God So Loved

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

The Bible teaches that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, as indicated in John 3:3. In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' This emphasizes the necessity of spiritual regeneration, which is a work of the Holy Spirit. This new birth is not something one can achieve through effort or personal merit but is entirely dependent on God's grace and action in a person's life. The requirement to be 'born of the Spirit' indicates that understanding and acceptance of the gospel comes only through divine intervention, making it clear that human effort alone is insufficient for salvation.

Q: How do we know God saves whom He wills?

God saves whom He wills, as stated in Romans 9:15-16, which speaks of His mercy being given to whom He decides. The doctrine of God's sovereignty in salvation is clearly expressed in Romans 9:15-16, where Paul quotes God saying, 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.' This shows that God's decision to save is not based on human effort or desire, but solely on His own sovereign will. Throughout scripture, we see that God has the right to choose and elect individuals for salvation, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings about rebirth and faith. This foundational truth confirms that salvation is entirely by grace, reinforcing the belief that the divine initiative is essential for anyone to know God and receive salvation.

Q: Why is understanding God's love important for Christians?

Understanding God's love is crucial as it underpins the basis of salvation and God's relationship with His people, as seen in John 3:16. John 3:16 famously declares, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...' This passage encapsulates the essence of God's love, which is not universal but distinguishing, focusing on His chosen people. Recognizing that God's love is not based on human worth but is a gracious gift helps believers appreciate the depth of His mercy and grace. It's essential for Christians to understand that God's love actively demonstrated through the sacrifice of Christ forms the foundation of their faith. This understanding compels gratitude and transformational living as believers respond to the love they have received.

Q: What does it mean that salvation is by grace through faith?

Salvation being by grace through faith means that it is a free gift from God, received by believing in Christ, as outlined in Ephesians 2:8-9. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.' This emphasizes that salvation is not earned through human effort or merit but is a gracious gift from God, received through faith. Faith itself is a gift from the Holy Spirit, enabling individuals to trust in Christ as their only hope. This profound truth reinforces the biblical teaching that all of salvation is grounded in God's grace, ensuring that no one can boast about their own righteousness or deeds, thus adhering to the core of Reformed theology.

Q: Why must Christ be lifted up for our salvation?

Christ must be lifted up to fulfill the prophecies and as the necessary sacrifice for sin, as illustrated in John 3:14-15. In John 3:14-15, Jesus explains to Nicodemus, 'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.' This alludes to the necessity of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as the means by which sinners are saved. Just as the Israelites looked at the serpent in faith to be healed from their afflictions, believers must look to Christ, lifted up on the cross, in faith for their eternal salvation. This lifting up symbolizes the fulfillment of God's plan for redemption, showing that faith in Jesus as the Son of God is essential for eternal life.

