{"id":1832,"date":"2023-03-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2023-04-01T18:59:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T01:59:17","slug":"second-sunday-in-lent-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/05\/second-sunday-in-lent-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Sunday in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Second-Sunday-in-Lent-03-05-23.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John 3:1-17<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Greatest Gift for<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Greatest Need!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.&nbsp;<sup>2<\/sup>He came to Jesus at night and said, \u201cRabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>3<\/sup>In reply Jesus declared,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>4<\/sup>\u201cHow can a man be born when he is old?\u201d Nicodemus asked. \u201cSurely he cannot enter a second time into his mother\u2019s womb to be born!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>5<\/sup>Jesus answered,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.&nbsp;<sup>6<\/sup>Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.&nbsp;<sup>7<\/sup>You should not be surprised at my saying, \u2018You must be born again.\u2019&nbsp;<sup>8<\/sup>The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>9<\/sup>\u201cHow can this be?\u201d Nicodemus asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>10<\/sup>\u201c<em>You are Israel\u2019s teacher,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;said Jesus,&nbsp;<em>\u201cand do you not understand these things?&nbsp;<sup>1<\/sup>I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.&nbsp;<sup>12<\/sup>I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?&nbsp;<sup>13<\/sup>No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven\u2014the Son of Man.&nbsp;<sup>14<\/sup>Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,&nbsp;<sup>15<\/sup>that everyone who believes in him may have eternal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>16<\/sup>For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.&nbsp;<sup>17<\/sup>For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.<\/em>&nbsp;(NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As my parents got older it became more and more difficult to decide what to give them for Christmas.&nbsp; One year my Mom told all of us that while she appreciates all the gifts we give to her she really doesn\u2019t want or need anything that she would have to dust.&nbsp; After they retired and moved up to the lake my siblings and I decided that we would all go together on getting them something that they needed for the lakehouse.&nbsp; One year we got them new carpeting.&nbsp; One year we gave them a new refrigerator.&nbsp; The best gift of all came after my Dad was in heaven.&nbsp; We bought Mom a dump truck load of firewood!&nbsp; My Mom was caught completely off guard when the truck pulled into her driveway.&nbsp; When she went out to see what was going on, the driver said, \u201cYour children say, \u2018Merry Christmas!\u2019\u201d&nbsp; She was thrilled!&nbsp; When she called my brother Mike to say thank-you she also asked, \u201cWhen are you coming up to stack it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all know that there can be a huge difference between receiving something we&nbsp;<strong>want&nbsp;<\/strong>and receiving something we&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>.&nbsp; Today as we continue our sermon series entitled&nbsp;<strong><em>Lent Reveals Our Greatest Needs&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>our goal is to see how this&nbsp; very familiar portion of Scripture focuses our attention on:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>The Greatest Gift for the Greatest Need!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is our greatest need?&nbsp; The Holy Spirit addresses that question when He has the apostle John write,&nbsp;<em>\u201cNow there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.&nbsp; He came to Jesus at night and said, \u2018Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God.&nbsp; For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.\u2019&nbsp; In reply Jesus declared, \u2018I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do these words reveal our greatest need?&nbsp; Let\u2019s start by looking at Nicodemus.&nbsp; The Holy Spirit has John reveal to us that Nicodemus was a prominent Pharisee,&nbsp;<em>\u201ca member of the Jewish ruling council.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; As a prominent Pharisee Nicodemus was undoubtedly convinced that his place in the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;was already assured.&nbsp; His entire life was focused on doing everything the God of Israel required of His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That confidence\u2014 a confidence based on works\u2014 helps us to understand Jesus\u2019 very unexpected response to Nicodemus.&nbsp; As the Son of God Jesus knew what was in Nicodemus\u2019 heart.&nbsp; Therefore, as the Son of God Jesus revealed to Nicodemus the Truth\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201cNo one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;The greatest&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>&nbsp;that Nicodemus had was to enter into the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;when he died.&nbsp; There is&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>one alternative to entering the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and that is to be banished from God\u2019s presence in His Kingdom&nbsp;<strong>forever<\/strong>!