The Disciple Jesus Loved Tells All!
Studies in the Gospel of John #4
John Chapter 3
“Back To Zero, Zero, Zero”
Movie Clip – City Slickers “The Main Thing.”
This week the Mayville Ministers were invited to the High School for a meeting with the Superintendent of Schools. After a discussion about the realities of a shrinking enrollment and an even more rapidly shrinking budget, we were taken down to the “woods” area of the building to have a demonstration of three computer driven machines. The teacher told us how they are training students to work with CAD (Computer Assisted Drawing) and CAM (Computer Assisted Machining). The student is taught to design the item they want to produce on the computer, then the movements of the cutting tool is programmed into a program that guides the cutting edge across the surface of the wood, following exactly the parameters that are programmed – forward and backward movement, the side to side movement, and the depth of the cut are controlled by Cartesian Coordinates on an X, Y and Z axis. (My apologies to the engineers in the room!)
Mr. Koepsel told us that perhaps the most important first
step is to establish a starting point – a place on the surface that is defined
as “x0,y0,z0.” It is called the
origin. From that starting point, the
machine is able to follow its instructions – arches, angles, depths. When finished, the cutting surface always
returns to “x0,y0,z0.” Mr. Koepsel told
us that sometimes when a student goes through all the work of programming the
entire project, the press the start button, and the machine can’t run the
program because the starting point is incorrectly identified.
Today, as we continue our study of John’s biography of Jesus, we are going to
be identifying the “x0,y0,z0” of the Christian Life. It is the starting point, it is the absolute necessity, it is the
place where we will all return when this journey is finished.
In John chapter 3, we have the story of Nicodemus who comes to Jesus in the
dark of night to discuss a few things.
We’re not sure why he chose to come at night, we can only speculate –
perhaps the night symbolizes the darkness that surrounded Nicodemus’ heart
& soul… or it may be that he doesn’t want anyone to know he is coming to
Jesus.
The Bible says that Nicodemus was no ordinary citizen… He was a religious
Pharisee– A man who committed his life to studying & obeying the law. He’s also a political leader of the Jews,
but somehow in all of his teachings & religion, he had missed the message,
the origin…he had missed “x0,y0,z0.”
Nicodemus had head knowledge, but he was lacking heart knowledge… He had a lot
of religion – but no relationship…
Does that sound familiar? There are millions of religious people sitting in
churches this morning who are as lost as Nicodemus because they have head
knowledge, but no heart knowledge. There are lots of people who have positions
of authority and power, but have a great need in their soul. Too many people get involved with church,
but not with Christ. People need to
understand that the church can’t save you – only a relationship with Christ can
save you. There is no doubt that
religion will clean you up… it’ll make you look real good – but that’s only
head knowledge…Nick had that! He looked real good, but He had missed the
main thing, he was not at the origin.
If a person is to be genuinely saved, their heart has to be changed – and that
comes only from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…
That’s the message Jesus was preaching to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, the seeker, came seeking answers about religion &
Jesus took him to “x0,y0,z0.” Nicodemus comes wanting to find out information
about Jesus, but Jesus knows that Nicodemus needs to understand more about
himself first. “It’s not about religion
– it’s all about a relationship…” Being born again is a God thing – It’s all
about the grace of God, not the abilities of a person, their knowledge, their
religious experience or their “church.”
We’ve all heard jokes about people showing up at the pearly gates seeking
entrance into heaven… Some of them bring a smile to your face but they’re all
based on the assumption that we must do something to get into heaven… People
are shocked to hear that entrance into heaven is not based on what they do…
It’s based on the “Grace of God…”
Grace goes beyond our comprehension… By our human nature, we want to earn God’s
favor… We want to be the ones that
get us into heaven…
Many people envision God holding a balance weight in His hand & think that
the scales tell the tale… Or they envision God having a big book with our names
on a page… & every time we do a good deed, God puts a check mark by our
name & every time we do a bad deed, God puts a check mark by our name… And
whether we get into heaven or not depends on the number of good marks verses
the bad marks…
That’s not how God’s plan works… If you think like this, it’s time to get back
to “x0,y0,z0.” Jesus said, “No one can
enter the kingdom of God without being born again…” That’s God’s plan – you
must be born again…
Maybe that is a term you’ve heard over the years and it scares you a little
because you don’t understand what Jesus means.
That’s OK! You’re in really good
company. Nicodemus didn’t understand this – He was struggling with the idea of
a man being born again – he couldn’t understand how a grown man could be born
again…That’s not surprising. I find it
amusing that occasionally I have new people at Gateway tell me that they have a
family member that goes to one of those “born again” churches! Guess what, “You do too!” In fact, if a church does not preach that
you must be born again, they are not really a church – they are not a genuine
part of the body of Christ – they are nothing more than a social club where
people go to look good!
President Jimmy Carter made the statement during his election that he was a
“born again Christian…” It sounds kind of radical doesn’t it… we usually think
of Baptists when we hear the words “born again Christian…” But it’s not a
Baptist thing, it’s not a radical thing, IT’S A CHRISTIAN THING… you cannot be
a Christian without being born again… and you are not a Christian unless you
have been born again!
