For God so loved the world...

John 3:1-21 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.¹⁴ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

By far the most familiar and often quoted scripture in the Bible is from today’s text, John 3:16, which says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  This though is not an isolated quote. It is one verse spoken by Jesus in a larger context. Jesus begins saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”   Even among those who say they believe in Jesus, there are some who do not understand, or even view negatively the idea of being born again. To some, the idea of being born again separates the normal, mainstream believer from the radical or weird. Yet before Jesus said whoever believes in Him shall not perish, He said, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. So, if we say we believe in Jesus for eternal life, then we should also believe when He says:  ‘You must be born again.’   The diologue continues saying:  “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  This being born of water and the Spirit is a reference to baptism. It is not my intention to discuss or debate the doctrines of baptism, but I do think that Jesus refers to much more than a ritual. To be born again; born of the Spirit rather than the flesh is a decision the believer makes. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it this way:  If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.   In order to be born again of the Spirit, what was old, the flesh, must pass away. The caterpillar cannot remain as it was. It needs to completely change to become a butterfly. In order to fly freely above the ground, it must stop its selfish life focused on feeding the flesh. In the same way, to be born of the Spirit rather than the flesh, we must yield to the Spirit rather than the flesh.

Look also at the continuing context of what Jesus says, after He says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  He continues saying:  “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   So while God’s motivation was love not condemnation or judgment, there is and will be judgment for those who do not believe. The judgment is that they who do not believe, they who are not born again of the Spirit rather than the flesh, love darkness rather than Light. In Isaiah 5:20, God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   Woe is the judgment of those who do not believe; those who love darkness and evil. In John 5:22, Jesus says:  “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.”  So, while Jesus came to save and not to judge, all judgment has been given to Him. We can either be judged by Him, or we can be judged through Him. In believing and being born of the Spirit, in loving the Light and practicing the truth, we are judged through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. In rejecting Jesus and choosing to follow after the evil deeds of the flesh, we choose the judgment of our deeds over the sacrifice of Jesus. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  May this be the context of my life. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit.  Daily as I continue to yield to the Spirit, may more of the flesh pass away.  As I come to the light and practice the truth, may I be judged through the work of Christ rather than by my own deeds.  I believe!   Amen.