The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 6: (Born)²

Episode Date: May 16, 2021

God loved, so God gave. If you believe, then you receive eternal life. Visit coe22.com/john to download the journal, find series resources and more.

How we do it, church? Doing good. I hope so. I hope you're excited. You pick a great weekend to show up or to tune in because it is Beach Baptism weekend. Are you ready for it? And not only is it that, which is one of the best weekends of our whole year, but also the moment you decide you're going to teach verse by verse through the Gospel of John, then as a preacher,

you know can't wait to get to John 316. Because if you can't preach John 316, you just need to turn in your credentials. you ain't a preacher, you understand? It's probably the most famous verse. You know it well, because our very own Timmy Tebow wrote it on his face one time. Remember this? A bunch of years ago, during the National Championship.

They were playing Oklahoma. The name of his team slips me. I can't remember who he was flipped. But anyway, that's not the point. The point's Jesus. Hush, man. Listen, so 94 million people Googled John 316 while they were watching that game. And then three years later, to the day, when he's playing for the Broncos, I remember that team.

in the playoffs against the Steelers, and nobody likes the Steelers. You can't be a Christian and like the Steelers. The Bible says, thou shalt not steal. So, come on, give me a break. Read your Bible, people. But at the end of that game, they won. He had an 80-yard touchdown pass.

It was like a 20-yard pass, ran for 60 yards, but you get credit for it all. It's very gospel-esque there. And at the end of the game, three years later, turns out his PR guy runs up to him for the team and says, do you know what just happened? And he goes, what are you talking about? We just won a game.

Now we've got to get ready for whoever, probably the Patriots. And so, on that day, he threw for 316 yards. His rushing average was 3.16 yards. His yards per completion were 31.6. The ratings for the game on CBS was 31.6. The time of possession of the Steelers was 31 minutes and six seconds. And during that game, 90 million people Googled John 316 once again. And somebody asked him, what a coincidence.

And he said, do you call it a coincidence? I say big God. Amen? Now, but we're here to talk about football. Although we got some stuff to talk about here in Jacksonville again, praise God. But we ain't you, come on. We're here to talk about what it means to be born again. Grab your Bible's John Chapter 3.

We're six weeks in. We finally made it to Chapter 3. So if you're doing the math, it's going to take us, you know, six and a half years to get through the book of John, no problem. But why be in a hurry? Here we go, John Chapter 3, verse 1. Now, there was a man of the fairer. Pharisees named Nicodemus.

Nicodemus's name means victor over the people. So either he's arrogant or maybe his mama's arrogant, but they think Nicodemus is awesome. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews. And what this means, I tell you this all the time, the fact that he was a Pharisee, he was a really big deal in his town. He was like a professional religious person. He was supposed to know the Bible better than everybody else. and the reason that they were going to know the Bible,

listen, there's 613 laws in the Old Testament. They had memorized every single one, and their job was to make up rules about the rules to make sure you didn't break one of the laws. Like any of you grew up, like Super Southern Baptist, and you couldn't even say darn in your house because it sounded too much like the cuss words. You know what I'm talking about?

It's like this kind of thing. And Pastor Ryan Stone, Ryan Stone was not allowed to, when he would go to a restaurant, to, you know how you'd make, like we call it a suicide, you'd get like Coke and Diet Coke and orange and you know, you'd mix them all up. And his mom was like, no honey, that's a mixed drink. We aren't allowed to do that, okay?

That's the kind of thing. He couldn't drink the kind of root beer that came in a beer bottle because it might cause somebody to stumble. Okay, that's Nicodemus. And the reason that they would do this is so that they would be the first one to recognize the Messiah when he showed up.

They fell in love with the law and somehow they missed out on the lawgiver. And this, this man, Nicodemus, he came to Jesus by night. That's where we get Nick at night. That's what that's all about, okay? But you'll remember it, so you'll remember it. And it means a lot, man. When John's writing this, he's always operating on multiple levels at the same time.

Not only maybe Nicodemus comes because he's embarrassed, he's supposed to be the teacher of Israel, but he's got questions for this brand new rabbi with no credentials. Maybe he's embarrassed. Maybe he thinks he's going to get in trouble with the religious elite. And then not only this, you're going to remember that Jesus is the light of the world. And so a whole theme in the book of John is that Jesus comes to bring people from darkness to light. And so Nicodemus shows up by night. And he says to him, Rabbi, which, this is how we know that Nicodemus is not being antagonistic.

Because this is a sign of respect. This is the title of honor. And Jesus has no credentials. Jesus didn't sit up under a rabbi. The rabbi that he would sit up under was his Heavenly Father taught him everything he knows. But Nicodemus knows something's going on here. Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.

