharisee you know the pharisees were not the good guys in the new testament story uh it seems like they were always challenging Jesus and and furthermore he was a religious leader uh he was part of the san that means he was part of the sanhedrin which is like the 70 rulers that would officially deal with cases that came up um this one always used to puzzle after dark he came one evening to speak with Jesus and and I must admit I always kind of thought that scaredy cat he just doesn’t want to be caught talking to Jesus and and then
when I read what he said uh we all know that God has sent you to teach us sounds a little patronizing to me I’m afraid it was a little bit tough on Nicodemus um as I was preparing for and Alex thanks for asking me I you know what’s funny uh whenever I preach I always tell the staff okay I’m in battle rattle and you know I’m working through this and grant I was in battle rattle this week but it was a great battle rattle it was a great time just to wrestle with this passage because as I was looking at there was a man named Nicodemus um I looked at other versions and some of you may be looking at your own version whether it’s niv or esv and you’ll notice that that first phrase starts a little bit differently it starts now there was a man of the pharisees named Nicodemus and it was enough to kind of make me say well I wonder if there’s an extra
word in there that I’m not seeing in my translation and so I kind of dug into it it’s a little greeky sorry about that but there was there’s a little particle a little word a little conjunction and it’s and it’s called an adversative conjunction if an adversative concern you can kind of get the idea conjunction means it draws two uh thoughts together adversative means there’s a little bit of adversarial type or a change of thought and most of the time it’s translated but but I looked at about every every translation I could find I found one that said but so you know I don’t usually like to step out and say hey this is right but I think it’s right I don’t um I think it’s right and you know what is this uh kind of contrasting well you got to go back remember when John wrote these things down I mean he didn’t have chapters and verses they came later on so we could
have bible drills and stuff like that what can I say but um John wrote this down as one book and it flows together so let me go back to the verses just before this because of the miraculous signs that Jesus did in Jereusalem at the Passover celebration many began to trust in him but Jesus did not trust them because he knew all about people no one needed to tell him about human nature for he knew what was in each person’s heart but there was a man named Nicodemus and that just kind of jumped out at me when I started to put it together in that context yeah Jesus had done some amazing things during this Passover time and there were people that saw those amazing signs and they said wow I want to follow this guy if I can get a free meal if I can get healed yes I’m with him Jesus knew their hearts and he didn’t entrust himself to that he was
looking for people who truly wanted to know what he was about but there was a man named Nicodemus and I like that so Nicodemus comes to him and now I look at these words a little differently if I start to try to be a little bit more positive in my outlook I see a man who was a pharisee and as I dug into this stuff about pharisees you know there was like 6 000 pharisees that were set apart in Israel at any one time that was the most they could have so this was quite a feat for him to be a pharisee and the pharisees they were all about trying to take the law that they had all those different laws all those different rules and regulations and understand them learn how to live by them so that they could please God and when I started looking at that I realized you know these were some pretty s sincere and passionate individuals
and I believe Nicodemus was a sincerely passionate man who wanted so much to follow Jesus no I’m sorry to follow God um it said he was a religious leader yeah he was part of the sanhedrin part of those 70 that were set aside to listen to um to trials to courts he he was he was up there he had authority among the Jewish community and when I realized that I realized wow what an amazing thing he did to come and talk to Jesus to be able to step aside from some of that aura and and come and meet with this Jesus who might be seen as a sideshow as a freak show after dark one evening you know like I said I always looked at that as he was a little bit scared to be associated and then I read in one of the commentaries I was looking at that rabbis said the best time to study the law and engage in good conversation is in the evening after dark
when there’s not a lot of people around and you can just focus together and I really believe that’s why Nicodemus came but there was a man named Nicodemus who came um Jesus says later on this passage uh that Nicodemus was one of the respected teachers of Israel just using that word thee seems to set Nicodemus off that he might have been one of the you know one of the top five in Israel it was respected amazing that Nicodemus would step out and come and then I look at that rabbi he said we all know that God has sent you to teach us your miraculous signs or evidence that God is with you and um yeah I shared with you how I always used to look at that kind of patronizingly um but then when you really get into the again greek greekiness some of your versions may have rabbi we know you are a teacher who has come from God
