Summary: Nicodemus had been confronted with the fact that his religious zeal would not make him righteous before God. It is only by being “born again” through the work of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins that we are forgiven and restored to a true relationship with God.

The mark of a true learner is his or her willingness to be corrected of an erroneous belief or idea that would tend to deter them from seeking the truth about a subject of interest or topic of discussion. They are not so immovable in their thinking to where they refuse to consider anything else but their set opinion or ideology.

When we read of the encounter between the Pharisee Nicodemus and the Lord Jesus in this chapter, we are witnessing a man who was knowledgeable in the customs, traditions, and the Scriptures that had defined what it meant to be a follower of God and someone who showed devotion and zeal in his faith. He was also willing to be taught by the Master Teacher on what it really meant to love God and have an authentic relationship with Him. Nicodemus looked like he had everything in order as far as his religious fervor was concerned, and on the outside, the public viewed him as godly and sincere in his faith. He greeted Jesus with a compliment and a recognition that He was someone sent from God due to the miracles and teachings He had presented thus far to the people of Israel.

We can commend Nicodemus for having an attitude of respect and genuine interest in the work of the LORD. He was not hostile or indifferent towards Jesus as some of his fellow Pharisees who thought they had their religious act together.

In our last study, Jesus had waived off Nicodemus’ accolades and got to the point in their discussion. He told Nicodemus of the need to be “born again” in order to have a genuine relationship with God. Nicodemus had been confused about the term as he thought it referred to re-entering his mother’s womb and repeating the birthing process that brought him into the world. Jesus corrected his thinking by presenting a birth that involved the soul within humanity, the essence of who we are, and that part of our design that was meant to commune with God.

Our souls needed to be revived from their state of death brought upon us by the sins we bear, the lineage of sin brought down through the ages by the act of the first man, Adam, the federal head of the human race (Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23, 5:12-14; 1 Peter 2:3). We are the inheritors of the sin nature, and we tend to act accordingly, as evidenced by the wickedness we have done throughout history (Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-18).

Because we are born in sin, our souls are dead in sin and, like a corpse, cannot be brought back to life save for the grace of God. Salvation is not through any system of works or deeds we do in our own strength but is totally a work of the LORD and Him alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2). Anyone who teaches anything contrary to what Jesus Christ has done for us through His sinless sacrifice of His life for our sins on the cross is to be cursed (Galatians 1:8-9). Jesus Christ will not share with anyone or any other means the total and finished work He accomplished on our behalf. God Incarnate took it upon Himself to rescue us from the hell we deserve for our rebellion and hatred towards Him (Romans 5:6-11).

Jesus used an illustration from Israel’s past to show Nicodemus that by looking to the LORD alone, we can be rescued from the poison of sin.

During the time of the sojourn in the wilderness, where the people of Israel had been condemned by God to wander as a punishment for their unbelief and cowardness for not crossing into the Promised Land and conquering it, they were in a constant state of complaining against Moses and the will of God (Numbers 24:1-10). Therefore, the LORD sent poisonous serpents to go among the rebellious Israelites and bite them, causing them to die. They cried out to Moses for help and forgiveness against their complaining, and God told Moses to make a carving of a serpent from bronze and place it on a pole so that anyone who looked upon it would live.

Jesus told Nicodemus that He, like that symbol Moses erected before the people of Israel, would be lifted up (John 3:14-15) and be the permanent sign and seal of redemption and healing from the curse of sin that was upon humanity. He then says the words that are the Gospel message in a nutshell (John 3:16). It was the death of Jesus Christ that provides the only means for the “new birth” He was teaching to Nicodemus, and to us as well.

The sinner (all of us) must come to faith in Christ alone for salvation, believing that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures (Isaiah 53:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8), that He was buried, proving His actual death by being in the grave three days and nights, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. This is the Gospel that saves, but it is powerless to save unless the sinner believes it (Romans 1:16-17). This is the crux of what it means to trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to live a life that is pleasing to Him and that is under His control and direction (Matthew 16:25; Luke 14:25-35; John 14;15, 15:8; 1 John 3:21-22).

The sad fact is that the world prefers to reside in its self-made darkness, loving it and being covered by its alleged sense of security from the eyes and judgment of God (Hebrews 9:27). Our self-made darkness that envelops every unredeemed individual in this world cannot stand to be exposed by the light of the Gospel and the fact of salvation through Jesus Christ and not our own efforts. It is our own efforts, teachings, lifestyles, and other wicked deeds that rightly sentence us to the eternal hell we deserve (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15).

We do not deserve mercy or anything else from God, yet, in His Sovereign grace, He chose to rescue us from just such a punishment. He has made the way for us to have eternal life, freedom from the bondage of sin and the certainty of hell, and to have fellowship with Him and all the redeemed of history in a heaven that our poor words cannot adequately describe (1 Corinthians 2:8-9; Revelation 21:1-7). This is the “new birth” that Jesus freely offers to us, but the time to do so is NOW (2 Corinthians 6:2). Salvation is a free gift, and all you have to do is say “YES.”

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www.realitycityreverend.com

My YouTube broadcasts titled “The Reality City Review” will be posted on Facebook, GETTR, Parler, and on my website when completed. My main area of discussion will be on the basics of the Christian faith but will also deal with prophetic issues and other topics as the Lord impresses upon me to handle.

