Jesus
Teaches Nicodemus
Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
A member of
the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to
Jesus at night and said,
Rabbi, 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.
3 In reply
Jesus declared,
'I
TELL YOU THE TRUTH, UNLESS A MAN IS BORN AGAIN
HE
CANNOT SEE (EXPERIENCE)THE KINGDOM OF GOD.'
4 How can a
man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked.
Surely he
cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!
5 Jesus
answered,
“I tell you
the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit,
He cannot
Enter the kingdom of God.
6 Flesh gives
birth to flesh,
But the
Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should
not be surprised at my saying,
'YOU MUST BE
BORN AGAIN.'
8 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.”
9 How can
this be? Nicodemus asked.
10 'You are
Israel’s teacher,' said Jesus,
'And do you
not understand these things?
11 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.
12 I have
spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
How then will
you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13 No one has
ever gone into heaven
Except the
One Who came from heaven--The Son of Man.
14 Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,
So the Son of
man must be lifted up,
15 That
everyone who believes in Him may have Eternal Life.
16 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.
17 For God
did not send His Son into the World
To condemn
the World,
But to save
the World through Him.
18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned,
BUT
WHOEVER DOES NOT BELIEVE
STANDS
CONDEMNED ALREADY
BECAUSE
HE HAS NOT BELIEVED
IN
THE NAME OF GOD'S ONE AND ONLY SON.
19
THIS IS THE VERDICT;
Light
has come into the world,
But men loved
Darkness instead of Light
Because their
Deeds were Evil.
20 Everyone
who does Evil Hates the Light,
And will not
come into the Light
For fear that
his deeds will be exposed.
21 But
whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light,
So
that it may be seen plainly
That
what he has done has been done through God.”
(John
3:1-21)
Everyone
in Israel should have known
That
Jesus was the Christ
Because
of the miracles He was doing.
Nicodemus
clearly understood that reality.
Only
the hardness of their hearts prevented the Religious Leaders
From
coming to this conclusion as did Nicodemus.
To
be a Christian, one Must be Born Again.
Without
being Born again, born of the Spirit of God,
No
one can Enter the Kingdom of God,
And
it is always a mystery, who is Born Again.
God
Almighty expressed His love for mankind
By
sending His One and only Son into the World
As
the Savior of All who would Believe.
Those
who Refuse to Believe Stand Condemned Already.
Because
of the Sin of Adam and Eve,
Everyone
is born with a Sin Nature.
Unless
this Sin Nature is changed by being Born Again,
They
remain in their Sin, and Condemned before a Holy God.
THIS
IS THE VERDICT;
Christ
Jesus, the Light, has come into this Dark World.
Most
people love the Darkness of their Sin Nature
And
Refuse to come into the Light of Christ Jesus and His Word
For
Fear that their Deeds will be Exposed.
But
those who have been Born Again;
Those
who have Received the Light of Christ Jesus;
Who
have Him living In and Through them,
Come
into the Light of His Word,
So
that it may be seen Plainly
That
the way they live is the Result of Christ living In them,
In
Obedience to His Word.
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