that’s quite a statement for a guy who is a pharisee to say you’ve come from God I recognize that it’s not just that you make sense but there’s something amazing that you come from God well we lay that all out and you would think Jesus might say well thanks Nicodemus you know he doesn’t I I would say thanks if somebody said that to me good grief but uh instead Jesus just launches right in Jesus replied I tell you the truth unless you’re born again you cannot see the kingdom of God and I I’ve highlighted that I tell you the truth some of your versions may have truly truly or verily verily uh and and actually I believe that this phrase sets off like three movements that we’re gonna see in this passage uh but let me tell you what I think this I tell you the truth really means or uh truly truly it means Nicodemus focus look at me Nicodemus
look at me right now focus in and listen to what I’m gonna say because this is important it’s truth and and I believe in this short statement that he makes is there’s two things that pop out to us two things that are merged that are very important one is uh you if you’re not born again you cannot see the kingdom of God and I believe in that statement Jesus is saying Nicodemus you’ve come to me tonight and yes you know it’s nice what you said to me but you’re coming because you want to know more about this kingdom more about the kingdom of God and I want to tell you um if you’re not born again you’re never even going to see it um you know I think Nicodemus might have heard some of the teachings of Jesus we have the sermon on the mountain matthew 5 6 and 7. and a lot of people believe that that sermon was kind of a
template of what Jesus would use all over the galilean areas he would teach and people would hear that over and over and in that he kind of gives them an example of how to pray and in that he says when you’re praying say your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven God your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and I bet you that captures Nicodemus’s imagination what are you saying about this kingdom I want to know more because I’ve spent my whole life trying to perfect these laws so that we can function in such a way that God would be pleased with us and we could kind of be this kingdom but I almost believe that Nicodemus realizes we haven’t made it to base one I tell you the truth unless you’re born again you cannot see the kingdom of God now how does Nicodemus
respond what do you mean exclaimed Nicodemus how can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again how in the world can I be rebirthed how how I’m old I can’t go back into my mom you know I said there were two things and uh maybe I need to go back because that other thing has to do with how Nicodemus is taking that that phrase born again born again um and and we use that over and over and over and over and I think sometimes that born-again phrase has kind of lost some of its born-again meaning so I want us to go back and kind of dig into what this really means born again um yeah it’s the typical word born yes it’s a birth but then there’s a little word put on the back of it called anothern a nothin let me just swing to it and another means again or a second time or to be reborn yes but a note then is
also this amazing word that has a variety of meetings yes it means again but it also means a new it also means to be radically new or radically changed there’s some kind of a rebirth that that brings a change and I’ll use the word transformation so it can talk about a repeating like I’m going to be born repeat it again or it can be talked about anew a guy can be born a new in a real transforming way or there’s a third meaning and this last one is the way it’s normally used interesting from above or from God so when you put it together with that word born it can be born from God born from above um and and the stuff I was reading about it was you know really it pulls all three together all three together and kind of when I would see if I’m born a nothing I am born anew from above and if I’m going to be born anew that already assumes I’m
born again as I’m going through this born or this birth process a second time but I’m going to be born in a transformative way and I’m going to be born from above the work that God does and that’s what I think this another means Nicodemus Nicodemus takes it to mean that first phrase just the physical phrase born again physically and I can understand why he would think that because everything he’s doing in his religious structure is based upon his human effort I’m wondering if he’s taken back a little bit to realize wow you mean you mean God might actually get involved in that because his whole religious structure is I’m making my way to God not God bringing transformation to me um you know I told you we went out to lancaster great time it was fun reminiscing they asked us a bunch of questions Kerry and I it actually made us feel
good you know old dumpers here we are going back there you know and we found this church out there in lancaster wanted to know what it was like 40 years ago when we planted this church and they asked us a bunch of questions we sat with a staff on Saturday night asking us all kinds of questions Sunday morning they interviewed us one of the questions they asked us was what were some of the challenges you faced in those early years as this church was being planted and it caused karen and I to reminisce and to think back and I’m just going to share one story I’ll I’ll give her the name jean and we’ll just call it jean’s story I’ll try to protect her identity but uh gene was a wonderful gal in our church young adult vivacious had a great job loved Jesus uh served in a lot of ways at the church and she also had a terrific drug problem she was