John chapter 3 and look at verse
9. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, that's the Lord Jesus, how can these things be? Now this
verse is a reminder of what has been taught before. Nicodemus
came to the Lord Jesus by night saying, we know. And the Lord
Jesus taught him in these first eight verses two basic gospel
truths. that we saw last Sunday. Number
one, to know anything about God and about man and about how God
deals with sin, how God can be just and justify a sinner. These are the things of God.
The Word of God from Genesis to Revelation deals with these
things, who God is, who man is, what man is, his condition before
God, and how God can save a sinner and still be God. All of the
redemption stories in the Old Testament concern that. All of
the sacrifices in the Old Testament concern that. All of the Gospels
concern Him who came and is the answer to all of those questions,
the fulfillment of all of that truth. To know anything about
these things, Christ taught Nicodemus, it requires a miracle. It requires
a life-giving work of God performed by the Holy Spirit of God. You must be born of the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit, those are the
ones who can see, understand, perceive, and enter into the
kingdom of God. It requires a work of God. That's
number one. And then number two, he taught
him this. The Holy Spirit performs this work on whom He will. Grace is not God giving everybody
a shot. How gracious of the Lord. You
know, He's given us all a chance to redeem ourselves, to make
up for what Adam did. That's not grace. Grace is grace. Grace is I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and whom I will harden. That's grace. We have here in verse 9, Nicodemus'
reaction to the teaching of these two truths. I've seen this reaction
before. How can these things be? It's not an uncommon reaction.
You mean to tell me I've read my Bible and gone to Sunday school
since I was a kid, and I teach a class now at my church. I got
saved when I was nine. And I don't know what the Bible
says. How can that be? I don't know anything about God. I can't even perceive anything
about the Kingdom of God. I can't know God. I can't enter
into His Kingdom. I don't know anything about His
Word. I don't know anything about His Son. How can that be? Proverbs 16, 25, There is a way
which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. The way of man-centered, God-hating,
freewill religion is the way of death and destruction. And Nicodemus was in exactly
the same boat now. I've seen this reaction, and
it's the same as Nicodemus. Nicodemus had read his Bible,
too. And he had gone to Sunday school since he was a kid. And
he was teaching a class now. He was saved. You know, he considered
himself a child of God. But he didn't know anything about
God. and how God saves a sinner and why God saves sinners. He
knew nothing about that. And he was astonished to find
out. He said, how can these things be? Now the Lord continues this
lesson. He's not through with him. He
has done what's necessary in all of our cases. When he saved
us, he shut us up to the mercy of God. And that's what he did
with Nicodemus here. He showed him that we don't know
anything by nature. Our thoughts are not God's thoughts.
We just think they are. But then the Lord continues in
verse 10. It says, Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a
master of Israel? And knowest not these things?
A master. He had achieved a degree. He had been commended for his
learning. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. In verse 22, this is the Lord
Jesus talking about spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding,
and the lack thereof. In Matthew 6, 22, He says, Now
the light of the body is the eye. You can't perceive. Everything you see is because
light is reflecting off of it. And you perceive that light.
You process that light with these eyes. Without eyes, there's no
light. coming into your body and you're
not going to see anything. The light of the body is the
eye. Therefore, if therefore thine
eye be single. Now the way this is translated
makes it possibly confusing. The word single here just means
whole. It means literally able to fulfill
its office. That's what that word single
means. In other words, your eye works. It does what an eye is
supposed to do. If it does what it's supposed
to do, if it fulfills its office as an eye, then thy whole body
shall be full of light. Everywhere you look, there's
light coming in, reflected light. You can perceive people and trees
and grass because there's light. And you can see your whole body
full of light because your eye doing what an eye does. But if
thine eye be evil, that word there, it's not talking about
sinfulness. It just means bad. It means diseased. It means blind. If your eye works, then your
whole body's full of light. If it don't work, if it's a bad
eye, if it's a diseased eye, then thy whole body shall be
full of darkness. Now, he applies these physical
things to spiritual truth. If therefore the light that is
in you be darkness, oh, how great is that darkness. If you don't
have eyes to see, but you say, I see. I perceive some things. If that light that you're perceiving
is darkness, oh, that's deep darkness there. That's spiritual
darkness. That's the worst kind of darkness. You see that? That was Nicodemus' case. He
said, I see. I know God. I've learned some
things. I'm a teacher. I'm a master of
Israel. Christ said, are you a master
of Israel and you don't know the basic elemental truth of
God's gospel? The light that is in you is darkness. And how great is that darkness?
Christ is saying to Nicodemus here, you know a lot of things,
you've perceived a lot concerning the things of God, but they're
all wrong. They're all wrong. The light
that is in you is darkness. You're a master in Israel. Your
peers have deemed you worthy of commendation for your learning
and your knowledge, but you can't see the kingdom of God because
God hasn't done anything for you. You say you see, but you're
blind. In John 9, 41, that's what he
said to those Pharisees. They kicked that old blind man