 

 

Today, we see signs in many places that say, “Pray For America, or “Make America Great Again,” or even “Heal Our Land.” While all this is great on the surface, if we take a real look at God’s prophecies that are in His Holy Word, we are witnessing earth’s rapid advancement toward the end of this age. The Father’s prophecies are totally accurate and right on time. The next major events that will happen are the Rapture, the Ezekiel 38 war, and the 7-year tribulation. Other events such as the pandemic, increasing earthquake activity, increase in evil, open satanic activity, turning away from the Lord, and increase in hate are just preludes to the rise of the new world order and the introduction of the “lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2). (ESV – all emphasis mine)

America is not alone in all the changes, as they are happening worldwide. Instead of looking to our Creator for the right answers, many humans believe the answer to their issues are right here, and they don’t need the help of an unseen deity. Problem is they’re following an unseen devil.

For a look at the obvious, from the moment of the first sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), and all the way up to today, our ratio for death is 1:1. That figure will continue right up until the second that there is a “cry of command, with the voice of an archangel; and with the sound of the Trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16b-17). There will be some who will never die.

We’re told in 1 Corinthians 15:52 that the above event takes place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Those who were raised from the dead will receive new bodies, and those who were caught up while still alive will have their bodies converted into “immortal forever” bodies. Everyone that the Lord gathers up to meet Him will never face pain or death again. Also, with the shedding of our human bodies that are cursed due to sin, we will not be subject to fall into sin ever again.

1 John 3:2-3; “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.”

Up to now, only two people left this earth without dying. They were Enoch in Genesis 5:24 and Elijah in 2 Kings 2:9-12. There are those who say that Jesus was also “Raptured,” and that is accurate. The difference is He fulfilled the actual reason He was on earth in human form to begin with, by offering Himself as the only sacrifice for our sins that the Father could ever accept.

Two points here; when Jesus was placed in Mary’s womb, His pure, sinless blood never mixed with hers, and He did not have the blood of Joseph within Him. He is truly the only human that never sinned and therefore maintained the pure blood required to pay for our sins. Even more personal – my sins.

While Jesus was in human form on this earth, He carried several different descriptive titles. He was known as the Good Shepherd, The Great Physician, the Christ (anointed One), the Son of Man, the Son of God, and numerous others.

In John 10, Jesus Himself claimed the title of “Good Shepherd.” In verse 11, He said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” That would be all who would receive and accept Him as their Savior. Also, He was not forced to die for us. As verse 18 states, He did so of His own accord. Going back to verse 16, Jesus made it very clear that He was here not only for the Jews but for all who would, “Listen to My voice.”

As the Great Physician, Jesus healed countless people from every disease and disability imaginable. He drove demons out of people who were possessed, and He even raised several people back to life that had died. While this was absolutely wonderful, each one that He brought back to life ultimately died again, including His friend Lazarus.

While someone may think this was a cruel irony, we take heart in the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. Anyone who died and was in the will of God before Calvary went to a place of peace, comfort and joy. It would be hard to imagine that any of the souls that Jesus brought back to life would not believe in Him afterward, and right up to the time they died again. All who have accepted Him from Calvary forward will be with Him forever.

There are a couple of good songs today that describe our Great Physician. One by Casting Crowns is called “Healer.” It is the most current and reflects today’s world as needing Hope and Strength that we can only find in Jesus. As an example, the refrain is, “We need the Healer; we don’t need another Hero. We need the Healer, deep down every hurting heart knows. We need the Healer, and only Jesus is the Healer.”

One other song is titled “The Gentle Healer” By Michael Card from 1985. It seems like a very simple song, but the meaning runs deep. In fact, the last verse is from John 14:6, which happens to be my life verse.

1.) The Gentle Healer came into our town today. He touched blind eyes, and the darkness left to stay. More than the blindness, He took their sins away; the Gentle Healer came into our town today.

2.) The Gentle Healer came into our town today. He spoke one word; that was all He had to say. The one who had died just rose up straight away. The Gentle Healer came into our town today.

3.) Oh, He seems just like an ordinary man, with dirty feet and rough but gentle hands. The words He says are hard to understand. And, yet, He seems like just an ordinary man.

4.) The Gentle Healer, He left our town today. I just looked around and found He’d gone away. Some folks from town had followed Him; they say that the Gentle Healer is the Truth, the Life, the Way.

Whether it’s on a worldwide, national, or individual level, there’s only one solution to our healing. That would be our Creator, which includes Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. John 1:1 is a testimony about our Savior; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Numerous Bible passages tell us that if we have Jesus as our Savior, we have the Father and eternal life in Heaven. The song gives the first part of John 14:6, and the last part is, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Consider this: our Heavenly Father sent a precious part of Himself to our sin-filled world to die a cruel death on a cross so that everyone could have a pathway to paradise. Is it not fitting and just that He requires us to do just three things? 1.) Admit we are sinners in need of a Savior and cannot save ourselves. 2.) Believe and have faith that Jesus is that Savior and our only pathway to the Father. 3.) Call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Romans 10:9-13; Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23).

He gave us a gift that is impossible to match by any earthly means, and all we have to do is receive the gift and accept Jesus as our Savior. To try and add to or change any part of this would be to imply that the gift was and is incomplete and would be a total insult to our Lord and Savior.

The only unforgivable sin right now is to reject the Savior and not have Him in your heart when your “1:1 time” arrives. That puts those that do this in a very long line at the end of the Millennial Reign called the Great White Throne Judgment. That means hell, or the lake of fire forever. The second unforgivable sin will be during the tribulation, which will be to take the mark of the beast. True believers today never have to worry about that one as we won’t be here.

The absolute choice to receive and accept the Savior’s gift is up to each individual. God will respect either choice but hopes all would repent and accept His Son (2 Peter 3:9). Those who do not will have chosen to spend eternity in torment with Satan and all his followers.

Even though it seems like a simple choice, more will choose this earth over the Savior (Matthew 7:13-14). Be on that straight and narrow path, and you will forever rejoice that you were.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.

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