He's close, because Jesus is not just a teacher who has come from God. Jesus is God. But Nicodemus says, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And so far in the book of John, there's been two signs, cleansing the temple, water to wine. But you remember in John chapter 20, John lets us know that Jesus did so many signs and wonders and miracles that if he wrote them all down, there wouldn't be enough libraries in the world to contain it. And so now, word is getting out that Jesus is a miracle worker, that he's doing all of these signs.

And he's drawn to Jesus. And he respects Jesus. and he has legitimate questions for Jesus, and he's not anti-Jesus. He wants to be near him, he wants to be around him. But at this point, he's not born again. He doesn't know him. And I think I've said this several times just in the last few weeks.

It is my greatest fear as the pastor of this movement. Because tens of, actually hundreds of thousands of people tune in every week to hear what's going on here. And I'm always, listen, from right here, everybody, Y'all look like you're going to heaven from here, which will make me nervous, man. Please, please, please, don't just hang around church and hang around Jesus talk and hang around Jesus people and somehow miss out on Jesus. This is what he's doing. He shows up.

He's there. He respects him as a teacher, but he doesn't know him as Lord yet. And then Jesus answered him, which I think is great. Have you seen? Look at the text. Okay, look at, we're doing Bible study here. Look at the Bible. Has Nicodemus ask a question?

No, no. And then what Jesus does, Jesus doesn't even wait for you to verbalize your question because Jesus knows the heart questions of every human being. He knows what Nicodemus is looking for. He knows why Nicodemus shows up. And so Jesus answered him,

truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Here's what he says. Nicodemus just shows up. Hey, man, I feel. think you might be a teacher. And he goes straight to like PhD graduate level. He skips. There's no stories. There's no parables. He just goes right to the conclusion at the end. Hey, listen, I want you

to know, I'm not merely a rabbi. I'm the savior. If you're looking for a teacher, you come to the wrong place because I'm not simply a teacher of the word. I am the word who has become flesh and I am going to give my life as a ransom for many. Okay, I just want to jump to the conclusion too. Since Jesus did it, I want to do it. Over the next 42 minutes and four, three, two seconds, I am going to unpack the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ as he unpacks it to Nicodemus here. And my hope and prayer is that in 41 minutes and 53 seconds, you would surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and then make plans for Sunday to get your swimsuit on and go out into the ocean and declare him as your Lord and

and Savior and join the 311 people that are already signed up. So, That's my plan for your, okay? God loves you and I have a plan for your life. And my plan for your life is that today you would be born again. That's what we're going to. You see, because what Nicodemus is doing is Nicodemus shows up, and again, man, he's pro-Jesus, but he only knows him as a teacher. He doesn't know him as the sacrificial son of God.

And he's trying to get his head around it. but Jesus doesn't leave room for that kind of option. C.S. Lewis says it this way in mere Christianity. He says this, I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus, that I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg

or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

He is not merely a rabbi. He is the son of God, the Messiah. And so, Nicodemus shows up. And listen, man, maybe you showed up here with some questions, okay? And one of the things that's incredible is Nicodemus shows up at night under the cover of darkness, and Jesus doesn't look at him and say, how dare you? He just meets him right where he is. So no matter how you came in here, no matter what your questions are,

no matter where you are on your faith journey with Jesus, got really good news, he will meet you right where you are. He just loves you too much to leave you there. So he says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then, again, I think, I know Jesus knows everything, knows the heart of every man, and knows the heart of every man, and knows what Nicodemus is thinking. But I think because Nicodemus is a Pharisee, then Jesus thinks he can just go like graduate

level theology with him. And yet, when Jesus lays this truth out, unless you are born again, because think about this, what he is saying there, he's saying Nicodemus, I know you're a holy man, I know you're a good man, I know you're a religious man, I know you study your Bible, I know you go to Sunday school all the time, I know you tithe, I know you do all the things. But it's not like your three quarters of the way there. You are still no further along than anyone else who hasn't surrendered their life to me. because we're not saved by works.

Well, we are. We're saved by works. It's just Jesus' finished work on the cross that saves us. And so he says, unless you are born again, then verse four. I mean, it just goes right over Negademus's head. Negademus says to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus said, what do you?

Stop. What? No. Hold on. No. bro stop what are you talking about you got to go to seminary to understand the intricacies of the Greek here okay you see Nicodemus totally doesn't understand in which we've seen this over and over and over right every time Jesus has a spiritual

conversation with people so far in the gospel of John they miss the mark every time remember he asked the disciples what are you seeking and I think he's asking this like deep heart question like there's a hole in your soul and and it's missing, what are you seeking? And they're like, what's your address? Remember, goes right over their head? Or the temple thing? Like, what sign?