out of their church because he wouldn't agree with them. They
said, well, this man's a sinner. And he said, I don't know anything
about that. I just know I was blind until he came along. And
now I can see. But the Lord said to those Pharisees,
he said, if you were blind, they asked him, they said, are you
saying we're blind? He said, if you were blind, you should
have no sin. No sin? What in the world is
he talking about? But he said, now you say we see,
therefore your sin remains on you. Do you see the spiritual
teaching there? If we by God's grace were able
to say, I'm blind by nature, I cannot see the things of God.
Lord, that I might receive my sight. That's what the Lord asked
that blind man. What would you have me do for
you? Lord, that I might receive my
sight. If you've come to that place spiritually, Christ said
you don't have any sin because you've come to the place where
your only hope before God is the Lord Jesus Christ. in whose
mouth is no guile, and he's your representative before God and
your sin offering before God. And you don't have any sin, but
because you say we see, because, Nicodemus, you come saying it,
we know, therefore your sin remaineth." You picture this now, Nicodemus
coming before the Son of God and saying, here's what I know,
and the Lord The Lord put him down, put him in his place, didn't
he, in the dust before God. Unless God does something for
you, you don't know anything. John, let's see. Here's what
our Lord is doing from John 9, 41 there. He said, if you were
blind, you wouldn't have any sin. Here's what the Lord is
doing here in the case of Nicodemus. He's getting him blind. Ralph
Barnard preached a message one time called, How God Gets Sinners
Lost. That's what he's doing with Nicodemus
here. He's getting him lost. You're going to have to be lost
before God will save you. You're going to have to be blind
before he'll open your eyes. He opens the eyes of the blind.
He said, if you see, the whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. So you're going to have to be
sick, you see. That's what he's talking about. If you were blind,
if you were sick, if you were a leper, then I'd do something
for you, and you wouldn't have any sin before God. You'd be
justified before God. But no, you say, I see. And Nicodemus
did. So our Lord is getting him blind
so that he will come to the place where he will have no sin. Now,
this is a humiliating question. Are you a master in Israel and
you don't know these simple things? Now, our Lord doesn't taunt sinners. He doesn't ridicule sinners.
He doesn't unnecessarily humiliate people. But I'll tell you this.
Our Lord knows how to knock a man off his horse." He said to Job,
when Job had spoken some things that he said eventually, he said,
they were too wonderful for me. I didn't know what I was talking
about. And God called him on it. And he said, Job, he said,
Job in 4011, cast abroad the rage of your wrath and behold
everyone that is proud and abase him. Look on everyone that is
proud and bring him low. Job couldn't do that, but God
could. God could. In Daniel 4.37, you remember
the story of Nebuchadnezzar. He thought he was somebody. He
said, look at all this kingdom that I've built. And God said,
you're fixing to find out who gave you that kingdom because
I'm going to take it away from you. I'm going to take it away
from you. And he turned him into a beast.
And Nebuchadnezzar spent a little time out in the field like an
animal, eating grass. And he said, the Lord gave me
my senses back. And when he gave me my natural
senses back, he gave me something else too. Because he said, now
I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven,
all whose works are truth and his ways are judgment, and those
that walk in pride he's able to abase. And that's what he's
doing with Nicodemus right here. Are you a master in Israel and
you're ignorant of these things? Oh, you got to come down. There's
nothing for a false foundation, the false foundation of man's
wisdom. There's nothing for it but to
be broken up. You can't build on it. All he
can do is break it up and lay that foundation other than which
no man can lay, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, it is not
that these things, he said, you don't know these things, these
things, these things were not hidden. at least in a natural
sense, the fact that God saves whom He will. Didn't He say to
Moses a long time ago, I'll save who I want to save, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy? And Nicodemus, you don't know
that the wind blows where it listeth? God said He saves whom
He will a long time ago in those scriptures that you're so familiar
with. In Luke 4.25, the Lord Jesus preached from the Old Testament
to these people, and He preached this truth. God saves who he
wants to save. He said, I tell you of a truth,
many widows were in Israel in the days of Elisha, when the
heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine
was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was God's
prophet sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman
that was a widow. There were a lot of widows around,
but God's mercy was on one of And there were many lepers, verse
27 of Luke 4. Many lepers were in Israel in
the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed,
saving Naaman the Syrian. He wasn't even a Jew. He wasn't
even one of God's people. You know, according to the Jews,
their heritage. None of them was cleansed, saving
Naaman the Syrian. Lots of lepers, and lots of them
died lepers. But one, by God's grace, was
cleansed. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, they were filled with wrath,
and they still are. When sinners hear that God saves
who He wants to save, it fills them with wrath. And they rose
up and thrust the Lord Jesus out of the city, and led Him
unto the brow of the hill whereupon their city was built, that they
might cast Him down headlong." Don't you know, Nicodemus, that
God saves who He wants to save? The Word of God teaches it all
through. The doctrine of regeneration. You must be born again. Is that
not taught in the Scripture? What did the Lord say to Ezekiel?