But what does it mean???
Jesus tells Nicodemus, “No one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit… What is born of the flesh is flesh, and
what is born of the Spirit is spirit…”
Obviously, it means that there has to be some new beginning to my life
that will rival my physical birth in its importance. Being born again means that there is a radical, life-changing
event in my life that alters me for the rest of my existence.
2 Corinthians 5: 17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature (or creation); old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new…”
What does it mean to be born again? It means far more than turning over a new
leaf – it’s not like going back on a diet for the umpteenth time – it’s not
about a set of new resolutions – it’s not saying to yourself, “well, I’ve got
to work on my morals…”
You couldn’t have got more moral than Nicodemus! If anyone “deserved” eternal
life, it would have been Nicodemus! By
worldly standards, he seems worthy of
eternal life… But the Bible tells us that salvation is not about human effort
or merit…
Position cannot save you. Nicodemus
held a distinguished religious position.
Being a pastor doesn’t save you.
Being a Sunday school teacher doesn’t save you. Being in the praise team doesn’t save you.
Being a member of a church doesn’t save you. Being baptized does not save you.
Being a good mom or dad doesn’t save you. Being born again is not about
position or good work – it is about GRACE – It is what God has done for you,
not what you can do for Him!
Popularity cannot save you… The name Nicodemus means “well liked or popular”…
He was respected in his community… He was recognized as a spiritual leader… He
was popular… But popularity does not save you… Being born again is not about
popularity…
Prestige & Piety cannot save you… Nicodemus possessed both… He was a man of
dignity & a man of righteousness… He lived his life studying scripture
& doing the right things… He spent his life fasting & praying, studying
the law & studying the scripture… He was religious – but he was lost… Being
born again is not about prestige & piety…
Being born again is not about human efforts – it’s about a personal
relationship which is being born from above… New birth is not something we do,
it’s something God does through the power of the Holy Spirit… and it’s a
miraculous thing…
Being born again is an intervention from God… God brings us back to life as new
people in the spirit… He changes us… This supernatural act of God takes the
Holy Spirit & implants the Spirit into our hearts – He gives us a heart
transplant… It causes us to be a changed creature…
Many of us, like Nicodemus, don’t understand it… I talk to people all the time
who hope that they will make it to
heaven… they hope they’ve been good
enough, but they are not sure… The fact is, you aren’t good enough to get to heaven… But neither am I… In fact,
none of us are good enough to get into heaven, but “thanks be to God,” being
good enough doesn’t have anything to do with it… It’s all about this core
message, this starting point, this origin… It’s about being born again…
When General Mills first introduced an instant cake mix iy was a big flop… The
instructions said all you had to do was add water & bake… The company
couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell – until their research discovered that
the public felt uneasy about a cake mix that required only water… Apparently,
people thought it was too easy… So the company altered the formula &
changed the directions to add an egg in addition to the water… The idea worked
& sales increased…
That story reminds me of how people react to the plan of
salvation… To them, it sounds too easy & simple to be true, even though the
Bible says (Eph 2: 8), “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift from God – not the results from works…”
Unlike the cake mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make
salvation more marketable… The gospel we proclaim has nothing to do with being
good enough…
That’s the message that Jesus had for Nicodemus… That’s the plan that God has
for us… Jesus gave Nicodemus the words that have become known as the “Gospel in
a nutshell:” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that
whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life…” (John
3:16)
What caused Jesus to speak these famous words? It was His concern for a very
religious man whose soul was lost to fires of hell…
And He has the same concern for you today.
Have you been born again? Don’t tell me how good you are… don’t tell me about
your religion… Come back to “x0,y0,z0.”
Get back to the point of origin.
So often we worry about all the wrong things.
We’re worried about being good enough to get into heaven… we worry about
our religion – do I read my Bible enough – do I spend enough time in prayer –
do I do enough good deeds – do I go to church enough – do I tithe enough?
Please, please, please, don’t misunderstand me, all of these things are
important & none of us do enough of it…
But many of us are so worried about what we’re doing, that we forget what God
has done… We make it hard, God makes it easy… All we really need is a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ & these others things will come…
Friends, don’t make it hard – Salvation is free! Christ didn’t come into the
world to condemn the world, yet we spend our lives worrying about whether we’re
good enough to get into heaven… No! God sent His Son Jesus into the world so
that the world may be saved through Him… Through a personal relationship with
Him – that means you have to know Him, personally!
Being born again is not about religion – it’s about a relationship with Jesus
Christ… And that’s the best part of being a Christian – having that personal
relationship with Christ…
Like a computer driven wood carver, if we don’t start in the right point of
origin, we can never carve out the kind of life that God wants for us. You may have been raised in the church, you
may have all sorts of religious education and experience – So did Nick – but
have you been born again into the family of God? If not, today is your day!
Prayer
If you have not been born again, if you have never asked Jesus to forgive you for your sins and be your savior, would you do so right now? Simply pray these words after me: “Lord Jesus, I need the new birth that you talked to Nicodemus about. I need to be born again – born to a new life in you. Thank you for dieing for me, and for allowing me to be born again as a child of God. Help me to grow closer to you each day. Amen”