By what sign do you kick people out of the temple? He goes, I tell you what, you tear this temple down, I'll rebuild it in three days. He was talking about his crucifixion and resurrection, and they didn't know what he's talking about. And here with Nicodemus, he's like, he has no idea. How? How is that going to work out?

I don't think my mom's going to be stoked about this, okay? Mom, I know try one when I was eight pounds was rough, but I'm, you know, 48-year-old man now. This is going to be a doozy. And Jesus is like, oh, man, would you just hush? Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter to the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. what Jesus is saying here is that if you are born only once then you will die twice you will have a physical and a spiritual death

but if you are born twice both physically and spiritually then you will only experience the physical death and you will live eternally with Christ forever now if you don't know Christ that second death is crazy is that you continuously die but you never die this eternal separation is it means it means that literally, physically, you will be under the wrath of God forever and ever and ever and ever. I was a part of a funeral this week, and this precious lady at our church said this. She wanted us to share the gospel at the funeral because she said, because forever is a long time to be wrong. This is what he's saying to Nicodemus. Don't be surprised that I said this, unless one is born of water, because what happens when you're born? The water breaks. You're born physically. And born of the

spirit, that you're reborn into Christ. I think he's also referencing Ezekiel 36. In Ezekiel 36, somewhere in the 20s, God says, I'm going to sprinkle you with water, and I'm going to give you a new spirit. And then he goes on to say a very famous verse, and I'm going to tear out your heart of stone, and I'm going to give you a heart of flesh. Here's what he's talking about here, that it's not just a physical birth, but it is to be born again in Christ. Then verse 8, he says, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. And I think at this point, Nicodemus is like, I have no idea what you're talking about, okay? I just showed up, but I be like, hey, aren't you

a teacher from God? And you start talking about me and my mom getting weird, okay? They're being born again, and now the wind's blowing. Are you talking to me? Because I feel like you're saying words, I'm saying words and our conversations are just going all over the place, okay? And what Jesus is talking about is he's saying, listen, you can't control the wind. By the way, the word wind in the New Testament and the word spirit are the same word. It's from the Greek word, numia. You know this word like pneumonia? Numa means like wind and on you means not good or something.

I don't know what they mean. So, pneumonia. But you can't control the wind, you can't see the wind, but you cannot deny the effects of the wind. And Nicodemus is like, how can these things be? He totally doesn't understand. He doesn't understand anything that Jesus is saying. So let's just pause for a second. Ever be at church or read your Bible or talking to some Christian kind of person? And you understand the individual words that they are saying, but when you put them together in thoughts and sentences and paragraphs, you're like, I'm a little confused on the whole Jesus thing. Anybody here,

anybody ever reading your Bible and you're confused? Just me? Okay, good. All right. I got really good news for you. You can make a great disciple. You can make a great disciple. You see, because Nicodemus doesn't understand what's going on here at all. And yet, by the time we get to John chapter 19, spoiler alert, we're going to find out that I believe, a little bit of conjecture on my part. But then Nicodemus at that point in his life has surrendered his life to the Lordship of Christ. And the reason I believe that is because Nicodemus and Joseph of Merrimathia are going to go and take the body of Jesus down and put His. him in the grave, which means this. This Pharisee has gotten to the place where he understands, he knows, man, the law says if he touches a body, a dead body on the Sabbath, then he is defiled. And yet now he knows that it's not what he touches that defiles him. It's the fact that he has put his faith in Jesus Christ that that defilement has been washed away. So no matter where you start, nobody's got a head start on you. Because it's not necessarily about all the things you understand and know, it's just this. Do you know? It's just this. Do you

know Jesus. And so, verse 10, Jesus answered him, are you the teacher of Israel? And yet you don't understand these things? And he's like, nope. Verse 11. Truly, truly, truly, I say to you, listen to this. We speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. To which I think Negademus is like, is somebody with you? What are you talking about? And what he is talking about here is Jesus is a part of the cosmic we, the Trinity, one God in three persons. And what Jesus essentially is saying is, I and the Father are one. There's one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, in a perfect love submitted relationship with himself. And Jesus is saying, I am God. Now, a part of the way we know that Nicodemus is leaning

end to what Jesus is saying is this would be blasphemy if you claim divinity unless it's true. Then he goes on to say, if I have told you earthly things and you don't believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who has descended from heaven, the son of man. Now, this son of man is used, it's like 70-something times in the gospels. It was Jesus's favorite title for himself. It was a fulfillment of prophecy. see from Daniel that God would become a man. Jesus is saying right here, I am the one that you have been waiting for. You've been preparing your whole life to see the Messiah.