Can these bones live? And Ezekiel said, Lord, thou
knowest. Can these dead, exceeding dry bones, can they get up and
walk around? If God gives them life, they
can. If not, they're going to lay there and get drier than
they already are. They're just going to lay there.
and they can't do anything but lay there. And what did he say? Prophesy to the wind, the spirit
that blows where it listeth, and say, Come, come unto these
dead dry bones and give them life. And that's what he did.
So these were not new truths that the Lord Jesus was presenting
to him, and therefore he had no way to know them. He said,
are you a master in it? He was a decorated Bible scholar. But he didn't have any idea what
the Bible said. And most people don't. Well,
if I know my Bible, and the ones that say that believe that God
loves everybody, that Christ died to save everybody, and neither
one of those things is true, that'd be their gospel. That's
how they would represent their gospel. Right there, smile, God
loves you. It's a false gospel. We're going to see that in a
minute. Now notice in verse 11, first of all here, Christ made
sure that Nicodemus knew before he went any further that he didn't
have any idea what God said. How can these things be? And
then verse 11, verily, verily I say unto thee, we speak that
we do know and testify that we have seen and you receive not
our witness. Now notice the we. Nicodemus
said, we too, didn't he? He said, we know. Nicodemus represented
the Pharisees, the proud, established, big religion of his day. The
Lord Jesus Christ represented his little ragtag group of disciples
whom he had called to preach his gospel. And he represented
the prophets, including John the Baptist, who was his forerunner.
He represented the prophets as the prophet of God. And he also
represented God the Father. He said, the words that I speak,
they're not mine. I got them from the Father. Now,
both Nicodemus and Christ spoke of knowledge. Knowledge we know. And then the Lord said, we do
know. And notice that right now, at
least, it's us and them. It's we and you. Us and them. We know. We do know. And it is
with those who know not God and those who do. It's us and them. The Lord said, he that's not
with me is against me. The Pharisees were against him.
And Nicodemus was one of them. And the Lord's revealing all
this to him now. Now, this also is a confirmation of what has
gone before. He said, you receive not our
witness. He told him, until you're born again, you cannot see. And
sure enough, when the truth of God's kingdom was preached, Nicodemus
rejected it, just like Christ said he would, until God did
a work in his heart, a work of grace, and begat him again unto
a lively hope in Christ. The Lord already told him why.
He says here, you receive not our witness. He's already told
him why. It's not a matter of some being smart enough to believe
the gospel and others not. It is a matter of the new birth
by God's distinguishing grace and power. If you receive not
the things of the Spirit of God, it's because you're a natural
man. You're just like everybody else, born of the flesh. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. If you do receive the
witness of God's people and the Lord Jesus himself, it's because
you're born of the Spirit. He's already explained this,
and now he's just showing that the result is exactly what he
said it would be. If God hadn't done a work for
you, you can't know anything, you won't receive anything from
God. And he said, sure enough, we
preach in the truth and you don't receive it. Verse 12, if I've
told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe
if I tell you of heavenly things? The Lord Jesus Christ had illustrated
spiritual truth with earthly language, earthly illustrations,
such as birth. Everybody knows something about
what it is to be born. When we were born, we didn't
know much about it, did we? But now we do. We know something
about birth. Well, he describes the new birth,
the experience of being saved by God, enlightened by God, given
life by God as a birth. You have as much to do with your
new birth as you have with your old birth. They're both life
given by God, a miracle of God's grace. One natural and one spiritual. They're both the beginning of
life. Before you were born, before you were conceived, there was
no life there. And then there's a new life that's
there. God knew you even before that.
But you didn't have life until God gave life. Same in the spiritual
birth. You hath He quickened which were
dead. You were dead. There was no life
until you were born of the Spirit of God. And so birth, he uses
this earthly language. I can understand something about
the new birth because I know something about natural birth.
I just know that this is spiritual and that was fleshly. And he
also used the example of the wind blowing. I spoke to you
of earthly things. The wind blows where it wants
to blow. You can't control it. You don't know where it came
from and you don't know where it'll go. You can hear the sound of
it. You can see the effects of it when it moves the leaves of
the trees. But you can't make it blow. And when it does blow,
you can't tell it where to blow. That's how it is with everybody
that's born of the Spirit. Now, you see how he's using earthly
language to describe spiritual, heavenly truth. The Spirit of
God. You can't make Him come. You
can't make Him give life. And when He does come, you can't
tell Him who to give life to. You can see the effect of it.
That's all you've got to do with it. Well, I've spoken to you
of earthly things. That was the Lord's manner throughout
His ministry on this earth. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto... He used those words so often.
It's like unto... And then He would give some earthly
example. The kingdom of heaven, the spiritual kingdom of God,
is likened to a treasure hidden in a field, for example, a hidden
treasure in a field. He said in another place, it's
likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold everything that
he had and bought that pearl. Do you see how the kingdom of
heaven is like that? When you saw Christ You abandon
