John 3:16

Q: What does the Bible say about being born again?

John 3:3 teaches that unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In John 3:3, Jesus states to Nicodemus that being born again is essential for seeing the kingdom of God. This new birth is not a physical rebirth but rather a spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It signifies a transformative work that must occur within an individual to understand and recognize the sovereignty of God. Without this regeneration, no one can comprehend the spiritual truths of the kingdom as it pertains to salvation and divine relationship.

Q: How do we know John 3:16 is true?

John 3:16 is affirmed by the entirety of Scripture, showcasing God's love through the gift of His Son. The truth of John 3:16 is confirmed through the consistent witness of Scripture regarding God's character and His redemptive plan. It encapsulates the heart of the Gospel, illustrating that God loves the world so much that He gave His only Son for salvation. This aligns with passages throughout the Bible that emphasize God’s grace and the necessity of faith in Christ for everlasting life. It underscores that salvation is not based on human merit but on God's unconditional love and the sacrificial work of Jesus.

Q: Why is understanding the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Understanding God's sovereignty assures Christians that He is in control of all aspects of their lives. The concept of God's sovereignty is crucial for Christians as it provides assurance in His divine authority over creation, salvation, and daily life. John 3:3 emphasizes that true faith and understanding of God's kingdom require recognition of His reign. This sovereignty reassures believers that God is actively involved in their lives, working all things for their good according to His purpose, as affirmed in Romans 8:28-30. It builds a foundation for faith, trust, and worship, knowing that God’s plans will ultimately prevail despite life's uncertainties.

Q: What does 'whosoever believes' mean in John 3:16?

The term 'whosoever believes' signifies the inclusivity of Gospel salvation for all who have faith. 'Whosoever believes' in John 3:16 emphasizes that the offer of salvation through faith in Christ is open to everyone, regardless of their background or sins. It declares that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace, illustrating the cultural barrier-breaking nature of the Gospel. This promise reinforces that belief in Christ as Savior leads to eternal life, assuring that salvation is available to all who recognize their need for redemption. It assures sinners, regardless of their past, that faith in Jesus is the key to life everlasting.

Good evening, everybody. If you would turn in your Bibles with me to John chapter three. And I will not try to keep you alone tonight. John chapter three. So, by way of introduction, we're going to be looking at the most known verse of the Bible in probably all the world, John 3, 16.

And this verse is... This is the verse that children learn. It's probably the first verse that most children, if they're ever going to learn a Bible verse, this is the verse that they learn. And I remember as a child growing up and a teenager, Sunday football come on and there would be somebody behind the field goals, John 3, 16. No words, just John 3, 16. Everybody. knows the words of John 3 16.

But a number of years ago, I began studying this passage and wanting to understand it more. And I kept going back to this John chapter three and I would beginning reading in John chapter three verse one. And I knew that there was a conversation that was occurring between our Lord and a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. but I could not understand what was being said between the two of them. And so I give diligence to study to try to understand, because I could tell that there was an intelligent conversation between them, and I wanted to understand those words, because I knew our Lord was, well, speaking words of life to this man. But anyway, so I, One day I began reading before the chapter change and I began to see that really John chapter 3 Verse one really should have began in John chapter two, verse 23. And so what I'm gonna do tonight is because I am gonna be on, we are gonna look at John chapter three, verse 16, actually verses 13, 14, 15, and 16, but I wanted to set the context. of this conversation between Nicodemus and our Lord. And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read, I will begin reading and read verse 23 down through verse 12, and then I'm just gonna do just some quick commentary on this conversation. And my intent is to hopefully help understand what's being said between these two men. between our Lord and this man. And so, and then we will look closer and look at our text, verses 13 through 16. So let's begin reading John chapter two, beginning at verse 23.

Now, when he was in Jerusalem, speaking of our Lord at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. Verse 24, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any man should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Chapter three, verse one, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that art a teacher come from God, For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."

Jesus answered and said to him, "'Barely, barely, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter into the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit.

And Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

Let's look at these verses very briefly, and I do mean briefly because my passage in text will be verses 13 through 16. So what we have in John chapter two, verse 23, we see that many believed him when they saw the miracles that he did. Actually, it says many believed in his name. when they saw the miracles that he did. Verse 24 says, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them. He knew what was in all men. And that word commit is the same word as believed in the previous verse.

So here we have at the Passover, all of these religious people, the most religious people of their day, These people are not pagans. They're Jews. They're at Jerusalem. And they're at the Passover. And that Passover is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? So here we have all of these, the most religious people in the world. and actually those who should be the most knowledgeable in the world here. And they see our Lord doing these miracles and they believe in his name.

And it says, our Lord did not commit, for he put no confidence in them. Now, that sets the context for Nicodemus. Now, let's look at verses, chapter three, beginning in verse three. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. Four, why?

