Life's Most Important Question

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's devotional, Moments in the Word. But first, here's the message, life's most important question. What we're going to do in these days is to take the conversations and the conversions that we read about in the New Testament and particularly in the Gospels and we're going to discover how and what it is to be a Christian and to know Jesus Christ. And the emphasis is upon you because Jesus often engaged people one on one in conversations. Some of the most profound things that He ever said was in the presence of one person.

He often shared His life and singled out individuals one by one. I'm convinced Jesus wants to speak to you today. And I want to talk to you about the most important question in life. The most important question in life. Now there are many important questions in life. Some of the great philosophical questions that we ask, you know, who am I? What am I?

Where am I going? But there is one question really in life that is above all other questions. And it is a question that is asked in John's Gospel chapter 3. So I want you to find with me the third chapter of the Gospel of John. And as we consider life's most important question today, for some of you this will be a reminder, a clarification of your Christian faith.

For some it will be good news that you have never heard before. And this question appears in a conversation between Jesus, a Galilean carpenter and one of the most religious and respected men of His time. His name is an unusual name, Nicodemus. And yet while this man's name is unique and he lived in a time far and away from here, he is in one sense a representative of every one of us because he came to Jesus with the same needs and the same desires that every human being possesses. Look beginning at verse 1 of chapter 3. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, and here's the question that everyone must ask and answer. How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Life's most important question is how can I be born again? Verse 5, Jesus answered, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the 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. And Jesus Christ is saying that today, 2,000 plus years later to every one of us.

You must be born again. Now Nicodemus was a unique and unusual man. The Bible tells us in verse 1 that he was a man of the Pharisees. And that means he was a very religious man. The Pharisees were among two of the most important religious groups of the era. There were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Pharisees dominating the spiritual and political system of the first century. And these Pharisees and Sadducees were adversaries. They were really enemies in that one group believed in life after death. That would be the Pharisees.

And the other group, the Sadducees, they didn't believe in life after death. This man, Nicodemus, was a man of the Pharisees. He believed in life after death. He believed very strongly in God. He believed in the Scriptures. The Pharisees were men who committed their lives to studying the Scriptures.

And not only to studying the Scriptures, but interpreting the Scriptures. And they compiled a large book which is still prominent today which is the Mishnah and it describes how the law is to be kept. And they looked at the minutia of the law and they explained it and expanded it. And of course when we speak of Pharisees today we often do it with negativity because and rightfully so in some cases because Pharisees tended to be very snobbish in their faith and a superior attitude towards others. And they considered themselves a very special and select group of God. And they were devout. And they were devoted to what they believed. And they believed all of these things so sincerely.

They were doctrinaire. They were dogmatic. Now there's some things that we ought to be dogmatic about. There are some things that we ought to believe very strongly and never give up and to stand for what we believe. But we must always guard against any kind of religion that looks at only the externals rather the internals of faith. And this is what Jesus dealt with with these Pharisees.

He was constantly speaking to this religious group about their personal experience with God. And some of the harshest things that Jesus had to say was leveled at these Pharisees. And often people today despise others and hate others who do not bear their religion. There are even those today who will kill in the name of their God or in the name of their religion. And we must be very careful in our faith that while we believe things so very strongly and we're committed to the narrowness of the truth that Jesus and Jesus only is the way, the truth, and the life.

And no man comes to the Father but by Him. We must always be strong on that but never with the sense of not extending grace and mercy to those who need Christ. And we need to be very careful and very cautious in our attitudes towards the unbelieving world that we do not present some kind of front that is an affront to those who do not know our Jesus.

And never with a looking down long Pharisaical noses at others who do not know Him. Because remember this, we do not consider ourselves better than others. We have been saved by the grace of God. We don't deserve heaven. We don't deserve eternal life.

We have been transformed by the love and the grace of Jesus Christ and we just want the whole world to know Him. But Nicodemus was a Pharisee. And as a Pharisee he was a very religious man. He was a very respected man. He was a ruler among the Pharisees and among the people. Respected and well known in the culture of that day. Everyone in Jerusalem no doubt would have known Nicodemus.

And when he passed by it was not, hey, it was, hello Dr. Nicodemus. A learned Rabbi, educated, astute, intellectual. And that is the amazing scenario that is set in John chapter 3. Here is Jesus of Nazareth.

A poor carpenter's son. A man among men performing miracles, changing lives. And yet here is a man, Nicodemus, powerful, prideful, prestigious. When Jesus spoke to him of the new birth he would say later in this passage, are you the teacher of Israel? It may say a teacher of Israel in your translation but in the language of the New Testament it is literally, are you the teacher in Israel and you don't know what it means to be born again? He was a respected, religious man.

But he no doubt was a restless man. So he came to Jesus. And at first it's rather casual and distant. He says, master we know, we know that you're a teacher who has come from God. Notice the editorial we. We know. He's not even saying I know. He says we know, we know that you're a teacher that has come from God. Now Jesus didn't let him get away with that, you see, because Jesus was not a teacher come from God. He was God come to teach. And so Jesus fastened down in the conversation with these words, Nicodemus, don't be amazed, don't marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. And that's when Nicodemus said, how is this possible?

