John 2:23-3:19 - Part C

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. So what does it mean to be born of the water where, well, and by the way, there are about six views. I will not go through them all. There are about six main views as to what this means. Born of the water, born of the Spirit. Others will say, look, he's speaking about a spiritual cleansing. And listen to perhaps what Jesus was referring to.

I'll just read it to you. This is out of the prophet Ezekiel, a promise that God made through that prophet in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel chapter 36, for I will take you from among the nations. And then he said, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filth and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. Now, the reason I bring this up is a possibility that he was maybe referring to Ezekiel because he's speaking to a ruler of the Jews, the Pharisee. And in verse 10, he says, Are you not the teacher of Israel and you don't know these things?

Holding him accountable to at least have some kind of biblical reference for the whole idea of being born again. And indeed, the weight of verse 10 lends me to believe that he is referring to that spiritual cleansing like Ezekiel spoke about, like Ezekiel promised. Also, we know in the Bible that to be washed in water is a metaphor of the Word of God. Husbands, Ephesians chapter five, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify her and wash her or purify her with the washing of water through the Word. Jesus said, Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

First Peter, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, which is the Word of God. So there is merit to speak about the word of the gospel being the spiritual Clorox bleach soap that cleans you. Now, my interpretation of John chapter three in the born again passage is a combination. I certainly believe it means spiritual cleansing, but notice the way it's constructed. Notice he says, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Why did he just say spirit, a spiritual cleansing? He says water and the Spirit, and then look at the very next verse, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Let me suggest to you a possibility. To be physically born in ancient times was sometimes called to be born of the water. When a person is born physically, a person is born of the water, and we know why. Because something breaks in a woman when she's about to deliver, what do we call that? Her water broke. When the amniotic fluid of the womb bursts open and that water drains out, that baby's coming. So, it makes sense.

It could mean this. Unless you are born of the water physically, which leads to physical life, so too you must be born spiritually, which leads to spiritual life. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. You must be born of the water and of the Spirit. You have to be born the first time, obviously. You have to be a person who has a spiritual birth, a spiritual cleansing. So, to be born of the water could simply be an ancient metaphor for physical birth, followed by being born of the Spirit, which is born again.

So, it's sort of a combination on those various interpretations. Okay, then he says something interesting in verse 8, something that we here in New Mexico know all about. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, and you can't tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Now again, there's a play on words, because do you know that the word wind and the word Spirit is the same word, pneuma? The wind blows where it wishes. You can't control the wind. You can't guess the direction of the wind. I wish I could. If I could control the wind, I would say stop. Stop that.

Enough. You can't see the wind. You can't see it. You can see its effect. You can hear it. You can feel it. You can see its effect.

So is everyone who was born of the Spirit. You can see the definite effect of the Spirit in a person's life. Wind can change a place, right? It can change a place.

If a hurricane blows through or a tornado blows through, those are strong winds. You can see the effect of that, especially in the aftermath. It changes that place. The Spirit of God changes people. Even as physical wind changes places, the Spirit changes people.

And you can see the unmistakable effect when somebody has been touched by the Holy Spirit and born again. Nicodemus answered. He still didn't get it. Nicodemus answered and said, how can these things be? I don't get it.

I can't figure it out. Jesus answered and said to him, are you the? Not a.

The definite article indicates that Nicodemus was considered sort of like the Billy Graham of Jerusalem. You are the teacher. You are a renowned, respected instructor of the law. Are you the teacher of Israel and you don't know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. Jesus using the plural, personal pronoun, our, we. He is speaking not of me and my disciples.

They're still learning it themselves. He's speaking of the Father and the Holy Spirit and himself. This is intertrinitarian we, our. We know and we testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven. Who came down from heaven?

Jesus. That is the Son of Man who is in heaven. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. No one can ascend into heaven except the one who came down from heaven. Now here is the core, the essence, the bottom line, the irreducible minimum of Christianity. There is no way that a person on earth can reach up and apprehend God.

No way. You cannot escape the prison you and I are in. We are confined in walls of time and space. We live in a time space continuum. You can't transcend that.

You are a creature of time and space. There's no way you can reach up. You can't go up into heaven and find God. The essence of Christianity is that spiritual life has to come down from heaven. And Jesus, who is life, creator of life and has life in himself, John says at the beginning in chapter one, came down from heaven. So since we can't escape our confinement, our box of time and space, the only possible way to be saved, to know God, to transcend this time space continuum is for God to step into our box.

