Introduction
We began to study the conversation between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus last week. Nicodemus, you might recall, was an important person, because he was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish ruling council, and it has been suggested by at least one scholar that he was the member of a wealthy and prominent family in Jerusalem. And so, he was an important person.
But he was also just a man, which means he was a sinner in need of salvation. And so, when he came at night to speak to the Lord Jesus, the Lord told him very plainly that no-one — and that includes Nicodemus — no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. And we spent a bit of time last week thinking about what the Lord meant by the kingdom of God and what he meant by being born again or by being born again of water and the Spirit.
The kingdom of God is eternal life in the new creation to come where God will rule over his people with goodness and love and where we will reign with him for ever. That’s ultimately what the kingdom of God is. And the reason God the Son came into the world as one of us was to enable sinners to have eternal life in the new creation to come. Because of Adam’s sin in the beginning, and because of our own disobedience every day, we deserve to be condemned by God and sent out of his presence for ever. But because of Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father here on earth, even to death on the cross, Christ has won for his people the right to receive eternal life in the presence of God. And he gives that right to his people who have been born again of water and the Spirit.
And so, what is the new birth? It’s the implanting of new life in us by the Holy Spirit. One day the heavens and earth will be made new. One day our bodies will be made new. But before that happens, the Holy Spirit gives new life to God’s people in the here and now. And because of this new life, which we receive from the Holy Spirit, we’re able to turn from our sins in repentance and we’re able to turn with faith to the Saviour. And whoever turns with faith to the Saviour, and is united with him by faith, is pardoned by God and accepted as righteous in his sight. And the Holy Spirit continues to work in their lives to renew them in God’s image so that they become more and more willing and able to do his will here on earth. And they also receive the free gift of eternal life so that, though they die, yet they shall live in the presence of God for ever.
A gardener plants a seed in the soil and the seed begins to grow and it produces a plant with leaves and flowers. And God plants new life in us when he gives us the new birth. And that new life begins to grow in us and it produces faith and repentance and an ongoing desire to love and serve the Lord.
And so, those are some of the things we were thinking about last Sunday evening. Last week we got as far as verse 8. And so, today we’ll think about the rest of the conversation between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus.
However, it’s not much of a conversation, because the only thing Nicodemus says in the rest of the conversation between them is the question which appears in verse 9. So, Nicodemus asks the Lord, ‘How can this be?’ And verses 10 to 15 contain the Lord’s reply. And Nicodemus doesn’t say another word.
Now, if you’re looking at the NIV or the ESV, you’ll see that the translators have put verses 16 to 21 in quotation marks which suggests that the Lord Jesus is still speaking in those verses. And if you have a red letter Bible, where the words of the Lord Jesus are in red, then you’ll see that verses 16 to 21 are still in red. However, it’s likely that the Lord’s speech finishes at verse 15 and verses 16 to 21 are John’s explanation or John’s commentary on what the Lord has been saying to Nicodemus. The reason many commentators think this is because in verse 15 the Lord refers to himself as ‘the Son of Man’, which he does often. That’s the way he normally refers to himself in the gospels. And he never refers to himself as ‘the one and only Son’ or the ‘only begotten Son’ which appears in verse 16. And so, that suggests the Lord didn’t say verse 16. Furthermore, verse 16 begins with the words, ‘For God so loved the world….’ But the Lord Jesus does not normally refer to God as God. Normally he calls God ‘my Father’. And so, for these reasons, and for others, it’s likely that verses 16 to 21 are John’s commentary on what the Lord was saying to Nicodemus in verses 1 to 15.
And so, we’re already covered verses 1 to 8. We’ll now think about the rest of the conversation in verses 9 to 15, where Nicodemus asks a question and the Lord answers him. And then we’ll think about John’s commentary in verses 16 to 21.
Verses 9 and 10
So, in verse 9 Nicodemus asks the Lord, ‘How can this be?’ The Lord has been talking about the new birth and he’s been comparing the work of the Holy Spirit to the wind. So, the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it’s going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is free to work in whomever he wants and whenever he wants. And we can’t see him, because he works secretly in the hearts of God’s people. We can’t see him, but we can see the effect he has on God’s people, because he changes our lives.
The Lord has been talking to Nicodemus about these things. And Nicodemus wants to know, ‘How can this be?’ It’s possible he doesn’t believe what the Lord is saying and he’s therefore challenging the Lord. You know: ‘This sounds like nonsense to me, so explain yourself!’ But perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt and say that Nicodemus asks this question because he wants to know the truth.