addicted to drugs and we tried to pour our lives into helping her we did all kinds of things I I can still remember you know I I always said regina if you need help just call me call me one Saturday night I got a call and I could always tell it was gene because she wouldn’t say anything so I pick up the phone and it’s silent and I found that gene is this you yes okay what’s going on I bought some drugs oh okay you know gene I’m gonna ask you why don’t you go and flush them down the toilet right now I don’t think I can do that hmm well if you want to bring them to me I’ll do that for you click and that was Saturday night um you know Sunday morning comes and my mind’s all over the place because we’re going there we set up for the church and we’re in there worshiping having a good time and all of a sudden I feel this kind of tap on my shoulder and I
turn around it’s jean and she hands me a bag so I take this bag and I go oh man I don’t want to look um I just kind of stuffed it into my coat pocket went up there preached the sermon afterwards you know we’re saying goodbye to everybody and then we finally everybody’s gone I went in pulled the bag out looked it up I thought oh man there’s a bunch of pills um I called her I said gene okay thank you for giving me this did you take any she said no I said how much is this worth I paid six hundred dollars I said okay I commend you for giving them to me it took four flushes but I finally got it all down the toilet um you know we did a variety of things with gene eventually it came to an intervention where her friends got together and I remember it happened in our living room oh my goodness the air turned blue as we tried to reason with
gene and just say gene we need to you need to let go of these drugs we’re here for you but we can’t be here if you’re going to take drugs she got up and stormed out swore the whole way you know I thought well I guess I guess we lost that one the next morning or the next afternoon I get this call silence I said is this eugene yes it’s me and she finally said I think I’m ready to go to a rehab so I drove over to jean she hopped in had a duffel bag and I drove her to her rehab a little ways away she stayed there for about three months and finally checked herself out and then it was just a series of on again off again on again off again until finally she disappeared and she just got enmeshed in drugs Kerry and I left lancaster came out here to Denver and you know really didn’t think of it too much after that um we found ourselves about 10 years later I
got a phone call one day and it was jean and there wasn’t silence on the phone she said uh dan this is this is gene and I’d love to get together with you for supper tonight I said where are you she said well I’m up at breckenridge I’m at a conference I said oh my goodness well jean sure sure we’ll get together with so Kerry and I met her for supper I always remember this we got together and there was a smile in her eyes and she started out by saying dan Kerry I just want you to know God finally got a hold of my life and I’ve been drug free for about eight years and I’ve continued working at my job but I’ve started take night classes and I’m studying to be a drug counselor and actually I’m very involved in a church out in lancaster who has a drug problem or a drug program and I just wanted you to know that I’m up here at a conference
training people to counsel for drugs um I loved it and then she said words that really I’ll never forget thank you thank you I know that was hard I know I was a stickler in so many ways but thanks and I realized wow born another born anew from above born anew from above and I’m sure I hope we all have stories like that whether it’s our own personal story or whether it’s others um but let’s go back to Nicodemus now because we left Nicodemus kind of saying oh in the world I’m an old guy how do I get born again get back into my mother’s womb that just doesn’t happen and Jesus comes in and says these words um oh I forgot this point sorry to be born anew from above or an oath in results in living as kingdom citizens brings transformation into our lives I looked at jean with a whole new way of seeing her here was someone who was
helping people with something that she had struggled with what a terrific person to be able to do that she was now a kingdom citizen making a difference got him got to move on to Nicodemus though we’re never going to get through this so Jesus replies to Nicodemus who’s still back thinking about how do I get born again Jesus says I assure you no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water in the spirit humans can reproduce only human life but the holy spirit gives birth to spiritual life so don’t be surprised when I say you must be born another or born anew from above the wind blows wherever it wants just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going so you can’t explain how people are born of the spirit he starts out by saying okay Nicodemus tune in focus focus because I’m
going to tell you some truth right now uh I assure you no one can enter the kingdom of God not only is it you can’t see the kingdom unless you’re born again no one can enter the kingdom unless you’re born of water and the spirit and I would just I think this next slide gives another point to be born anew from above and nothing not only results in living as kingdom citizens but it results in living through the spirit’s power amen born of water and the spirit um you know if I think just in this context of John I think of John the Baptist when John the Baptist was ministering he said hey I I baptize you with water for repentance but there’s someone coming after me who’s going to baptize you with a spirit now I don’t know that Nicodemus knew much about John the Baptist so when Jesus uses this illustration of water and the spirit I think he’s