How could an old man go back into his mother's womb? And he was thinking physical but Jesus of course was talking about spiritual birth which means to be born from above. To be born spiritually.

That which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the spirit is of the spirit. So new birth is spiritual birth. And he said, don't be amazed by this because you must be born again. I've heard people say, well, you know, I'm a Christian and I go to church but, you know, I'm just not one of those born again kind of Christians. You know, I'm not one of those fanatical freaked out born again kind of Christians.

That's what they mean. But can I remind you that according to Jesus Christ, there's only one kind of Christian and that's a born again kind of Christian? You must be born again. And if you're not born again, that means you are living in the past and you are living in your sin and you're living in spiritual death. And if you don't know Jesus and the new birth, you don't know life and therefore you will not go to heaven. There's only one kind of believer and that is a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll talk in just a moment exactly what that means but I'm here to say you must be born again. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, life's most important question. When you set aside daily time to connect with God, he'll give you the ability to live a godly life and fulfill his plans for you in the coming year. And we'd like to help you walk even more closely with the Lord in the year ahead by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word. It's our way to thank you for your gift today to help proclaim the gospel to more people around the world through PowerPoint.

This is the last week of this offer. So call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, life's most important question. Jesus said, look at the wind. You don't know where it's going, where it's coming from. Verse 8 says the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound. But you don't know where it comes from or where it goes. We can see the effect of the storm. We can see and feel that maybe you've experienced turbulence on a plane and that's frightened you.

Maybe you've set out by the ocean and you've felt the ocean breeze in your face. But it's an amazing thing. Jesus said it's like when the wind blows and the experience of the new birth, you can't see it physically.

This is a spiritual birth but you know the impact and the consequences of following me. I mean, no man has seen God. But like the wind that blows, we have heard, we have seen, we have experienced the impact and the influence of Jesus Christ, of God's power in his life. I remember back when they had a tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas a number of years ago and I saw a telephone pole with a straw driven through the telephone pole.

The tornado had such powerful force. There's incredible power in the wind and the power of God, the invisible things of creation are known. You can look at creation. You can see the glory of God and the greatness of God in creation but you experience the grace of God in Jesus Christ. So he changes our lives and that's how we know that we have been born again from above because when we are born again, life changes. Everything changes. And we're big on change these days and self-improvement and do-overs and make-overs. We think if I could just get a better appearance then I would be happy or, you know, we're making all these resolutions.

Okay, I got to lose weight. I'm going to exercise this year and I'm going to be nicer to my kids this year and I'm going to improve my marriage this year and I'm going to improve my parenthood this year and we make all these resolutions. You know, if I could just change my environment. Some people think if I could just change the externals, if I could just change my environment that I'm living in or if I could just change my work situation, that's the problem, that's the problem. What I need is to change my job, to change my career and then I'm going to be happy or oh no, that's not my problem. My problem is, you know, if I could just get a new wife, if I could change my wife then I would really be happy or change my husband then, you know, I'm a desperate housewife and I could just get a new husband.

Everything's going to be great. And we change all of these things. We say, man, if I could just get a brand new house, if I could just, you know, move up into the neighborhood, I'd really be happy. And then we get the big house we've always wanted and then we think, you know, if I could just downsize, if I could just, you know, get the house downsized then I would be happy.

And on and on it goes. We think if we change ourselves or change our circumstances that things are going to be okay but it doesn't work that way. Because all the physical changes in the world, all the external changes of the world are not going to make you happy and certainly they're not going to get you right with God. It's not resolution that changes lives. It's certainly not evolution which is more science fiction than science.

Not evolution, not resolution, but revolution. The spiritual revolution of a person's life. Transformation changed by the power of Jesus Christ. And when you are changed by the power of Jesus Christ, everything changes.

Your attitude in life, your ambitions, your aims, your disposition, your desires, your very personality. Now I know there's a form of behaviorism that suggests that we really can't change. That once we're set psychologically sometime before the age of six, even it is suggested that our basic personality is set, our basic direction and so on is set in life and we can't really change.

Don't you believe that? Jesus can change any circumstance. He can change any person. There are people who are suggesting today, well, you know, my sexuality, I can't change that.

I was just born this way. And that's the devil's lie that you would be stuck in a sin that would be so destructive and so damaging. You can change. Jesus Christ can change your life. But you have to start with the problem and the heart of the human problem is said is the problem of the human heart. And Jesus went right to the heart. You see, Nicodemus there, he's first talking face to face with Jesus.

We know, we know. And then he's talking ultimately mind to mind, but ultimately heart to heart. And Jesus zeroed in on the heart and said, the problem with you is your heart. In your heart, your life needs to be changed.

You need to be born again. People say, well, you know, I'm not that great, but I got a good heart. No, your heart is your problem. Your heart is your problem. You need a new heart.

The reason you can't change, the reason all these changes never work for you is because of the problem of sin in the human heart. The human heart is dark. The Scripture says the human heart is dark and deceitfully wicked. You know, so don't say, well, you know, I don't do the right thing, but you know, God knows my heart. Well, he sure does.

