For God so Loved the World
F-260 2019 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The prophetic word
The kingdom of Heaven
The Sermon on the Mount
Follow Me
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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Everyone knows that verse, and everyone knows it in old english,
If you ever decide you are going to relearn this verse in modern english, good luck
But when you think of this verse, do you immediately think of the context in which Jesus said it?
Where was he when he said it?
Who was he speaking to when he said it?
Do you remember?
He was speaking to Nicodemus, in private, at night.
Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin. At the time of Jesus, Jewish law and Jewish religion were one and the same. Our legal courts, and our religious systems are separate in this country, but not in first century Israel. Rome ultimately ruled Israel at that time, but they gave the Jewish people a lot of freedom to practice their religion and obey their own laws as long as they submitted themselves to Rome’s authority and paid their taxes. So the Sanhedrin was the Jewish ruling council made up of 71 members with the High Priest being the one at the top who had the final say so.
Nicodemus was one of those members and he came to Jesus at night to ask him questions about what Jesus had been teaching. Now the reason he came at night was obvious. He was afraid other people would see him and word would get back to the other members of the sanhedrin. … The ruling religious leaders, The sanhedrin, composed of Sadducees and Pharisees were opposed to Jesus from the very beginning, but there were at least some, such as Nicodemus who were willing to consider that Jesus was right and wanted to know, but didn’t want anyone to find out or he probably would have been outcast.
1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
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Now when Jesus said unless someone is born again, he is using a phrase that is a play on words.
let me give you an example:
what does this word mean?
Can
I Can drink Sunkist. (capability)
I Can drink a Can of Sunkist. (Metal object)
I Can drink a Can of Sunkist only if Lindsay says I Can. (permission)
Let me give you one more example:
There wasn’t a single man at the class reunion.
This is what Jesus did when he told Nicodemus that he must be born again. The word he used for again, Anothen, could also mean above.
Anothen — From above, top, or again,
it appears 13 times in the NT, and the CSB translates it as
4 — above
3 — top
3 — again
1 — very first
1 — from above
1 — for a long time
Later in the same chapter, John 3:31
31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all.
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He uses that same word, Anothen, to mean above
3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
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So when Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God, he is also saying, unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It is a play on words, which is why Nicodemus could not understand how you could be born again. Nicodemus was thinking of only physically being born again, whereas Jesus was meaning Spiritually.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
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Now there are a lot of opinions on what Jesus meant when he said unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But I think that the most simple answers are typically going to be the correct ones. Especially if it is supported by the context. I believe that when Jesus was referring to someone being born of water, he was referring to physical birth, and when he referred to being born of the Spirit, he was referring to spiritual birth.
When a woman goes into labor, what is one of the first warning signs. Her water breaks. Well 2,000 years ago it was the same process. The babies lived in “water” and were understood to be born “from” water. physical birth. But physical birth is not enough to enter heaven, there must also be a spiritual birth done by the Holy Spirit.
God describes this transformation process that He does through His Spirit, by changing us and placing His Spirit within us. God said through the prophet Ezekiel:
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.
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And in the New Testament He said
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
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John told us that he baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
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When Peter preached to the people at Pentecost after Jesus ascended back to heaven, they asked how they could be saved and he said
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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The apostle John talks about being born of God, like Jesus said you must be born again, or born from above, born of God:
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
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9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
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7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
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And John sums it all up in 1 John chapter 5:
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, 4 because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
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God describes to us in His word that when we turn from sin to Him, and place our trust in him, He will forgive us, come to live in us, and change us.
God is a trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible refers to all three living in you, if you are saved.
Holy Spirit in you:
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
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God in you
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
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Christ in you
7 The mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. 10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.
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The Holy Spirit Changes you, causes you to desire to do His will
13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
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And you will be different, and you will live different, you will produce fruit consistent with repentance.
8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.
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And so Jesus finished telling Nicodemus
5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. 10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
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