FRIDAY 18 March 2022 “Condemned or Believe?” John 3:16-18

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Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,

Sometimes people are famous for what they have accomplished, other times they are famous for what they said. Jesus Christ is famous for BOTH, would you agree? The past two days we’ve been eavesdropping in on one of the most famous conversations of all time. It was held at night, in an unexpected encounter between Jesus, a newcomer on the public stage, and Nicodemus, a high ranking, well known scholar and Jewish leader in Jerusalem. Their conversation is very famous and recorded for us in the Bible in John 3. John may have been an eyewitness to this conversation, so let’s rejoin them…

Jesus had been making outrageous claims which were stretching Nicodemus and his entire lifetime of study. Neither Nicodemus, nor any of his scholar friends, had ever heard such things:

1. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again…unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:3-5)

2. “Flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again.” (John 3:6,7)

3. “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)

4. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14,15)

We have no record of what else they may have said up to this point in the conversation or what further questions Nicodemus the scholar had for Jesus. I presume John just gave us the ‘cliff notes’ version, and yet there was much more. But then Jesus said something Nicodemus could never have imagined, and this statement has reverberated around the world every day for the past 2000 years. You’ve probably heard it before and now hopefully you see the context in which Jesus said it a little bit more: “For God so loved the world, that He sent/gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not PERISH, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) You may know that statement so well you just rushed right through it, but let me ask you to pause and look more closely. What key words stand out to you? Do you see the very radical messages Jesus was shocking Nicodemus with?

First, do you see the word LOVE? It was God’s LOVE for a human race which had rejected God generation after generation!

Yes it is God’s outrageous love which sent Jesus from heaven to earth! None of us can really grasp the magnitude of that kind of love. You have probably been hurt by other people in your life, as I have, maybe deeply wounded by rejection or abandonment or humiliation. And what was your response? Either you wanted to retaliate and hurt them more than they hurt you, or you wanted to sever all relationship and never see them again. Am I right about that?

But God did the opposite. In the deep pain of His being rejected day after day by human beings He had created and whose lives He sustained every moment, God still loves… so deeply He was willing to send HIS Son Jesus into the mess and rejection of our world, not to tell us God hates us or wants to destroy us, but to tell us of God’s outrageous love, and then Jesus proved it, by going all the way to the cross on our behalf! His death is what I should have suffered for my rebellion against God… and you too my friends!

Second… what God did by loving us instead of destroying us, and what Jesus did by coming to die in our place, makes it possible for us to be rescued from the most hellish eternity imaginable…

PERISH! ‘Perish’ means total, irreconcilable separation from God. Of course the further one gets from God and His Holiness and His Love, the further into desperate Evil and Hatred a person goes. Perish is the ultimate end of that terrible road of rebellion. It’s called HELL and is unimaginable in suffering and pain and anguish and hopelessness. We are all destined for that because we are born with an evil human nature which separates us from God, and if nothing is done to correct that problem, we will die separate from God and go into a living eternity far, far separated from God… in Hell. That is Perish, and we all deserve it, yet God loves us too much, so much, that He provided an ‘off ramp’, a way to get off that dead end road of life, and walk a new path, with Jesus, heading to heaven for all eternity!

Nicodemus was talking with Jesus at night. Either outside in the dim moonlight, or inside in the dim candlelight, but either way if you could see Nicodemus’ face as he ponders what Jesus is saying, his eyes are likely wide open, the look on his face stunned. What Jesus has just said is beyond comprehension. It would require a capacity for understanding spiritual truth that even wise, learned, scholar Nicodemus did not possess. Jesus paused, nodding His head, confirming the truth of this radical statement.

Then Jesus continued, looking deeply into Nicodemus’ eyes… “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:17,18) I wonder if when Jesus used the words “God’s Son” He pointed to Himself, so there would be no confusion, no misunderstanding with Nicodemus?

Nicodemus knew the Old Testament very well. God had often sent judgment into our world against those who refused Him, but also against His own people when they were rebellious against God. But here Jesus is making something very, very clear: Jesus was not sent into the world by God to Judge or Condemn or Punish or execute Judgement on rebellious, wicked humanity! Oh no! Jesus was sent by God to INVITE rebellious humanity to SEE our rebellion against God and the damage it is doing to our lives, our families, our communities, our nations, our world… and to REPENT, to turn away from that rebellion and turn TO God… agreeing with God that we need His help and then asking God to HELP us, to rescue us from our mess, to deliver us from our enslavement to evil. So you see that my friends? Have you done that or are you still making excuses! Are you still on the road… to PERISH?

Nicodemus was rubbing his forehead… this was almost too much for even his very smart brain to comprehend. I think what bothered Nicodemus the most was the last thing Jesus had said: “…but whoever does not believe stands condemned already…” Nicodemus understood… that meant him, the scholar, the Pharisee, the man trying so hard to keep all the rules, HE was condemned and no amount of effort could change his condemnation! Only one thing could help him, could redirect his future from Perish to eternity with God. That one thing??? Believe! Believe Jesus… believe His words to be true. Believe Jesus to be who He claimed to be GOD’s SON!

Nicodemus leaned back, closing his eyes. His entire life was hanging in the balance. He could walk away from Jesus, writing Him off as a lunatic, like others had. Or Nicodemus could consider that maybe, just maybe Jesus is who He claims to be, and His words are God’s Truth! Jesus watched Nicodemus wrestle with himself and all he’d heard.

Let’s do the same… what do Jesus’ words mean to you my friend? How have those words affected your life and your life decisions? Are you still heading for an eternity of PERISH or have you declared Jesus to be God’s Son and trusted His words to be God’s Truth? Your eternal destiny and mine hang in the balance of what we choose to do in response to Jesus and His words! What will you do? Here’s a song to help you consider it, my friends:

Today’s Scripture is John 3:16-18.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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