And so it is today. Sometimes people asks questions about the Christian faith, not because they want to know the truth, but because they don’t believe and they’re attacking the truth or they’re trying to undermine it or disprove it. But then there are others who ask questions and it’s because of a sincere desire to learn the truth. That’s the kind of person we should be: the kind of humble person who is eager to learn.
And the Lord answers Nicodemus by saying to him in verse 10: ‘You are Israel’s teacher… and do you not understand these things?’ Calling Nicodemus ‘Israel’s teacher’ suggests that Nicodemus was regarded by the people as an authority on God’s word. And the Lord is therefore saying to him that since he’s supposed to be an authority on God’s word, then he really ought to have known what the Lord was talking about. And he really ought to have known what the Lord was talking about, because the Old Testament speaks about these things.
For instance, in Ezekiel 36, the Lord makes the following promise to his sinful and rebellious people at the time of the exile in Babylon. The Lord said to them: ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.’ The Lord was talking to his exiled people about the new birth, when God cleanses his people from the guilt of our sins through faith in the Saviour. And then the Lord said to his exiled people: ‘And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.’ The Lord was again referring to the new birth, when God plants new life in us so that, with a new heart, we’re able to love the Lord like never before. And then the Lord said to his exiled people: ‘And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.’ Once again, he’s telling them about the new birth, when God the Holy Spirit makes us new and enables us from that time on to walk in the ways of the Lord. In other word, the new birth is taught in the Old Testament.
And that means Nicodomus, who was Israel’s teacher and who was meant to be an authority on God’s word, should have known what the Lord was talking about. He shouldn’t have been surprised by the words of the Lord about being born again of water and the Spirit. He shouldn’t be surprised, because what the Lord Jesus was saying to Nicodemus was no different from what the Lord said to his people when they were exile in Babylon.
Verses 11 to 15
In verse 11 the Lord goes on to say to Nicodemus that we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
Why does he use the words ‘we’ and ‘our’. Who is he referring to when he says we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen? Some commentators think he’s referring to himself and his disciples. So, he means that he and his disciples have been speaking about these things. Or some think it’s a kind of ‘royal we’ or ‘the majestic plural’ which can be used by someone of high rank. So, the Lord refers to himself as ‘we’ because he’s the Son of God. And yet others think he’s referring to the persons of the Trinity. He can say that we have been speaking about these things, because — in a sense — one person of the Trinity speaks for the other two.
It’s not clear which of these is the right reason, but what is clear is that Nicodemus and the Jewish people at that time haven’t accepted what he’s been telling them. And the Lord draws a contrast in verse 12 between earthly things and heavenly things. Do you see that? He says that he’s spoken to them about earthly things, and they haven’t believed what he has said. And so, how will they believe if he speaks to them of heavenly things?
Some of the Bible commentators try to identify what the earthly things are and what the heavenly things are. For instance, some of them think that the new birth is an earthly thing, because it happens to us here on earth and it can be compared to earthly things like the blowing of the wind. And then the doctrine of the Trinity might be a heavenly thing, because it’s about God who is in heaven. And so, they try to identify what the Lord means by earthly things and heavenly things.
But I don’t think we need to get bogged down on working it out, because the point the Lord is making is that he’s qualified to speak about heavenly things. He’s qualified to speak about heavenly things because he has come from heaven. Do you see that in verse 13? He is the Son of Man who came from heaven. We know that because of what we read at the beginning of John’s gospel, where John said that in the beginning, before the creation of the world, there was the Word who was with God and who was God. He was with God in the beginning. And then, in verse 14 of chapter 1, John told us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So, the Lord Jesus is the Word of God, the Eternal Son of God, who came into the world as one of us. That’s what John said about him in chapter 1. And now the Lord Jesus says about himself that he has come down from heaven.
He’s therefore referring in verse 13 to his incarnation and to how, without ceasing to be God, he took to himself a body and soul like ours and he became one of us so that he is fully divine and fully human. He is God and man in one person.
And the reason he came down from heaven to earth and became one of us was so that he could be lifted up. Do you see that in verse 14? Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. He’s the Son of Man and he came down from heaven to earth so that he could be lifted up.
And when the Lord mentions Moses here, he’s referring to a passage from Numbers 21 in the Old Testament. God had rescued his people from their slavery in Egypt. He had brought them through the Red Sea. He was leading them through the wilderness towards the Promised Land. But the people became impatient. And they began to moan and complain about the Moses and about the Lord. Why have you brought us out here to die? We don’t have any bread. We don’t have any water. We don’t like this manna which you’ve given us for food. And they didn’t think that God was going to do what he promised he would do which was to bring them into the Promised Land. And they began to believe that they would’ve been better off if they stayed in Egypt. And so, they rebelled against the Lord.