For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." So what Nicodemus is saying, we know you're from God because we saw the miracles. And what is it that our Lord said of those who just saw the miracles? He committed himself, not into them. This Nicodemus is one of those lost religious men who came to the Lord Jesus Christ, who our Lord put no confidence in. This is a man who would say, I believe in the name of Jesus Christ. I've seen his miracles.

Verse 25, he knew, verse 25, I'm sorry, verse three, Jesus answered and said unto him, barely, barely I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So Nicodemus has said to the Lord, we know you're from God because we've seen the miracles.

And our Lord's reply to him is, Unless you've been born again, you can't believe. Unless you've been born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, when it says, when our Lord says, see the kingdom of God, as a child, I thought he meant see heaven. But what he's saying, see the kingdom of God, that word kingdom means his reign, the reign of God, the sovereignty of God. Nicodemus, unless you've been born again, you cannot see the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ, is what he told him.

Verse four, Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born again when he's old, and entered his womb a second time? And he goes on and says, born again? He's a spiritual leader in Israel, and a most religious man, he has no idea what the Lord is, what our Lord is speaking of. And in John three, four through six, Our Lord tells him, truly, truly, I'm telling you, let's read verses four through six. Verse four, Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he's old?

How can he enter the second time in his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, barely, barely, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, we don't have time to go in But our Lord is telling him, when he's speaking of being born of water, he's speaking of regeneration by the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes God, the Holy Spirit, And it takes the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ for a man to be born again, and that's what he's conveying.

And for the time, we'll keep moving, because I don't want to be too long. John 3, verses 8, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. So is every one that's born of the Spirit. And our Lord is telling him that this work of being born again is the work of God. That it is God the Holy Spirit, the wind blows where it wills, so does the Spirit of God works as he wills.

He moves on the sinner as he wills. And no man can tell whence it goes is what he said. And to continue, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. Don't receive my witness, Nicodemus. You don't believe what I've telling you.

And so here we have this lost religious man, a man who is in our day would be as religious and devout as you would find. He would be called a devout Christian in our day. This would have been what the world would known as a devout Christian. And he knew nothing about the gospel.

And so verses, Twelve, if I've told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Now, that's the introduction, and I'll not be long on the remaining verses, but there are six things. There's six things I want to bring out, or try to bring out, in our remaining verses, John 13, 14, 15, and 16. And it's these six things.

One, and this is what our Lord is conveying to Nicodemus. One, man cannot get to God. This is what he's telling Nicodemus in the verses that we're going to be looking at. One, man cannot get to God. Number two, God must come to man. And number three, God must provide the means for man. And number four, Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ is that means.

And then number six, number five, all who look to Christ will live. And then number six, who is it that will live? Okay, so those six things, man can't get to God, God must come to man, God must provide the means for man, Christ is that means, and all who look to Christ will live. And then we're gonna say, who is it that lives?

So let's read now John 3, 13 through 16. And as our Lord continued to Nicodemus, and no man hath ascended to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Four, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now first, John 6, John 3, 13. No man hath ascended up to heaven. What's our Lord telling Nicodemus? What's he saying? He is saying that no man, no man is able to get to God. That no man in his natural state can get to God.

Do you remember the Tower of Babel? What did they do? They tried to build a tower to get to God. It was a physical tower. Their tongues were confounded and they were scattered throughout the earth. And since the day of Babel, since Babel, man has tried to get to God, not by building a tower, but by working, by his works. He's trying to get to God by his good works. And what our Lord is telling Nicodemus is that no man ascended up to God. We cannot, in ourselves, recommend ourselves to God in any of our works.

Ephesians 2.8, we know this verse, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.

Number two, John 3.13 continues, and no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven even the Son of Man, which is in heaven.

He that came down from heaven, God must come down to man. That's number two. God must come to we are. We cannot get to God. But he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Now, who is it that is in heaven? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. God himself in the person of a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come down to where we are. He has come down to those who cannot go up.

And then thirdly, John 3, 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now, God must provide the means. That's our third point. Now, look at verse 14, and he says, and as Moses lifted up. the serpent.

That word as what he's saying is Nicodemus, it's as. This is a picture. This is an example. This is an illustration of how this new birth that I'm talking about. He has said you must be born again. He's told him that the spirit must regenerate a man. And now he's going on and giving him an example as of that serpent in the wilderness that was lifted up. And he says, as, this is a picture.