Open your eyes, bro. He's standing right in front of you. And a part of what he's saying here is you thought you would see the Messiah because you're a great rulekeeper, but you get to see the Messiah because I'm a great promise keeper. You see, you thought it was predicated upon behavior, but it's not. It's rooted in belief. you thought that your relationship with God

was built on religious activity, but it's not. It's a rescue mission that leads to a relationship like a new baby depended on his mom. And now what he's going to do is he is going to, after he realizes he's gone over Nicodemus' head, he's going to use two rabbinical teaching tricks to explain to make it plain. to Nicodemus. Now, I need you to see this, though. What Jesus says is this. No one has ascended

into heaven. This is what every other religion on the planet teaches, that it's up to you and your hard work to ascend to heaven. And Jesus is saying, that's not how it works. You see, the way it works is, I, from heaven, have descended to you. You know, it's kind of a common phrase these days to say, well, you know, I believe all religions are basically the same and all roads lead to heaven. The problem is, is what do you do if you're on that path trying to get to the top of the mountain and you find yourself at a place where it is an impassable and an impossible divide from where you are to the top of the mountain? The uniqueness of the claim of the good news of Jesus Christ is he does not stand on top of the mountain and beckon you by your efforts to make it

up to him, but he comes from the top on a rescue mission down to us. It's a part of the reason he uses this, this born-again analogy. Do you remember being born? Do you know how much effort you put into it? Did you get to choose your birthday? Did you get to choose your mama? Do you know what? Was everybody just waiting on you to do your part on the day that you were born? Uh-uh, uh-uh. There was somebody in the room working. It was. wasn't you. It wasn't you. I've seen it twice. It's not beautiful. That's a lot. But it's miraculous. And you are a product of somebody else's work. Just like in our salvation, the only thing you bring to your salvation is the sin that needs to be, that you need to be saved from.

That's it. So now what he's going to do is he's going to use this rabbinical trick. So, So, Nicodemus is a Pharisee, so he has memorized the first five books, probably all of the Old Testament, quite honestly, but for sure he's memorized the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. And so in one verse, Jesus is going to lay out the gospel for this guy that's an expert in the Old Testament. So he brings it down to his level, and he says this in verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Now, the moment he says this, then the Nicodemus, man, his mind goes back to Numbers 21, just like this. He knows this event. He has studied this event. He knows it backwards and forwards. And so in Numbers 21, this is what Jesus is talking about. Numbers 21, 4, it says this, and from Mount Orr, they set out by way of the Red Sea to go around land of Edom, and the people became impatient on the way. This is after Moses has gone to Pharaoh said, let my people go. God sends ten plagues. Pharaoh says, let the people go. Then they

marched through the Red Sea on dry ground, this miraculous liberation of God's people out of Egypt. And so that's what has just happened. And the people spoke against God. They're complaining. Now, the reason that God saved them is because the Bible says that God heard their cries and answered their prayer. And now the people are complaining about the thing earlier they were praying for. Can you believe people would act that way? Anybody complain about your job this week? You remember a few years ago and you're like, dear Lord, please let them hire me? And now you're complaining about a prayer request that God said yes too. How about this one? Do you ever complain to God about your kids?

You bet, oh dear God, please get me a baby. And then you get them, you're like, well, not this one. You know what I'm saying? People hadn't changed. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water. That's a lie because he gave him something to eat and drink every single day.

And we loathe this worthless food. And the Lord sent fiery. That word fiery means poisonous. And the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people. and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.

So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. And everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. And so Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a servant bit anyone, he would look. look at the Bronze Serpent and live. So Nicodemus knew that account. And Jesus is saying, just like that, Nick, that's me.

You see, first and foremost, Nicodemus, every single one of us have rejected God. You see, the big problem with sin is that I in the middle. The big problem with you and me is that big I right in the middle of it all. Because that's ultimately what sin is. And when we say, forget you, God, I do what I want with who I want when I want. And that's what they did. That's what we all have done. And every single one of us, like the people in Numbers 21, we are snake-bitten.

That means we got something running through. We got poison running through our veins. And the reason we do is because the heart of the problem is we have a heart problem. Every single one of us by nature and nurture are born, wretched, wretched, crooked and depraved. I don't have enough bad worse to say, sinner. That's what we are. And if you're like, who are you to call me a sinner? An expert sinner.

That's who I am. I mean, think about it. You can't even keep your own promises. Right? What if God only judged you based on the things you said you should do, you would never do again? What if that was all he judged you on? Anybody rocking that one? Anybody perfect?