We can't get out of our box. We can't ascend into heaven. But God, through Jesus, became a man and stepped into time and space. And we beheld him, John said, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. There is God in a human body. When he weeps, that's God weeping. When he heals, that's God's compassion. When he teaches, that's God wanting to give instruction.

He is Emmanuel, God with us. So the essence of Christianity is that God, life, salvation must come from heaven into our world, and it did. But you know, when we try to reverse it, and millions do.

In fact, most of the world does. All over the world, people say, I'm going to reach up and find God. And every time somebody says that, a new religion is born.

A new book is written, a new set of law, a new set of pilgrimages that you have to take, a new set of restrictions that you have to follow. If you follow these things, you can apprehend God. That's religion. Religion is man reaching up and trying to grab a hold of God. Christianity is God coming down into our box at our level in the person of Jesus. So that really is fundamental.

That is foundational. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, Nate Heitzig has written a children's book just in time for Christmas. And this month, we're offering it to you as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Christmas Under the Tree follows the timeless story of Jesus Christ from the cradle to the cross through the eyes of an unlikely character, a humble tree. This beautifully illustrated book, which includes a companion audio experience, is a wonderful way to tell the Christmas story and the story of Christ to the children in your life. This resource is our thanks for your gift of just twenty five dollars or more today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give twenty five dollars or more today to reach people all around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. No one is ascended to heaven, but he came down from heaven. That is the son of man who is in heaven. Now watch this. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, you remember the story in Numbers 21.

I trust. Even so, must the son of man be lifted up. Okay, so life must come down from heaven for us to know God and to enjoy salvation, spiritual life, etc.

How is that done? On what principle? On the principle of death.

On the principle of death and the principle of faith. You remember back in Numbers 21. In Numbers 21, the children of Israel were complaining. God was giving them manna. We've described manna before as Krispy Kreme donuts. I won't go into why, but just let that hang for you. And Krispy Kreme donuts are mighty fine, but every single day. After a while, you know what they said?

And they said it out loud. Our soul hates this bread. It loathes this bread from heaven, manna. So the Lord caused fiery serpents to come into the camp of Israel, and thousands of the children of Israel were dying off. They hated God's provision. They hated God's deliverance.

They were complaining all the time. So, you know, they hate being in the wilderness. God is going to deliver them out of the wilderness. Let them die. The only way to stop the curse that brings death is God says, Moses, if you want to stop this curse, go get a brass serpent, put it on a stick. If you can picture a cross with a brass serpent on it.

Lift it up and tell the people to look at it. And whoever looks at that brass serpent and sees it, when you tell them to look at it, will be saved. They'll be safe. They'll be healed.

They won't die. Now, to do that requires two things. You have to know that you're a sinner.

I need help. I'm going to die if I don't do that. So you have to admit that something's wrong with you, that you're going to have a consequence.

So you've got to admit that you've got a problem. And number two, you have to believe that if you look at that object in the distance, you'll be cured. Which seems silly.

Imagine Moses saying, I know you're all dying, but if you just look over here at the serpent, you'll be healed. That's so counterintuitive. How is that meritorious? How is that helpful?

How does that cure anything, looking at something? To be saved from your sin, you have to believe that you are a sinner. And you have to, by faith, look to Jesus to save you. That's counterintuitive. Most people don't want to believe in Jesus.

They want to say, no, no, no, no. I'll look to myself. I'll look to my merit. I'll look to my religion. I can pull myself up out of my own problems with my own bootstraps.

I'm a self-made person. Famous last words. Bye.

Dead. Unfortunately, we're talking about eternal death. But if you just look by faith to Jesus, just place your trust in Him. On the principle of faith, it will save you from death. And let know that He was on that stick, on that cross, who took your punishment for you.

You'll be saved. So now Jesus is talking about the means of salvation. As Moses lifted up the serpent and the willers, the Son of Man must be lifted up.

Speaking of His crucifixion, it's predictive of what would happen at the end of His three-year ministry. He will be on a cross. That's what lifted up means. Later on, He will say, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.

And I've heard that verse butchered by worship leaders around the country. Let's just lift Jesus higher. Let's lift Him up. It doesn't mean lift Him up in praise. When Jesus said that, it means lift Him up on a cross and impale Him in crucifixion.

As Moses lifted up the serpent, the Son of Man must be lifted up. Speaking of His own death on the cross. That, verse 15, that whoever believes, by the way, 98 times in this book, the word believe is found.