It's like being born again, it's seeing the kingdom of God, born of spirit and of water. This is as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, which is saying the same way. As the serpent was in this same way, this same manner, The same way, just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Just like that serpent in the wilderness was lifted up, so must the Lord Jesus Christ himself be lifted up. So God must provide the means. And fourthly, Christ himself is that means. This is the gospel. Christ himself is the means. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Now, let me ask you this. Is it strange to you that our Lord Jesus Christ is represented in the scripture as a serpent? Does that strike strangeness to you? I remember being a little boy. in the Sunday school class, and I will say that the teacher did not know the gospel, and she never give explanation, but I remember going through the Old Testament, and I remember going across these stories, and I remember her saying that that serpent lifted up on that brass pole was a representation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And I remember, well, I didn't like it. But I knew that I should because it's in the scriptures and the scriptures are true and the scriptures are good. Now I can understand a lamb when you tell me that the Lord Jesus Christ is a lamb, a perfectly spotless white lamb. I can understand that.

But how is it that a serpent A poisonous snake put on a pole represents our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21, for he hath made him, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be sin for us, whom you know sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God.

That serpent, In the wilderness is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ taking on himself the very sins of his people. If you remember there in the wilderness, a man, they had rebelled against God, they were murmured against God, and the Lord sent those very serpents out, and those serpents bit those people, and they died. And they cried unto Moses, and Moses went to the Lord, and the Lord said, make a pole, a brazen serpent, and you put it out there. And whoever's been bitten, when they look, when they look, they won't die, they'll live.

And that represents the sinner. When he looks to the cross, And he sees his sin. Those sins on the cross are not just sins. Those are personal sins. Those are the sins of a man that's been snakebitten with sin. Those are the sins of a man who's dying by sin. Those are the sins of a man who has no hope and no help. And he's told, go and look cross. Look at the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and there you'll find your sin. And a sinner goes and the Lord opens his eyes by the Holy Spirit and he reveals to him his very own sins.

Isaiah 53, he hath borne a Our sorrows, those sins on the cross, that sorrow on the cross, those are our sorrows and they've become his sorrows. He has borne our grief. This is the grief of his people, the griefs of those who were dying. He has borne our griefs. He was wounded, verse five in Isaiah, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. There he is. For the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Nicodemus, this is what I'm talking about. And he shows him the picture. Now five, all who look will live. John 3, 15, well, so verse 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. It's like the wilderness.

We're still talking about, whosoever, and this word whosoever, what a wonderful word. This word means all, it means every, it means any, it means whole. Whosoever, no matter how poisonous the snake, no matter how bad of a sinner you are, no matter how many times a man has been bitten with sin.

There's no exceptions. The power of his death and the power of his life is so great and so vast, it doesn't matter how bad the sinner is or how close to death he is, that whosoever The sinner, a sinner, a ruined sinner, a bitten sinner who looks and sees Christ, that sinner will live. There's no exceptions.

It's not them who look or it's not them who believe in baptism. nor those who are looking at a profession of faith, or looks to their experiences, the religious experiences that they've had, or maybe looks to all the good works that they've done, or even those who have a really good sound understanding of Bible doctrine.

It's those who look to him and believe in him, not believeth in his name simply. That was Nicodemus. Matthew 7 tells us that many in the last day, we say we've preached in your name, we've cast out devils in your name, and we've done many wonderful works in your name. That's not what it's talking about. It's about those who believe in him. who look to him, who see him, who believeth in him, who believe and see that he is made their substitute. There is my sin. There is my substitute. That's my sin on the cross. Well, lastly, who is it that believes?

For God so loved the world not just Jews only. Romans Revelation 5, 9 says, redeemed us to God by blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Our Lord is telling this Jewish man that the love of God is so great that it encompassed not only Jews that were fallen, but it was to include Gentiles who were out of the Commonwealth of Israel, dogs who had no hope, who had no help. So God so loved that he gave, he freely gave. He gave without merit and without price. He gave his only begotten son, This only begotten son is himself. The only, and that word son, it doesn't mean little boy. It's himself. It's his own image, his likeness, himself.

He gave himself that whosoever believeth, whoever looks to the cross, whoever sees their sin, whoever sees their serpent, shall not perish. They'll not enter into eternal darkness. They'll not be without Christ and be without life. But they'll have everlasting life. They'll be with Christ. He is life. They'll be with him forever. And they will be with him without end.

So the gospel John 3, 16, it's good news to sinners. It's good news to a man who's been snakebitten. Now, Nicodemus, have you been bitten? Oh, well, no, I'm not. It's not good news to a man. It's not in trouble. You need help? No, I'm good. No, I'm good. You offer a man that needs help, help. Now, that's good news. And that's what we're talking about here.

We're talking about how God saves sinners. Through the substitution of his son, he saves sinners. He came to die for sinners. And this verse, John 3, 16, it's written for sinners. And I encourage sinners, if you've been bitten, if you're dying, Whosoever, look, look, and live. And that's the gospel according to John. Amen.

John 3:16

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being born again?

How do we know John 3:16 is true?

Why is understanding the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What does 'whosoever believes' mean in John 3:16?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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John 3:16

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being born again?

How do we know John 3:16 is true?

Why is understanding the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What does 'whosoever believes' mean in John 3:16?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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