Anybody? Anybody who want to raise their hand and just call out the pride and the egomaniac that you are? Anybody? See? Every single one of us know this, that we're snake-bitten. And the thing is, man, when the poised. on the inside, there's no outside in process that's going to help you or save you or fix you. You can't risk rub ointment on the outside of it. And even if you kill the snake that bites you,

it doesn't do anything to help you. Man, last summer, I was actually working on the John series. I'm sitting down in my little back area, and I just had like board shorts on, no shoes. I was out there for a couple of hours working, working, working. Gretchen lets the dogs out, and they came running around me, and my dogs loved the lower. And they had this. snake bark and they went crazy and behind a little bow target that I have right there I moved it out of the way and there was a big old fat water moccasins just oh yeah you're right I never felt so like naked and afraid in my whole life so I had an arrow out there and I held him down with this and Gretchen brought me an axe because the Bible says his divine

power has given us everything we need for life and godliness and what he gave me that it was an axe and I chopped that thing's head off blood splattered on me. I felt pretty awesome. Don't ooh me. Then I took that snake out and I hung it in a tree in my backyard so he could tell all his evil brothers and sisters that came from the pit of hell.

You stay out of the martin yard. We are protected by the blood of the lamb. That's what I'm saying. It didn't think. Yeah, when we see snakes in my house, we kill them all. Some people are like, there's good snakes. You don't read your Bible, people, okay? Good ones are dead.

But what's happening here is the people are snake-bitten, and God says, here's the cure. There's nothing you can do to fix what's going on on the inside of you. So take a bronze serpent, which is also the same word for fiery or poisonous, and you take the very thing that's killing you, and you raise it up, you lift it up, and whoever, whoever lifts their eyes up to this bronze serpent that is high and lifted up, I will cure them from the inside out. I will give them an alien cure, an alien antidote. And Jesus says, you remember that one, Nick? He's like, oh yeah, totally remember that. He goes, yeah, that's what I'm going to do. That God's going to make me, who has no sin, to be sin. And anyone that would believe in me,

I will take their poison and I will give them the antidote. I will become sin and I will impute them with my righteousness. Paul would say it this way. In the book of Galatians, he says, says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, blessed as everyone, or cursed it is everyone who was hanged on a tree. And now I think, Nicodemus is starting to, he's like, okay, I get this. You're not here to just teach stuff. You're here to be the sacrificial lamb. And so he says, he says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up

that whoever believes in him has eternal life. Now he's going to break down what belief means and he's going to break down what eternal life means. And then we get to the famous verse, John 316. And John 316 is actually another rabbinical trick. You see, when he says John 316, there would have been some things that would have been shocking like when he said for God so loved the world

because most people think God just loves their people. and Jesus is like, no, no, no, no, no, my father loves the all peoples. But the moment he says these words, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The moment he began to do that, there was another rabbinical trick. In Greek, it's called proto-logos, first words. And the first time many of these words in John 316 were used like the love of a father for his son the sacrifice or giving up only begotten son,

all of these words, the first time they were ever used is back in Genesis chapter 22, verse 2. And it was describing the love of Abraham for Isaac. And so again, again, he's an expert in the old covenant. He's an expert in the Old Testament. So the moment he says, for God, so loved the world, he gave his only begotten or one and only son, then Nicodemus would have known

the first time those words are used is the description of Abraham's love for his only begotten son, Isaac. It's called a remez. What a remez means is that a rabbi would just give you a part of a verse so that your mind would go there and you could fill in the rest of it, and then he could just expound on that. It happens today. Like, if I want to know who my people are that grew up in the 90s,

if I just go, regulators, all right, there's my people, all right? Now, and if you're like, where are we mountain? What are we doing? Who's mountain? What's going on? Okay, you're either too young or too old. You ain't like in my sliver, okay? It happens the other way too.

Like if I just do this, I could divide the room this way. If I just go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Or if you're older than me, then you're going to pressure. And if you're my age, you're going to stop, collaborate, and listen. And if you've never heard that before, and I don't know your music, because it's terrible. So, sorry. So that's what he's doing. He wants Nicodemus's mind to go to Abraham and Isaac, and then he explains what it means to have

eternal life. He says, for, four, this is, this is why God saves. For God, our salvation is initiated by Him. So loved. The word so there, in Greek, you can put this little word in, in there, and it is a multiplier. He didn't sort of love you. He didn't kind of love you. He didn't love you just enough. He amplified, he magnified, he multiplied his. He multiplied his. love. And the Bible says that God is love, that love is an inexhaustible resource. So all that God is, he poured out on us at the cross of Jesus Christ. Oh, what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we would be called children of God. This isn't just a little sprinkling of love. By the way, part of the reason we dunk you on Sunday in the ocean is because we didn't

just spring, and I'm like, look at a little bit. No, man. It means dip dunk submerged, but I want you to be submerged in the love of God. Like God's love toward us, poured out at the cross by Jesus Christ. It's like when any crazy people on the Weather Channel go to the hurricane, you know, and they're like, here we are, Ted, and they're just getting like overwhelmed. Like, this is crazy. Everybody should be home, but I'm out here. It's awesome, okay?