&nbsp; Since this was Nicodemus\u2019 greatest&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>, Jesus reveals that there is only&nbsp;<strong>one way&nbsp;<\/strong>to enter the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>\u2014 and it is&nbsp;<strong>not&nbsp;<\/strong>by our own works!&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>people who will be allowed to enter into the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;are those who are&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did Nicodemus understand what Jesus was teaching him?&nbsp; No he did not.&nbsp; That becomes clear when John goes on to tell us,&nbsp;<em>\u201c\u2019How can a man be born when he is old?\u2019 Nicodemus asked.&nbsp; \u2018Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother\u2019s womb to be born!\u2019&nbsp; Jesus answered, \u2018I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.&nbsp; Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.&nbsp; You should not be surprised at my saying, \u201cYou must be born again.\u201d&nbsp; The wind blows wherever it pleases.&nbsp; You hear its sound, but you cannot see where it comes from or where it is going.&nbsp; So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicodemus was trying to understand the words&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;from a very logical purely human perspective.&nbsp; Since Nicodemus thought that entrance into the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is based on something a person&nbsp;<strong>does&nbsp;<\/strong>he couldn\u2019t fathom how&nbsp;<strong>anyone&nbsp;<\/strong>could possibly&nbsp;<em>\u201center a second time into his mother\u2019s womb to be born!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Jesus then helps Nicodemus understand that being&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<strong>not&nbsp;<\/strong>based on&nbsp;<strong>anything&nbsp;<\/strong>we do!&nbsp; Just as we had no part in our physical birth, so also we have no part in our spiritual re-birth!&nbsp; Being&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is completely based on what God the Holy Spirit does&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>us!&nbsp; That\u2019s why Jesus said,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFlesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are there people today who don\u2019t understand what Jesus is teaching us when He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cNo one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Sadly, there are many people today who are like Nicodemus.&nbsp; They believe that the only way for someone to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is by&nbsp;<strong>doing&nbsp;<\/strong>something. While they may not follow in Nicodemus\u2019 footsteps and wonder how a person could be&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;on a physical level, they insist that in order for anyone to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;on a spiritual level they&nbsp;<strong>must do something<\/strong>!&nbsp; They must decide that they want to become a Christian.&nbsp; They must accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.&nbsp; They must invite Jesus into their heart.&nbsp; While this sounds logical, on a Scriptural level it is just as impossible as Nicodemus\u2019 statement,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHow can a man be born when he is old?&nbsp; Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother\u2019s womb to be born.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help us understand that when it comes to our greatest&nbsp;<strong>need&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201cto enter the kingdom of God\u201d<\/em>\u2014 there is nothing we can do on our own, I did a little research on the term&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn again.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The primary meaning of the word that is translated here as&nbsp;<em>\u201cagain\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201cfrom above.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; What Jesus literally said to Nicodemus was,&nbsp;<em>\u201cNo one can see the kingdom of God unless he is&nbsp;<strong>born from above<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; This is exact same Greek word Jesus used in John 3:31 where He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThe one who comes&nbsp;<strong>from above<\/strong>&nbsp;is above all.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; There are only two times when this word is translated as&nbsp;<em>\u201cagain\u201d<\/em>\u2014 they are both here in our text.&nbsp; (John 3:3 and John 3:7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we understand that our greatest&nbsp;<strong>need&nbsp;<\/strong>is to&nbsp;<em>\u201center the kingdom of God,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and when we understand that the&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>way to&nbsp;<em>\u201center the kingdom of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn from above\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;then we will understand the greatest&nbsp;<strong>gift&nbsp;<\/strong>we could ever possibly be given!&nbsp; Using an event from the history of God\u2019s Chosen People Jesus took Nicodemus\u2019 focus&nbsp;<strong>off&nbsp;<\/strong>of works and put it&nbsp;<strong>on&nbsp;<\/strong>faith\u2014 faith in Jesus the Christ.&nbsp; Jesus said to Nicodemus,&nbsp;<em>\u201cJust 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.&nbsp; For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.