God knows your heart. In fact, earlier at the end of John chapter 2, there were a group of people who were following Jesus for the show. They loved the miracles.

They loved the signs. And as long as he was doing these miraculous acts, they were there, but then they left. And they believed in Jesus, according to the Scripture, but the Bible says Jesus did not commit himself to them. He did not believe in them. They believed in him, but he didn't believe in them. He didn't trust them.

You know why? Because they were just fair weather followers. And the Scripture says he knew what was in the heart of men. When Jesus sees unbelief, he knows it.

But he also sees sincerity and honesty of heart and repentance. And when he saw Nicodemus, there was something different about that man. And Nicodemus was a candidate for a changed life and Jesus drove the point home. You must, you must, you must be born again. While it doesn't say it in this passage, I believe Nicodemus was born again.

You say, how do you know that? After the cross, when Jesus died on that cross for your sins and mine, before the resurrection at the darkest day, when the dream of his Messiahship had apparently died, while the disciples fled, Simon Peter, the bold fisherman and others, they had all vanished at the sea. But Nicodemus, the Scripture tells us in the Gospel of John, assisted Joseph of Arimathea in providing a burial place for the body of our Lord. And the man who came to Jesus by night is now up front and open and he's standing up for Jesus. The single sentence of the Bible that encapsulates the Word of God like none other is John 3.16. Jesus gave these words to one man just as he gives it to you individually today. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. That's the Bible in a single sentence. And Jesus gave it to this one man even as he is giving it to you this day.

And that whosoever or that whoever believes in him, that includes you. You have an opportunity. It's your choice led by the Spirit of God brought to this place of decision today and destiny today.

You can be born again and your life will be transformed when you move from just a face to face or a mind to mind relationship with Jesus and you have a heart to heart with him and you say, Lord Jesus Christ, come into my life. I receive you. I believe you.

I trust you. And if you will come in sincerity and repentance and faith, you will be converted. You will be changed.

You will be transformed. You will be born again. And just like a little child, you'll begin to grow up in your faith. Don't get the idea that when you're born again, you immediately become a spiritual institution, a spiritual giant.

No, it takes time. Just as a child must grow up and mature, we must grow up in our faith. Some people hold off and hold back from coming to Christ because they think, well, when I get things fixed, when I get a few things settled, when I work out a few things in my life, when I change this or change that, then I'll come to Jesus. Then I'll follow Jesus. But I'm not ready. I'm not ready until I get some of these things straightened out.

No, that's 180 degrees upside down. That's like saying, when I grow up, I'll be born. You come like a little child. You come to be born again.

You come as you are. When you are born again, you become a child of God and He puts in you all the potential and all the possibility of growing up in the maturity of your faith. And you will have the hope and the certainty of heaven. First John 5 13 says, these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life. You're looking at a man who knows he's going to heaven. You say, well, that's arrogant.

No, it isn't. Because I'm simply trusting in the promise of God. I'm simply believing in my Savior who died for me, rose again, and promised that if I would believe in Him and receive Him as my Lord and Savior, that I would no doubt go to heaven.

And you can have that same confidence and that same certainty if you are born again. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, life's most important question. Looking ahead to a new year can fill you with expectation, but it can also fill you with desperation. What if things get worse?

What if the world gets crazier? What if you don't have the strength to face what comes your way? It's through spending daily time in God's word that we find the strength, peace and hope we need. And we want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word.

Moments in the Word is our special thanks for your gift this month. This is the last week of this offer. So call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our eStore, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org.

Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? You know if you walk into any bookstore today you'll find shelves and shelves of self improvement books, books about how to change and improve your life. And of course so many of us fall into the trap of thinking that changing our jobs or changing our appearance or changing our environment will make us happy.

But you know it's not true. All of these external changes may temporarily improve life. They may better your life for a time but none of them can really change your life. You may move around. You may change cars. You may change jobs. But you know wherever you go it's the same old you.

It's not that your circumstances or your surroundings need to change. It's that you need to change. Your heart needs to change. It's your heart that needs a new birth. Now the Bible is very clear when it talks about our hearts. In Jeremiah 17 9 it says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.

The heart according to the Bible is not good which means your heart needs a spiritual transformation. I'm not talking about a resolution promising to do better, be better, live better. I'm talking about a spiritual revolution. It's something so radical, so dramatic that it's like beginning life all over again.

It's a new beginning and you know it's never too late for a new beginning. It means that you can change from the inside out. Your heart can undergo a spiritual transformation when God takes and implants it with His love, His forgiveness, His grace and His own heart. So my challenge for you today is let God change your heart. Transform your life. Realize that no external change can make you feel joyful or fulfilled. Only a heart changed by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ can make you a brand new person.

So let Him create a new beginning in you today. And that is today's Power Point. Remember when you give a gift to Power Point we'll send you Dr. Graham's 180-day devotional Moments in the Word as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word POWERPOINT to 313131. Text POWERPOINT to 313131. On the next Power Point, Dr. Graham brings a message about a look at what it really means to follow Jesus. That's next time on Power Point with Jack Graham. Power Point with Jack Graham is sponsored by Power Point Ministries.