That's the love of God that, like, overwhelms us that comes out of heaven through the cross of Jesus Christ. And that word so, it also, it doesn't, it's not only a magnifier or an amplifier, but it can be translated, this is the way in which God loved. For God loved us in this way that he gave. He did something. He didn't just feel something. He didn't just see us all snake-bitten and hope it works out for you, but he made a way for us to be reconciled.

That he is the just and the justifier. That he gave his only begotten son. ESV says one and only. the King James has only begotten it's a hard translation the Greek word you'll be able to translate this Greek word monogenes

mono one genus one gene it literally it means like of the same essence for God so love the world that he gave his one and only son he gave he sacrificed

his one and only son that whoever would believe in him wouldn't perish but have eternal life. And when Nicodemus hears this, he's thinking, Genesis 22, 2, and God says to Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. You see, just in case you're new to Bible study, Abraham's this guy way back in the Old Testament, and God, not because Abraham was awesome, but because God is awesome, God just chooses his, His name is Abram.

He was an old guy. He's like 80 years old. And he picks him and he says, all right, bro, I want you to move. Where, God? I'll tell you when you get there. Then he goes to his wife and says, baby, pack it up, we're moving.

Where are we going? God said he would tell us when we get there. And she went with him. You want to talk about faith, okay? I can't get the people with my last name to get in the truck if I don't tell them the name and address of the restaurant. But that's the different, sir.

And then the Bible says that Abraham trusted God and it was counting. to him as righteousness. And then the book of Hebrew says, and Abraham was a friend of God. And then God makes this promise. You're going to have a son. You're going to have a son. Now he's 80 when he gets the promise. It takes about 20 years for the promise to show up. Anybody ever noticed that God's on his own time table? And so he says, and through this son, through this seed, you are going to be a blessing of many nations and you are going to be Abraham, his first name, meant father and he changed his name to Abraham, which means father of many nations.

And he says, go count the stars. How many stars are there? He's like a lot. He's like, right. You're going to have that many offspring. Count the sand on the seashore. How much is that? I think more than the stars. Right. You're going to have that many kids. And what he was talking about is that from the line of Abraham, Jesus would come. And then when everything, when God finally comes through, when God finally fulfills his promise. Right when he thinks everything is going to be okay, the Bible says that God tests Abraham. Test Abraham. And he says these words, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. And so, that word only son, monogenes of the same essence. And you

look at that, you're like, whoa, whoa, if you've been around a Bible study, you're like, but Abraham has another son named Ishmael, but here's the thing. Ishmael was not the promised son. Ishmael was a result of Abraham, not being Abraham and his wife, Sarah, not being patient to wait on God and him to fulfill his promises. So he said, you said we were going to have a kid, so I'm going to take matters into my own hands. And he slept with his maid servant.

That Ishmael is a picture of what workspace righteousness is. Ishmael is, he is the personification of Roman's child. chapter three, that no one will be declared righteous by his own works of the law. Ishmael is a picture of who Nicodemus was. I thought I could just be good enough to ascend to heaven. And God said, no, it doesn't work like that. And he says, so take your only son. And then what's crazy is that even though Hebrews gives us a little commentary on this, is that even though Abraham didn't know exactly how it was going to work, he knew that God could be trusted. because God is who he says he is and he always keeps his promises.

And there's no way his dead son could be a blessing to all the nations. And so they get to Mount Moriah and he takes his boy who was probably, he wasn't like a little kid because he could talk and he could carry wood. He could make a fire and he could think like, hey, dad, we've got the fire, we got the wood, where is the sacrifice? And he says, the Lord will provide. That's what Mariah means. The Lord will provide.

and they walk up there and Abraham believes that either God's going to resurrect him son or something's going to happen because he tells the service you wait here we're going to worship we will be back and he gets to the top of the mountain and he raises the knife in obedience

and an angel of the Lord says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't do it, don't do it. There's a substitute with his head caught in the thicket that there is a male lamb and his head is stuck in some thorns. Sound familiar? You see, this whole Abraham and Isaac thing isn't even ultimately

about a father's sacrifice of his son. It's about the father's sacrifice of the son for our salvation. That's what he's talking about. You see, Jesus said, Nicodemus, it's like that. You remember that picture with Abraham and Isaac and he's got him here and he lifts up the knife to sacrifice his son? And then God steps in and says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There is a substance. There is a substitute. Don't sacrifice your son. We'll use mine. I'm here. That's me. That's what happens. Now, think about this, man. Think about this. I love y'all. I mean, I do. I love you more than I have words to describe. There are times when I am in prayer for the people in our church and I am overwhelmed with emotion. I love you so much, but I ain't giving up my kids for none of y'all.