going back much farther remember Nicodemus was a great teacher of the israelite people I think Nicodemus when when he heard that water and spirit I think he went right back to the very get-go to the beginning to genesis 1. genesis 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the earth was formless and empty and the darkness covered the deep waters and the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water I believe that Nicodemus taught this many times to a student the water was formless and void and the spirit of God hovered over the waters and the creation occurred an amazing creation and frankly folks I don’t care how long you believe it took or how short you believe it took what I care is that you know that
God created and God hovered over these waters and he took that in his creation power he created the heavens and the earth he created the land and the water he created the birds and the fish she created the animals on the land and human beings he created man and woman and he put them in a garden it was beautiful and I think the most beautiful part of that garden and of his creation was that he could walk with the man and the woman who were made in his image what a time that must have been it’s a time I only imagine of because we know the man and the woman chose a different way things fell apart we no longer have just that open garden but we have Jesus coming and saying I’m coming to bring this kingdom back I’m coming to bring this back and I believe there’s another passage that uh that Nicodemus might think of and it’s in
ezekiel great passage uh ezekiel chapter 36 when the prophet says then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean your filth will be washed away you’ll no longer worship idols I will give you a new heart I will put a new spirit in you I will take out of your stony stubborn heart and give you a tender response of heart and I’m going to put my spirit in you so you’ll follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations wow that’s a transformation that’s an another that’s a being born anew from above he’s coming down to cleanse us with water and to cleanse away those sins but you know what that’s not enough that’s not enough or you know John’s baptism might have been fine and maybe the baptism that Nicodemus did might have been fine because it makes people wet and they get clean and that’s it but no they needed the
power of the spirit to bring in that new life and that transformation and I believe that as Nicodemus heard this his mind is just reeling as he thinks about what he’s taught what he’s taught his followers his his uh students that uh you know what we have so many laws and we’ve got to figure out how we can live them in the best way possible so that we can please God and somehow make this place presentable so that God will once again want this garden-like effect with us and he’s hearing Jesus and he’s realizing you mean you’re telling me what I’ve committed my life to really can’t do it Jesus is saying no flesh begets flesh that’s all it does all your human effort only begets a human environment it doesn’t bring that spiritual transformation that God has for us you know right after ezekiel 36 and I’d encourage you go
read it ezekiel 37 it’s a great chapter it’s a wild chapter it’s the chapter of the dry bones it’s where um God prompted the prophet to go and he had this vision of a whole valley that’s just filled not with dead bodies just with skeletons that are all dried out and it pictured Israel this nation that God loved and they had been taken into exile and they they even said we’re just a bunch of dry bones we’ve lost our purpose where there’s nothing here for us anymore why are we even together and God said okay ezekiel I want you to prophesy over these dry bones and I want you to say I am going to put flesh back on your bones I’m going to bring those sinews together you’re going to begin to stand up but even more than that more than just putting flesh on your bones I’m going to put breath in your bodies I’m going to bring the life of the spirit
within you and you’re going to become a nation again and I believe very much that Nicodemus taught that to his students because hey they were a nation again they had seen themselves come back from exile but they didn’t quite catch on to the fact that it needs the spirit of God to bring the life of God into people and Jesus is looking at Nicodemus and said I’m not talking about a nation I’m talking about you tune in tune in um yeah the results of the spirit’s power you must be born anew from above well Nicodemus says oh how are these things possible how are these things possible first time he said how can I I’m an old man how do I get back in my mom’s womb and now he’s just dumbfounded how is this possible and Jesus said you’re a respected Jewish teacher and yet you don’t understand these things I assure you now that’s
that phrase truly truly verily verily focus Nicodemus focus I assure you and I believe this is kind of a little aside we tell you what we know and have seen and you don’t believe our testimony but if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things how in the world are you going to believe if I tell you about heavenly things Nicodemus tune in tune in because here no one has ever gone to heaven and returned but the son of man has come down from heaven let me just stop there it would have been so easy for Jesus just to say and that’s me he didn’t say that and I think he didn’t say that you know I’m just going to speculate that would have been a pretty tough thing for Nicodemus to swallow he just said hey no one’s ever gone to having to come back and told you but the son of man has come down from heaven and has told you and