&nbsp; For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicodemus was well-acquainted with the account of Moses and the bronze snake.&nbsp; God\u2019s people had once again rebelled against the Lord their God.&nbsp; Scripture tells us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBut the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, \u2018Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?&nbsp; There is no bread!&nbsp; There is no water!&nbsp; And we detest this miserable food!\u2019\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Because of their rebellious hearts God&nbsp;<em>\u201csent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; When God\u2019s people repented of their sin, what did God do?&nbsp; Did He take the poisonous snakes away?&nbsp; No.&nbsp; Did He give His people a formula for an antivenom that they could make?&nbsp; No.&nbsp; Contrary to all human logic\u2014 and we might say contrary to all medical science\u2014 God said to Moses,&nbsp;<em>\u201cMake a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(See Numbers 21\u201d6-9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What Jesus made clear to Nicodemus, He makes even more clear to us!&nbsp; While the bronze serpent was the last thing that people would expect God to use to save them,&nbsp;<strong>everyone&nbsp;<\/strong>who looked at the bronze serpent in faith, that is, trusting in God\u2019s promise, lived.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>Everyone&nbsp;<\/strong>who did not trust in God\u2019s promise,&nbsp;<strong>everyone&nbsp;<\/strong>who did not look up to the bronze snake in faith\u2014 died.&nbsp; Jesus then took that powerful image from Israel\u2019s past and applies it to Himself when He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cSo the Son of Man must be lifted up, that&nbsp;<strong>everyone&nbsp;<\/strong>who believes in him may have eternal life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The greatest&nbsp;<em>\u201cgift\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of all is the&nbsp;<em>\u201cgift\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cone and only Son.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; In spite of the fact that&nbsp;<em>\u201call our righteous acts are like filthy rags\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in God\u2019s eyes (Isaiah 61:6), in spite of the fact that&nbsp;<em>\u201call have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Romans 3:23), in spite of the fact that by nature all people are born enemies of the Almighty God (Romans 8:7), God\u2019s love for us is so incomprehensible that He&nbsp;<em>\u201cgave\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;His&nbsp;<em>\u201cone and only Son\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to be sacrificed for our sins so that&nbsp;<em>\u201cwhoever\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;lifts up their eyes to the cross and&nbsp;<strong>trusts&nbsp;<\/strong>in what Jesus has done&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>them has&nbsp;<em>\u201ceternal life.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; They have God\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>guarantee&nbsp;<\/strong>that when they die they will be welcomed into the&nbsp;<em>\u201ckingdom of God.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; There is&nbsp;<strong>nothing&nbsp;<\/strong>we need to do.&nbsp; There is&nbsp;<strong>no<\/strong>&nbsp;work we need to perform.&nbsp; There is&nbsp;<strong>no<\/strong>&nbsp;decision we need to make.&nbsp; It all comes down to faith\u2014 as Scripture so clearly teaches us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014 and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014 not by works, so that no one can boast\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Ephesians 2:8, 9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before I close today there is one truth that I want and need to emphasize from this portion of God\u2019s Word.&nbsp; In verse three of our text we hear Jesus say to Nicodemus,&nbsp;<em>\u201c<strong>No one&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, unless he is born from above.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>Every&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;human being who has ever or will ever live on the face of this earth, except of course our Lord and Savior, has the exact same&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>.&nbsp; We cannot enter into the kingdom of God on our own.&nbsp; In verse sixteen of our text Jesus proclaims what has become known as \u201cThe Gospel in a Nutshell\u201d\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor God so loved the world that he&nbsp;<strong>gave<\/strong>&nbsp;his one and only Son, that&nbsp;<strong>whoever<\/strong>&nbsp;believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Just as we&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>have the exact same greatest need, so also God has provided the greatest gift to&nbsp;<strong>all<\/strong>&nbsp;people\u2014 the gift of His Son!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May God grant that as Christians, as people who have and treasure the greatest gift of all, may God grant that we will strive to share that greatest gift with those who still&nbsp;<strong>need&nbsp;<\/strong>to hear what God has done&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John 3:1-17 The Greatest Gift for The Greatest Need! 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.&nbsp;2He came to Jesus at night and said, \u201cRabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1834,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832\/revisions\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}