I mean, if the sacrifice of my children were a requirement for you to go to heaven, y'all all going to hell. Just me and my three other ones are being in heaven with Jesus and rather to be empty, okay, because ain't nobody going. Because you know how much you love your kids? I mean, ain't no pain like kid pain, is there? No pain like kid pain. And God knows that pain.

Because God so love you that he's sacrifice. His only begotten, his one and only son, that whosoever would believe in him, trust in him would not perish but have eternal life. And when he's talking about eternal life, John later is going to say this in John 173, and this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That eternal life is not just that when we get to heaven, there's plenty of food, streets of gold, and nobody walks with a swagger or a limp, and nobody's crying. anymore and you get to see all your friends. No, no, no. Eternal life is you get him. Because he is

what you were created for. You were created by God and for God. That the engine of your soul, the only fuel, this is a little sensitive subject right now, okay? The only fuel that you were meant to live on is him. And I got some good news. He never runs out. Ever, ever, ever. That's eternal life. And so Jesus says, for God so loved the world that he gave, his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him, would not perish, but have everlasting life. And then he keeps going. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. That Jesus did not show up here to condemn you. And then he explains it, but in order that the world might be saved through him, whoever believes in him

is not condemned. And the native tongue of our enemy is condemnation. and listen man some of you grew up in some churches and every time you went you felt condemned I'm just telling you you're not doing it right if you think Christianity is about condemnation then you're not doing it right condemned means

condemned is when the enemy lies to you condemnation is a building term it means unfit for use it's when the enemy starts giving you those whispers and starts telling you God can't love you because of the things you have done because of the things you struggle with because of who you are.

And what Jesus is going to show up and show us is this, is that our identity is received. It's not achieved. And the enemy does not want you to believe that. The enemy wants you to think you are your divorce. You are your affair. You are your sin. You are your addiction.

And what's to slap a big label on you and says, you are condemned. And Jesus makes it very clear. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. but an order that the world might be saved through him. You see, the enemy tries to define you by your scars. Jesus says, I'm going to define you by mine. And therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, Jesus.

That he died on the cross, that we could be saved and set free. And then he goes on to say, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. Listen, there's no neutral here. There's no neutral. You are drowning and Jesus is the lifesaver. And he says, and this is the judgment.

The light is coming to the world and the people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed, but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen

that his works have been carried out in God. He says, whoever believes in him is not condemned. Whoever believes. But there is no neutral. If you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ, then you already stand condemned because by nature and nurture, we are sinners before a holy holy,

Holy God. And C.S. Lewis, he says, listen, man, it's like an egg. You can't just stay an egg. Here's the way he says it. He says, it may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird. It would be a jolly sight harder for a bird to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. You cannot go on indefinitely just being an ordinary, decent egg. We must hatch or go bad.

That's us. That's us. You either hatch and are transformed into what God. God has called you to be a son or daughter of his, or you continue in the trajectory that your life is going, and you will be condemned forever. But the good news of the gospel is that whoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life.

And that whoever means whoever. If you're in the whoever category, I've got good news. Put your faith in Jesus Christ, and you can be saved. And if you were to say, yeah, but you don't know what I've done, then apparently you don't know what Jesus did on the cross. Listen, I'm not trying to make light of sin. I'm not. Sin is such a big deal that the perfect righteous son of God had to die on a cross in order for it to be paid for. It is that enormous, but God's love is so enormous that he willingly did that for you, because he demonstrated his love

for us and this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. And so if you begin to think, well, God couldn't save me, I would like to just lovingly say, who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Because all the sin that you can manage and muster up is like a little tick on the back of an elephant of God's grace poured out for you at the cross. You can never out sin the grace of God. That's not license to sin. That's freedom from it. Whoever, whoever, whoever.

And you know what? Who else? Whoever includes? He ain't talking to a rebel here. He's talking to a religious guy. So you know what this means if you grew up in church? Whether it was Catholic or Episcopal or Baptist or whatever, I got good news. You can get saved too.

You can. Sometimes it's harder because you think your RA badge is going to do something for you. You think First Communion is going to put you over the edge. You think something that you have done is somehow going to merit favor with God. Nah, man. That is you trying to ascend to the presence of God. But this is a rescue mission. a drowning man can do nothing to save himself.