then he gives Nicodemus something to kind of hang his hat on he goes to another story that Nicodemus probably taught his disciples he says as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness so the son of man is going to be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life numbers 21 tells that interesting but odd story about the israelite people God was providing for them taking them away from Egypt taking them to mount sinai and yet as they were on their way they got frustrated they missed the food in Egypt they started to complain and so God kind of I believe kind of removed his protection from them and these poisonous snakes came in and they started realizing oh no we’re dying God saveth God save and so God directed God directed Moses to take a bronze snake and put it on a pole stick
it up there and anybody who would look at that and believe that God would heal them they were healed and it says they they were delivered and here Jesus is telling Nicodemus when you see that happen to the son of man believe believe and I just want to tell you being born again being born anew from above yes it results in living as kingdom citizens it results in living through the spirit’s power it also results in living for eternity I don’t know about you all I’m blown away by that being purposeful being able to live in God’s kingdom this amazing kingdom that he started in the beginning and yet we chose a different way and now he’s coming back to bring the garden back taking his own spirit and infilling us so that we can live in the power of the spirit and then promising us you’re going to live with me for eternity and what is it it’s
based upon belief in the son of man when he’s lifted up I don’t think those words ever left Nicodemus you know I don’t know if it was just a few years or a few months I’m not sure just what the chronology was but as things started to culminate in Jesus ministry more and more the sanhedrin got together and tried to figure out how do we get rid of this Jesus guy how do we get rid of this sideshow that’s distracting our people and Nicodemus stood up in front of that 70 and he said I don’t think it’s right for us to condemn a man without hearing first his opinions his sides he actually stood up in front of the sanhedrin and he was ridiculed he was put down but then I believe so much when Nicodemus saw Jesus hanging on that cross the words flooded back to him when you see the son of man lifted up believe in him and you will have
eternal life look at what what Nicodemus did this is after Jesus was died after he he was taken down from the cross afterward joseph of arimathea who had been a secret disciple of Jesus because he feared the Jewish leaders asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus body and when Pilate gave permission joseph came and took the body away with him came Nicodemus the man who had come to Jesus at night he brought about 75 pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes and following Jewish burial custom they wrapped Jesus body with the spices and long sheets of linen cloth you know I believe very much I’m going to see Nicodemus someday and I’ll be able to apologize for having judged him so harshly and I love the fact that he was a sincere follower of God who took the time to meet Jesus at night and ask his
questions and to sit there in awe and wonder boy I challenge each one of us do we take that time do we take time just to meet with Jesus and ask our questions and and show our wonder and be in awe I hope we do I hope we do this passage goes on um you know and let me just say this uh John 3 16 which we all know and I’m going to ask Aaron to come on up we’re going to end with that song that we started with it’s a joyful song as joyful because of the words of this verse for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life have eternal life it’s God’s love that sent Jesus the son of man down to this earth to take our flesh to tell us about the kingdom that God has for us it’s God’s love that allowed his son to be tortured and sacrificed upon that cross for each
and every one of us to take our place it’s God’s love and power that raised Jesus from the grave so like Nicodemus we can look at that son of man on the cross and we can believe we can look at Jesus risen from the grave and we can believe and we can take that verse 17 and realize God didn’t send his son into the world to condemn us no but to save us to realize that Nicodemus saw God that at times was kind of wrathful a God that was fearful a God that he needed to try to live by all these rules and regulations and Jesus told him no he’s a God of love who welcomes you to come into his presence do you believe that I want us to sing this song and I just encourage us reflect on that you know if you need to just renew some of that honest understanding of his love do so if you need to if this is kind of the first time you’ve heard some
of this stuff and you’re saying Jesus I want that I want to believe well Jesus will hear you I I’d encourage you if any of you you don’t want to pray something like that please tell us about it because we want to walk with you through that too we want to walk with you but we want you to know we can be born anew from above it will transform us into purposeful kingdom citizens it will fill us with the power of his holy spirit and today we live eternally let’s sing together
