A religious leader goes to Jesus 'at night' to talk about the Lord's miracles and how he believed that Jesus was a teacher sent from God...
John 3 (cont.)Jesus goes directly to the need of being born again... He doesn't focus on the miracles but on the real need of the inner man, the reason for the miracles.
John 3 (cont.)Nicodemus talks about his physical birth and wants to know how he can enter again into his mother's womb again. Jesus answers with being born of water (the physical birth), and being born of Spirit (the spiritual birth) and then emphasizes the NEED of the second birth. Jesus then compares the second birth, born of the Spirit to the wind. The wind comes from just about anywhere and goes anywhere at anytime AND so it is with everyone born of the Spirit. It can be just about anyplace, anytime, anywhere and we don't know when it can happed but we MUST answer the call... People see the effects of the wind and they WILL see or even feel the effects of his Spirit in their lives as he works, ministers, convicts, etc.
John 3 (cont.)Nicodemus is confused. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is a master in Israel and he doesn't understand these things and they are earthly (things that must occur while on earth) then he surely can't comprehend or understand the heavenly things.
John 3 (cont.)
This is a super interesting verse... and super complicated to me. A few thoughts... Jesus as the Son of God knows all things and the bible tells me in Eph. 2:6,
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"
In the mind of God, we are there now since he doesn't live in time.
If we who are born of God can be seated in heavenly places then certainly the Son of Man can be...
So this "son of man" was caught up into "paradise", the third heaven. So we can be in heaven and still here, so to speak. (More later).
John 3 (cont.)Here we see that those who looked to the serpent on the pole in the O.T. were delivered, healed, saved in the physical since the serpent was a type of Christ.
Going to Numbers 21:8,9
Keep in mind that our God is a consuming fire (Ck. Heb. 12:29)
Those who won't look to Jesus Christ for salvation will experience the fiery wrath of God as those in Numbers experienced the fiery wrath of God by not looking to the serpent on the pole. Jesus then goes on to talk about the awesome love of God. How he came to a condemned world to set mankind free. Mankind loves evil, darkness. Whether it is the evil evil or the good evil. Mankind prefers his own way to God's way. So we need light to draw us out of darkness. (EXAMPLE: Bug killers... Bug killers draw bugs out of the darkness and then it kills them, that is what happens to us in the spiritual realm, we are convicted of our sins by the light of Jesus Christ, we come to him and he kills us and then raises us to a new life in Christ Jesus.) When you come to the light, be ready to die, that is the old sinful man and walk in the resurrection life of God. (CF. Gal. 2:20)
More comments: Also on vs. 20,21-- We all hated the light since he is the way, the truth, and the life then his way, his truth, his life bearing light brought us out of darknes so now we see whether our works, deeds, words are wought in God.
This is regarding baptism and purifying..
Baptism is a picture of what happened to us when we accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior. Let's start with Colossians 2:12 and tie it with some more verses in God's word like I Peter 3:21. It starts out "The like figure" which makes it plain that it's a type or picture of something that has already happened. The ark on the flood waters is the type, our salvation in Christ (the true ark) is the antitype. The water simply cut off the righteous from the sin and sinner of that day. The ark alone saved. So baptism is for the saved, but itself cannot save, except as a picture (figure) of the saved candidate having been cut off from the sinner and their doom. Christ alone can save, and that because of His resurrection (see Romans 4:25). No external rite can save- 'not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God.'(Check I Peter 3:21 used above) By the consciousness of sin removed by Christ's blood (Hebrews 9:14). Now let's go to John 3:23. John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets (see Luke 16:16) was using types as every Old Testament prophet did before him. By the time that you get to John 3:30, John must have known that Jesus was issuing in the new covenant (testament) and God in human flesh was fixing to take the center stage of history. He wasn't going to baptize with water but with the Holy Ghost and fire (see Luke 3:16, John 1:33). Finally we come to Matthew 3:13-16 and if we go back to verse 11, it should help clear this one up too. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change brought to pass by Christ and His shed blood. Even Paul said in I Corinthians 1:17-18, that he was not sent to baptize but to preach the Gospel (God's news) to a lost world. (Also read I Corinthians 15:3,4).
In conclusion for point #7, I would like to share the three modes of water baptism and why they are used.
This reminds me of John 19:10,11,which says,
"10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
"11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
The power, the position that we have comes from God so we better rightly use that power, we are held accountable for what he has given us to work with...
John 3 (cont.)John made it plain that he was not the Christ but was sent to usher him in... All of the ones in the wedding watch and wait for the bridegroom... He must be the center of attention and he will exalt his bride to her rightful place.
John 3 (cont.)Jesus is from above, he is the last Adam... He accomplished what Adam fell from... Jesus walked in perfect righteousness, purity, holiness, power, etc.
John 3 (cont.)Remember what I said before... God will not give his glory to another... (Isa. 42:8) Jesus didn't say those who believe on the Father have everlasting life... He DID SAY those who believe on him...