In fact, the Bible says that apart from Christ, we were dead in our trespasses. What do dead people do? Not much. Not much. And we were dead in our trespasses, but God, who is rich in mercy, sit Christ on the cross to pay for our sin,

to pay the full price that we could be made alive in Christ. And that counts for whoever believes. believe in Greek is Pestuo. Pestuo. I don't love that it is translated believe in English because when we hear believe, there's a whole bunch of southern people that go to church and they believe all the things about Jesus

that are true. But this word is like, do you trust him? Do you know him? Have you said, I am going to lean my life against you. Maybe you've heard this phrase. Well, Christianity is just a crutch. Oh no, friend. It's much worse than a crutcher. It's like a stretcher. It ain't a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of me trying to hobble up into heaven. No, no, no. I was dead in my trespasses and they just put me on the stretcher and Jesus toted me across the line. That's what believe is. That's what believe is. So here's the point. Here's John 316, kind of in some different words. God loved, so God gave. If you believe, then you receive eternal life. that your identity is received, not achieved.

It's received, not achieved. And so, again, it seems to me that the evidence in the New Testament is that Nicodemus has this conversation with Jesus, and somehow the lights come on, okay? Now, I'm not trying to put him in heaven, but I ain't trying to put him in hell either, okay? By the time you get to John chapter 19, it seems to me that Nicodemus, he's going to show back up,

and he's going to break all kind of Old Testament laws because he's not putting his faith in his performance anymore. Apparently he's putting his faith in the work of Christ on the cross. Somehow, it seems to me, he believed that when Jesus said the word, Tettlestai, it is finished that it counted for him. That's what it means to believe. It means to admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.

it means to put my trust in somehow when Christ died on the cross that counted for me and then it means just to confess him as Lord and what Lord means is I've tried it my way for all of my life up to this point and God I'm turning over the reins to you I'm not in charge of me anymore you are it doesn't mean all your questions are answered it doesn't mean that all your doubts are taken away it doesn't mean that life's going to be easy. Uh-uh. No, it just means that whoever would believe that when Christ died on the cross,

it counted for them that you would be made a child of God. Now, let me tell you what's happening inside of some of you right now. Some of you right now are like, okay, just do it, man, do it. I'm ready right now, I'm doing. Actually, you're already saved, okay? We'll get to you in a second. But what's going on on the inside of you is that the Spirit of God is ripping out your heart of stone.

He's taking the scales off of your eyes. He's cleaning out your ears. So for the very first time, you could begin to hear John 316, not as just verses on an eye black or not just verses on a screen, but a personal invitation to you. For God so loved you. You. that he sacrificed the second person of the Trinity, God the Son,

so that if you would just say, all right, God, I'm going to trust you instead of me, that he lavishes love upon you. He would give you the right to be called a child of God that you would receive eternal life. That's what's happening. And if you were to say, how do I do that? How do I do that? Then you just do it. You just surrender.

You just surrender. You just admit it. All right, God, I'm a sinner in need of a savior. I believe somehow when you died on the cross, that counter for me. Somehow, I believe John 316 applies to me and I confess you as Lord. And the Bible says you have been born again. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say for the very first time, Pastor, that's me. That's me. Even if you heard it 10,000 times before, but today for the very first time you are ready to be born again, not based on your work, but the finished work of Christ,

you're ready to admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe when Christ died on the cross somehow it counted for me. And right now I confess him as my Lord and Savior. If that's you, raise your hand high. Say, Father, here I am. I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Praise God, praise God. Hold it up high and say, Father, here I am. I surrender. I believe that when you died on the cross, it counted for me. I want to be born again. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, we love you because you love us first.

We thank you. We praise you. that you would send your son on a rescue mission. And God, we thank you that you came for whosoever, not just people that look like us, believe like us, and those kinds of things, but whosoever would put our faith in you, that you would adopt us into your family.

You would wipe our sin away, that you would give us your perfect record, and you would call us beloved children of God. God, I thank you, and I praise you, for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, I thank you that it's not our doing that saves us, but it has been done. It is finished at the cross once and for all. And Lord, I pray for every man, every woman, every student that right now is surrendering their life to you.

Lord, I pray that they would be set free to walk in freedom. That the chains, the shackle, the penalty of sin would just fall to the ground. And that we would walk in a manner worthy of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus' name. Amen. Church, would you please stand to your feet? We are going to respond. We respond by bringing our ties and offerings. We respond by singing.

And then when we get done, at least a hundred more of you are going to respond by going to the baptism class, all right? And so if there is any nudge in you to do it, let me just remind you some of the best discipleship advice in the Bible a couple weeks ago, what Mary told the service. Just do what he tells you to do. So let us sing, let us bring, let us pray. Let's respond.