all other hope. You give up everything you are
and have and know and embrace him. Like that goodly man seeking
goodly pearl, that merchant man seeking goodly pearls. When you
find that one pearl of great price, you've got to have him. You've got to have him. And so
the kingdom of heaven is like that. It's like a grain of mustard
seed, he said in another place. It's just a small little grain
that people just trample it underfoot. But you plant it, and God gives
life, and it grows into a massive tree. And the little birds of
the field come make their nests in that tree. The kingdom of
heaven is like that. You see how he would speak? And
then when he spoke of himself, he said, I'm the door. We know
what a door is for, don't we? He's speaking of earthly things,
and it helps us to understand. If you're going to get from where
you are to where God is, to where the favor of God is, to where
life is, you're going to have to come through Christ. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. A door is access. We have access to God, Paul said,
by our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's the door. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
We know what a shepherd does. A good shepherd, he'll take care
of the sheep Until a bear comes along? No. He said, I'm the good
shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep.
When the bear comes, I get between the sheep and the bear. That's
a shepherd now. He said, that's who I am. I'm
in charge of you. And with my very life, I'll save
you. He said, I'm the bread of life.
I'm the water of life. Without those things, you're
dead. You cannot live. These are vital elements. And
so he compares himself. And we understand what he means,
don't we, by that, by his grace. So he tells us of earthly things
whereby we learn spiritual things. And he did that with Nicodemus.
He said, I've condescended to teach you things of God, infinite
things, unknowable things, and yet he reveals them to us. And then verse 13, he said, And
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man which is in heaven." You think Nicodemus
is confused now? If the Lord hadn't revealed himself
to him yet, he is. One of the commentators said,
the paradox of this, he said, nobody came down but he that
went up who is both up and down. That's what he said here. And
it is true. What a paradox. But the Lord
Jesus Christ is using Old Testament scripture here to reveal to Nicodemus
who he is. He's referring to Deuteronomy
chapter 30 and verse 12. Let me just paraphrase it. You
jot that down and read it later if you'd like to. The Lord said
to his people, you don't have to go up to heaven to find out
what my will is. I'm standing here telling you,
here's what you need to do. And you can either do it or you
can defy Me, one of the two. That's what God said there basically
in Deuteronomy 30, verse 12. You look at it sometime. And
in Romans 10.6, Paul quotes that same verse. Let's turn over there
to that one, Romans 10. Say not in thine heart these
things. Look at it. and verse six but
the righteousness which is a faith speaketh on this wise and he
quotes Deuteronomy 30 and verse 12 say not in thine heart who
shall ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down from
above he apply he makes application of that Old Testament verse there
to apply to Christ which it does to bring Christ down from or
who shall descend into the deep that is to bring Christ up again
from the dead but what what does it say It's not of him that willeth
or of him that runneth. You're not going to get to God
that way. But what saith it? The word is near you, even in
your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Do you see what he's teaching
there? What the Lord is teaching, the
teaching of Deuteronomy and Romans, and what He's teaching Nicodemus
here is this. Life, the life, the salvation
of God is sitting right here in front of you, Nicodemus. You
don't have to ascend up into heaven. I came down from heaven,
and I'm sitting here talking to you. You're speaking to the
one who can save you or damn you as it pleases Him. now he
started out speaking of the father when he said you must be born
from above the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the father God the
father have must reveal these things to you he must give you
life to perceive these things and then he talks about the spirit
he said that which is born of the spirit is spirit the spirit
must go where he wants to go and that better be you if you
don't know anything about the kingdom of God but now he's talking
about himself the Son of Man." You see that there in that verse?
The Son of Man. No one hath ascended up into
heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of
Man, even the one that's sitting here talking to you, Nicodemus.
In these verses regarding ascending up to heaven, The same idea is
proposed in Deuteronomy there and in Romans. When it talks
about ascending up into heaven, it has to do with knowledge.
It has to do with ascending up into heaven to know what the
will of God is that we might do it. Now, it's to say this,
let's find out what God requires that we may do it. Let's go up
to heaven and find out what God requires that we may do it. In
John 6, 29, the Lord Jesus answered some folks that said, what is
the work of God that we might do it? He said, this is the work
of God that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. In other words,
you're not going to please God by what you do. God is pleased
by grace through faith in His Son. God is pleased with Him
whom He hath sent. You're going to have to believe
on Him if you're going to be pleasing in the sight of God.
Now, that's what this is talking about. In John 9.35, we talked
about that blind man in John chapter 9. Jesus heard that they
had cast him out. And when he had found him, he
said unto him, Do you believe on the Son of God? Not are you
good to your mama or do you read your Bible? Do you believe on
the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who
is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him,
Thou hast both seen him, and it's he that's talking with you