As a result, the Lord sent poisonous snakes into the camp to punish his rebellious people. The snakes bit the people and many of them died. Eventually they went to Moses and confessed that they had sinned by speaking against Moses and the Lord. They were sorry for what they had done. And they asked Moses to pray for them and to ask God to take the snakes away.
Moses therefore prayed for the people. And this is what the Lord said: ‘Make a snake and hoist it on a pole. Anyone who has been bitten by a snake can look at the snake on the pole and they will live. If you look at the snake on the pole, you will live and not perish.’
And Moses did what the Lord said. He made a bronze snake. He put it on a pole. The people looked at it. And they were saved. So, instead of perishing in the wilderness, which is what they deserved, they lived.
And just as the snake was lifted up in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. The Lord Jesus is the Son of Man. He came down from heaven to earth as one of us so that he could be lifted up, not on a pole, but on the cross. And all who look to him — that is, all who believe in him — will not perish, but will have eternal life. That’s the wonder of the gospel: eternal life in the presence of God through faith in the Saviour who died for sinners.
But how can we believe in him? After all, the Lord has just said in verse 11 that you people do not accept our testimony. And in verse 12 he said that they did not believe him when he spoke to them of earthly things, so how will they believe in him when he speaks to them of heavenly things? So, no matter what he speaks to them about — earthly things or heavenly things — they will not believe. How can we believe in him if we are inclined to doubt him?
Well, as we learned last week, we must first be born again before we can believe in the Lord Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit must first implant in us a new life so that we’re able to believe in the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of Man who was lifted up on the cross and who died to pay for our sins with his life and to make peace for us with God. Without the help of the Spirit, none of us would ever believe.
But thanks be to God for his love and mercy towards us, because he’s the one who not only sent his Son to be lifted up on the cross to pay for our sins, but he also sends his Spirit into our lives to give us the new birth so that we’re able to trust in Christ for salvation.
Verses 16 to 21
And in the verses which follow — which I’ve said are the words of John and not the words of the Lord Jesus — John highlights for us the greatness of God’s love for us. This is how he begins: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’
When John says that God ‘so loved’ the world, he means that he loved the world ‘in this way’. He’s saying to us: ‘in this way did he love us’ or ‘in this manner did he love us’. So, in what way did he love us? In what manner did he love us? He loved us by giving his only begotten Son.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, who is begotten from the Father before all ages. And God ‘gave’ him in the sense that God gave him to be our Saviour. He gave him to be the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice for sins. He gave him by sending him into the world as one of us to be lifted up on the cross to pay for our sins with his life. And in this way God demonstrated his great love for us.
The Bible says that God is love. That’s what he is. He is love through and through. He is full of love. So, think of a jar which is filled to the brim with water. Well, God is filled to the brim with love. In fact, it’s better than that, because God’s love, like God himself, is infinite. It cannot be measured, because there’s no end to his love.
And God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have loved one another eternally and in perfect union with one another. Their life together as Father and Son and Holy Spirit is an eternal life of love.
But then, not only have they loved one another, but they created us so that they could pour out their love on us too. You see, love always needs an object. There must always be someone for us to love. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have always loved one another in their perfect triune life. But such is God’s love that he wanted to create us so that we too could be the object of his love.
And so, the Father created the world through his Son and by his Spirit and they gave us our life. And, because of God’s love for us, God filled our life in this world with good things to enjoy. And so, Adam and Eve had everything they needed in the Garden of Eden. God loved them and surrounded them with good things.
But then Adam disobeyed God. And everything in God’s good creation was spoiled, because we’ve all turned away from God. Instead of giving thanks to our loving God, who made us and who gave us our life, and instead of living for his glory, we have rejected him and we have worshipped other things instead of him.
And yet, despite our sin and rebellion, despite rejecting God who made us and who loves us, God continues to love us. God continues to love the world he made and the people in it, even though we turned away from him. He continues to love us with his perfect love. Because of his perfect love for us, he wasn’t willing to give us up to death and destruction and he wasn’t willing to abandon his purpose for us, which is to bring us into his presence, where we will see him as he is and where we’ll share his happiness for ever and for ever. He wasn’t willing to give up his purpose for us. And so, when the time was right, God loved us by giving us his only begotten Son to be our Saviour.