That's the theme. That you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and by believing you have life in His name. Six times in these verses, believe, believe, believe, that if you believe, whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is the gospel in a nutshell, right? This is what Martin Luther called the Bible in miniature. It is the most famous verse in the Bible. The Gideon Society, which puts Bibles in hotel rooms, the very front of their Bibles has John 3.16 in 27 different languages because they want to make sure no matter who you are, where you're from, the first thing you read when you open this book is, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. It's a famous verse. It's the gospel in a nutshell.

It has also showed up in other places. If you've ever been to an In-N-Out Burger, I don't know if you know the history of In-N-Out Burger, but it was started by Rich, a believer, a Christian. His name is Rich, Richard, and he died in a plane crash. He's in heaven now. But at the bottom rim inside of all the cups is John 3.16. On the clothing store Forever 21, the bottom of their bags, shopping bags, John 3.16.

Some of you even remember that character at sporting events in the 70s and 80s called the Rainbow Man, who would show up, and they called the Rainbow Man because he wore a bright rainbow colored crazy wig to get everybody's attention. He had the big placard. He would station himself in front of very strategic camera angles and hold up his sign during all the games, John 3.16. And I applaud his zeal.

I don't know if it was very effective or not, but he made a lot of news. For God, verse 17, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Please hear the heart of Jesus.

He's telling you the heart of his Father. God doesn't want to condemn people. He wants to save people. The whole reason for this elaborate rescue operation of sending the second member of the Trinity to the earth as the fulfillment of Jewish scripture, Revelation, was as an atoning sacrifice so that anyone who believes in him, verse 16, would be saved. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He wants to save a person.

That's his intent. That's his heart. He wants to save you.

He loves you. But then there's the two-sided coin. He who believes is not condemned.

He who does not believe is condemned already. Salvation is like a coin that you have in your pocket. Same coin, two different sides.

A face on one side, typically an eagle or some other motif on the other side. Same coin, two different sides. The salvation coin on one side has salvation. On the other side, condemnation. And it's not just a matter of flipping the coin and whatever happens happens. You make the choice of what side of that coin you base your life on.

You say, well, I don't believe. I'll be condemned. No, according to Jesus, you're condemned already.

Why are you condemned already? Because all man is born into this world in sin. We're born the first time in a state of condemnation. That's why we need to be born again.

We need a second birth. Because we are born naturally estranged from God. The Bible says the wicked are estranged from the womb. I came forth, David said, from my mother's womb, speaking lies.

That's the state we're born in. Ephesians chapter two, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. You were born dead.

You were DOA, dead on arrival. And because you are born dead, you need a rebirth, spiritual rebirth. If you don't believe you're condemned already, you're in that state. Now, eventually the condemnation sentencing will occur at the great white throne judgment. Now I'm speaking at the end of ages, end of days. The eschatological sentencing will take place at the great white throne judgment as described in the book of Revelation. And even though that is yet future, Jesus says, he who doesn't believe is condemned already. Why?

Because though the sentencing for it is in the future, you're on trial now. A man walked into the Louvre in Paris. Louvre is one of the most magnificent museums in the world.

Love going to that place. And of course the Mona Lisa is in it and some other great paintings and just its art history on steroids. Well, there was a man in the Louvre and there's the Mona Lisa and there's all these other famous pictures and he blurts out loud. I don't really care for these pictures. I don't think this is really all that great.

She's not all that great. The curator turned around and said, sir, these pictures are not on trial, you are. You by your statement just condemned yourself. We're not putting the Mona Lisa on trial just because some numbskull from the Ozarks came over and didn't like it.

These pictures are not on trial, you are. God so loved the world. God so loved you.

Put your name. Take out the phrase the world. For God so loved Skip that he gave his only begotten son that if Skip believes in him, Skip won't perish.

But Skip will have everlasting life, eternal life. That's God's heart for you. You say, oh, but it's so hard. Hard?

Not hard for you. He did all the hard work. He did all the heavy lifting. He took the pain. He's the one who bled.

He's the one who took a crown of thorns and the beating and the nails on his hands and feet. All you have to do is look to him and believe. No, I'd rather look to myself and my works and I'm an educated person and I'm. Famous last words. Look to him. Trust in him. Be saved.

Admit that you have a need. And by faith, look to him. We're glad you've joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give twenty five dollars or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Nate Heitzig's new children's book, Christmas Under the Tree, which includes a companion audio experience.

Just in time for Christmas, this book will help young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast your burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.