right now. That's what he's saying to Nicodemus here. Nicodemus,
no man hath to send it up into heaven. But somebody sure enough
came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, who still, as God,
is in the bosom of the Father." My goodness. You don't need to
ascend up into heaven to find out what truth is. He said to
Nicodemus, just listen to me, verily, verily, I say unto thee.
You want to know God's will and purpose, the salvation? You don't
want to know something about salvation? Verily, verily, I
say unto thee. And listen to what he said to
him. Verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness... Now, he's talking to Nicodemus,
somebody that knows something about that serpent in the wilderness.
He was familiar with the Word of God. Even as Moses lifted
up that serpent in the wilderness, even so, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up. Here again, he's using earthly
language, isn't he? Just like that earthly event
that took place, even so, Something spiritual is going to have to
happen, and it's a whole lot like that. Is that what he said
now? Even so, must the Son of Man
be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life. Now let me be as brief as I can
here. The Lord had the whole of Scripture
at His disposal now. The Lord knew the scripture a
lot better than Nicodemus did, and Nicodemus knew it pretty
well. But the Lord took this one story from Numbers chapter
21 to illustrate to Nicodemus how a sinner is saved. Ah, can
we learn from that? Notice the word as, as Moses,
and the word even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And
listen to Numbers 21 for, turn there if you'd like, and I will
try to be brief, but I won't us to see this. Now this is the
Son of God telling a sinner how sinners are saved. If you want
to learn something about that this is it. Numbers 21 4, and
they the children of Israel journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of
the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. And the soul of the
people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake
against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,
neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light
bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people. And much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned. For we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee, pray unto the Lord that he take away the
serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people,
and the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that
is bitten, when he looketh on it, shall live. And Moses made
a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass
that if a serpent had bitten any man, When he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived, as Moses lifted up the serpent, even so."
And let me give you five things about that. As the serpent, as
Moses lifted up the serpent, the reason the serpent was lifted
up would be included in that, wouldn't you think? Why was the
serpent lifted up? Because the people of Israel
were bitten by fiery serpents. Why were they bitten by fiery
serpents? Because of their unbelief, because of their opposition to
God, they spoke against God. And they said, we've sinned.
And they had. And they had. We are all, by nature, poisoned. And the poison is in our blood,
and it's fatal. Where did the fiery serpents
come from? Well, it's just bad luck. No, God sent them. God
sent them. It was the judgment of God against
their sin. And God's judgment is upon us
against our sin, by nature, we're the children of wrath, even as
others, all of us are, by nature, by nature. The wages of sin is
death, and sin is internal. The poison was inside of them,
and it is with us. The poison wasn't what they did.
The poison was on the inside. The poison is in our blood, and
the poison is fatal. It's incurable. There was no
human hope. And that's number two. The serpent
was lifted up as the only cure. Moses lifted up that serpent
as the one cure. And as he lifted up the serpent,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. There's no human hope. It's
by the will of God. It's not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The
cure is of God. The mercy is from God. It was
by the will of God, the way of God, that hope was given. In
man, there was no hope. If God does not provide a remedy,
everybody dies. That's how the serpent was lifted
up. Christ is the only name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. If you're going to be saved,
you must be saved by Christ and who He is and what He did. Nicodemus,
God's remedy for sin is sitting right in front of you, God's
only remedy for sin. and he must be lifted up. If
sinners are going to be saved, he must. What was it Paul said?
He says that he opened and alleged that Christ must needs have suffered. If God's going to save somebody,
he's got to suffer and die. There's just that one remedy.
Now thirdly, as the serpent was lifted up, the serpent was lifted
up and it looked just like the fiery serpents. Well, that's
unusual. Maybe he should have made an
angel and put it on a pole. No, God said, make a serpent.
Romans 8.3, for what the law could not do in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh. In the likeness of the problem.
Condemned sin in the flesh. Oh, if the Lord Jesus is going
to save me, He's got to become what I am and make me what He
is. The righteousness of God It was
a serpent. And then he's got to be lifted
up on a cross, on a wooden pole. Christ must needs have suffered
and risen from the dead. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. How? Being made a curse for us. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
upon a tree. So Moses lifted up on a pole
between heaven and earth. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I,
if I be lifted up, I'll draw all manner of men unto myself."
And then, number 5, verse 15 there, that everyone that believeth,
everybody that looked to that serpent of brass for healing,
looked because God said, Faith is believing God. It's not believing
in God. It's not believing that God's