And we mustn’t think that God the Father loved us, but the Son did not love us. We mustn’t think the Son came reluctantly. No, the Father and the Son — and the Spirit too — possess one and the same love for us. And so, God the Father loved us and gave his Son for us. And God the Son loved us and was willing to be given by the Father. And God the Holy Spirit loved us and caused Mary to conceive and give birth to the Saviour. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit loved us with one and the same love. And as one God, they loved us and worked together for our salvation.
And when God sent his Son into the world, it wasn’t to condemn the world, but it was to save the world. That’s verse 17. The world was already condemned. The world was already condemned, because of Adam’s sin in the beginning, when we all fell with him into a state of sin and misery. It’s a state of sin, because sinning comes naturally to us now. And it’s a state of misery, because sin is misery. It causes misery to ourselves and to everyone we sin against. And in the end it leads to death and judgment. And so, without God’s intervention, we would all be condemned.
And that means that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, because the world was already condemned. It was already perishing. We were on our way to death and eternal punishment. The world is like a building which is condemned and we’re just waiting for the builders to come with their wrecking balls to demolish it. In a similar way, the world is condemned already and we’re just waiting for the end to come.
But because of his love for us, God gave his Son to save us from condemnation. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, says John in verse 18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. And believing in him means relying on him alone for salvation. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, because he’s the Saviour of everyone who believes. And when we believe in him for salvation, our sins are washed away and we’re covered over by his perfect obedience and we have peace with God.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because he has not believed in God’s only begotten Son. That’s in verse 18. Everyone should believe in him, because he is God’s only begotten Son and because he gave up his life for our salvation and because everyone who believes in him is saved from condemnation. So, everyone should believe in him. And those who reject him will be condemned, because they haven’t believed in the only one who can save them. A man is offered medicine that will save his life from certain death. And if he refuses to take the medicine, he is as good as dead, because he’s refused to take the only medicine which can save his life. And the person who refuses to believe in the Saviour is as good as condemned already, because he’s refused to believe in the only one who can save his life from eternal punishment.
This is the verdict, says John in verse 19. So, John is about to tell us what the world is like. He’s about to make clear to us the fallenness of the world. This is what he says. Light has come into the world. John is taking us back to what he said at the beginning of his gospel. Ever since the creation of the world, God’s light has been shining clearly in the things he has made and done in order to give us the knowledge of God. God has been revealing himself to us continually ever since the creation of the world so that everyone knows deep down inside that there’s a God who deserves our worship. And then, when the time was right, the light came into the world as a person, because Jesus Christ is the true Light who came into the world at his incarnation. And he came into the world to give us the knowledge of God like never before, because who better to reveal God to us than God himself? And that’s who he is: he is God the Son in the flesh.
But look at the second part of verse 19: light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light. And they loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. When our deeds are evil, we hate the light, because the light exposes what we are. When we see ourselves in the light of the knowledge of God, or when we see ourselves as the Lord sees us, then we see that we’re sinners who stand condemned, because of all the evil things we have done.
That’s John’s verdict on the world. That’s what the world is like. That’s what everyone is like, until God sends his Spirit into our lives to give us the new birth so that we’re born again of water and the Spirit and receive new life from God to enable us to turn in repentance from our sin and unbelief and to believe in God’s only begotten Son. And whoever believes in him shall not perish, even though we deserve to perish. Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life in the presence of God in the new creation to come.
And finally John says in verse 21 that whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it will be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. John is referring now to the believer. And what has the believer done? He has come into the light. So, he has come to Christ for salvation. He has come to Christ for forgiveness and for peace with God and for renewal by the Holy Spirit. That’s what the believer has done. And how did he do it? He did it through God, because it was God the Holy Spirit who enabled him to believe and to come to Christ. And every good thing we do throughout the rest of our lives, we do because of God the Holy Spirit who is working in us to renew us in God’s image and to make us more and more willing and able to do God’s will here on earth.
Conclusion
This then is our God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, whose life together is an eternal life of love. And they created us to be the object of their love for ever and for ever. And because of their love for us, God the Father sent God the Son into the world as one of us to do everything necessary to save us from our sin and misery in this world and to give us eternal life in the new creation to come, where we will be made perfect in God’s presence. And because of God’s love for us, the Father not only sent his only begotten Son, but he also sent his Spirit into our lives to give us the new birth so that we’re able to turn from our sin and turn to the Saviour for salvation. And because of the greatness of his love for us, we can count on him to keep us on the way that leads to eternal life in his presence and to turn to our good whatever adversities we face as we wait for it. And to him be all praise and glory and honour both now and for evermore.
Sermons and Stuff 