going to bless you. It's believing God. It's believing
that God will do what He said He would do, and that He is who
He said He is, whether He blesses you or not. Faith is believing
God. And if God says, look, and you
look, it's because you believe that what God said would happen
will happen. You believe that God is able to fulfill that promise.
He said everybody that looks will live. Look and live. I'm
looking by God's grace. You see that? It's a look of
faith. And everyone that believes in
this one that's going to be lifted up, the Son of Man, shall have
everlasting life. Everybody that looked at that
serpent of brass were healed and saved from natural death.
Those who look to the Son of God by faith for salvation as
the only satisfactory offering for sin. Now, when you look to
Him, you're looking to Him as your sin offering and as the
only righteousness whereby a sinner can stand before God, holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. You're looking
to Him as your righteousness when you look to Him. Those who
look to Christ this way, the Lord Jesus said they have everlasting
life. Now, He had just got through
saying in Nicodemus, Except God does something for you from above
you can't see But when you're able to see and you look Like
they looked at that serpent of bread if you look to the Son
of Man lifted up You'll have everlasting life. You see that
Who did the Lord Jesus Christ die for Well, the answer is right
there. He died that He didn't die to
save everybody He died so that everybody that believes in Him
should not perish. And everybody that believes in
Him will not perish. He accomplished what He died
to accomplish. Who are these that believe in
Him? Well, Acts 13.48 says this, "...the Gentiles heard the gospel,
and they were glad, and they glorified the word of the Lord.
And as many as God had ordained to eternal life believed the
gospel." That's who they are. Faith. Salvation is by grace
through faith. God saves sinners by faith in
His Son. We conclude that righteousness
is not by the law, Paul said, but by faith, by the law of faith. God will not save a sinner apart
from faith. Faith, however weak, that has
Christ as its only object is saving faith. Works, however
great, can never save. Faith as a grain of mustard seed
is saving faith from God, faith in Christ, whosoever believeth
shall have everlasting life. We could spend a lot of time
on this and we may do so at another time, but listen just briefly. For 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 notice the word for.
The Lord Jesus just got through telling Nicodemus that as Moses
lifted up that serpent, I'll have to be lifted up too. Why?
Why? Because God loves somebody. Because
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Why did not God let us die and
go to hell? Not because we were worthy of
anything but that. Not because he owed it to us,
because he loved. Now let's get something out of
the way right off the bat so we can talk about God's love
without this being in the back of our minds. Heretics use this
verse as a proof text for universal love, that God loves all men
the same. But God said, Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. Now you can believe that or not
believe that. You can take a scripture out
of the Bible and say, oh, you know, that's what I want to believe.
Or you can read the entire Bible and believe what God said. In
Psalm 55, the psalmist said, thou, God, hatest all workers
of iniquity. Now, people like to say in John
3, 16, world means world. That means everybody that's ever
lived. Well, does all mean all? Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. So what are we going to say?
That John 3.16 and Psalm 5.5 cancel each other out? Are we
that juvenile? Is that going to be our method
of interpreting Scripture? How do you explain that? Well,
you read the whole Bible and not just pick out a verse or
two that you like, and then the truth of God is very simple.
God can be said to hate all workers of iniquity when He clearly loves
some sinners, Because he does not see his people as workers
of iniquity. We quoted this verse already.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob. Neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
How can that be? He loves some sinners. In his
eyes, they're not workers of iniquity. If they were, he would
hate them. He must hate them. Unless he
sees them in his son. And God can be said to love the
world when He clearly hates some because this world exists because
of His elect. When God says, I love my garden,
He's not talking about the weeds. That's a very scriptural illustration
because He said every plant that my father didn't plant will be
rooted up. That's what I do in my garden
too. If it's not a tomato plant or a squash plant, I didn't plant
it. or whatever. If it's a weed that
sprung up, what am I going to do with that? If I'm a good gardener,
I'm going to root it up, pull it out of there by the roots,
and I'm going to throw it away. And that's what God said He does
in His garden. He loves His garden, but He takes
the weeds up by the roots and burns them. Does that sound like
love to you? Does it sound like He loves the
weeds? Proverbs 124, He said, I've called and you refused.
He's talking about those that reject Christ, that they have
no... they're these ones that he said, Nicodemus, they're not
born again so they can't see the kingdom of God. And therefore
they hate God. I have stretched out my hand
and you didn't regard it. But you have said it not all
my counsel and would none of my reproof. I will also laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh.
When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind. when distress and anguish cometh
upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer."
Oh, does that sound like the love of God to you? I don't want
that kind of love, do you? I don't want it. He said, they'll
call on me, they'll cry out to God, I won't even hear them. They shall seek me early, but
they will not find me. I will laugh. They preach in universal love,
but they're not preaching that. Luke 19, 12, the Lord said, a
certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself
a kingdom. Is that what the Lord Jesus did?
And to return. And then in verse 14, I'm going
to skip over some, but it says, his citizens hated him and they
sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to
reign over us. Does that sound like you by nature?
And then in verse 27, he said, those mine enemies which would
not that I should reign over them, bring them here and slay
them before my face. Is that the love of God that
you believe in? That's not the love that he's talking about
here when he said God so loved that he sent his son. He's talking
about the love of his people, his elect, his sheep. Matthew
7.22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. He didn't say, I'm so sorry I
can't save you. I would have saved you if you'd
have just let me. I'm sorry. He said, get out of
my sight. I never knew you. Is that the
love of God? God's love. is everlasting. He said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. And that word means without beginning
or end. That's the love of God. If God
loves you, it is that he has always loved you and that he
always shall. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I pulled you to myself and said you're mine. God's love is free
The word means with no cause in the object. No cause. He didn't... Can you think of
a reason why He would love you? Hosea 14, 4, I will heal their
backsliding. I will love them freely. I don't
know much about that kind of love except that as it's revealed
in my Savior. We love... Our love is selfish,
isn't it? We love people that love us.
God loves the unlovable. We love our friends and family.
God loved his enemies. He said, if you just love those
that love you, the Pharisees do that. That's us by nature. God's love is free. He loved
the world. A world full of vile, wretched,
black-hearted, rebellious maggots. He said, I love them. I love
them. God's love is distinguishing. Jacob and not Esau. That's the definition of distinguishing
love right there. One and not the other. He said
to his people Israel, who are a type of his spiritual Israel,
he said in Deuteronomy 7.6, Thou art an holy people unto the Lord
thy God. You're sanctified by me. You're
chosen, set apart by me, and made holy. The Lord thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people
that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His
love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number
than any people, because you were a large, impressive nation,
a powerful nation. You were the fewest of all people.
Then why on earth, God, did you choose those backslidden, black-hearted,
rebellious Jews of all people? But because the Lord loved you,
He chose you. Now, if God loves everybody the
same, then back up and tell me why He chose Israel. If He gives
the one reason why He elected them as this, because I loved
you. If He loves everybody the same,
then you tell me why He chose Israel. I know why God said He
did. He said it because He loved them.
And all through the book, It is spiritual Israel who is the
true Israel of God. We are his people. Why? Because
he loved us. He loved us. Not because of anything
in us. God's love is active love. Everywhere
you see God's love mentioned in the scripture, you will see
with it what he has done for those he loves. Every time. The last part of Jeremiah 31
3 that we just read. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I got ahold of you.
You see that? That's the kind of love I'm talking
about. True love does not stand by and allow its object to suffer
and perish and destroy itself. He does something about it if
he loves, just like you would for your children. Therefore,
with loving kindness, you can measure the depth of love by
what it's willing to give. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. His love is active love. Herein
is love, John said in 1 John 4.10. Not that we love God, but
that He loved us and He loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation, the sin offering for our sin. That's true love. Not that stands
by and sees us struggling and striving and perishing and falling
short and says, well, I'd like to do something about it. That's
not love. He said, I've loved you. I've
always loved you and I always will love you. Therefore, I got
hold of you and drew you to myself and said you're mine. That's
the kind of love we're talking about. God so loved that He gave. What do I need to say more about
God's love than that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life? I'll
close with this. God's love is in Christ. You can talk about universal
love all you want to, but those that do hate the sovereign Christ
of the Bible in whom is the love of God. Romans 8 38 for I am
persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord if you're
in Christ God loves you and he always has and he always will
if not There's no love from God for you. No, no. And can it be
that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He
for me who caused His pain? For me who Him to death pursued? Amazing love. How can it be? Now there's a different sense
in which to say, how can these things be? How can it be? that thou, my God, shouldst die
for me." And Nicodemus went from, we know, to how, how, how can
these things be? To, I trust and am convinced,
to singing this, how can it be that God would send His only
Son into this world to die for a worm like me? Amazing love.

God So Loved

What does the Bible say about the necessity of being born again?

How do we know God saves whom He wills?

Why is understanding God's love important for Christians?

What does it mean that salvation is by grace through faith?

Why must Christ be lifted up for our salvation?

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God So Loved

What does the Bible say about the necessity of being born again?

How do we know God saves whom He wills?

Why is understanding God's love important for Christians?

What does it mean that salvation is by grace through faith?

Why must Christ be lifted up for our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

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