SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/15/2016
10:59 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-2 The Inquiry
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 3:1-3
Message of
the verses: “1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2
this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know
that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that
You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.’”
There has been much written about why Nicodemus came
to Jesus by night, and I have to believe that it was because of his position in
the Sanhedrin, and the fact that he was a Pharisee because what the Pharisees
believed was contrary to what Jesus was teaching. The Pharisees certainly believed in some of
the things that Jesus was teaching, like angels, life after death, but when it
came to how they treated the Law that is where things got different. God’s Law is perfect for sure and Paul writes
a lot about the Law and has nothing bad to say about it, the fact is that no
one other than Jesus Christ has ever kept the Law perfectly and because He has
kept the Law perfectly we have, in the sight of God also kept the Law
perfectly, that is those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as their
personal Savior. The Pharisees added
things to the Law that they could not keep, but expected others to keep and so
when we wonder why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night I would say that he did not
want other Pharisees and others who were on the Sanhedrin to know that he was
seeing Jesus, for in the end it would be that body of people who were the ones
who had Jesus crucified.
John MacArthur writes “The important point, however
is not when Nicodemus came, but that he came at all. Though coming to Jesus does not always
guarantee salvation (cf. the rich young ruler, Luke 18:18-23), it is a
necessary beginning.
Nicodemus calls Jesus Rabbi and this means teacher,
and so he is saying to Jesus by calling Him that name that He is equal with
him, which he will later find out that is not the truth, for Nicodemus was
actually talking to the One who created all things. He then goes on to say that we know that you
come from God as a teacher, and one of the things that we will find out later
is that the Pharisees were wondering where it was that Jesus knew all He knew
because He did not go to the schools they went too, so again by calling Him
teacher Nicodemus was giving a complement to Jesus. Also notice the term “we know” as being
plural showing that others believed that He came from God. Remember we have to go back to verses 23-25
of chapter two to see why he used the term “we know” for he was a part of the
group who saw the miracles that Jesus did.
Another thing we may conclude and that is that Nicodemus knew about John
the Baptist testimony about Christ for it was the Pharisees who sent people to
talk to John the Baptist as seen in chapter one.
Jesus did not want to talk about sign, but He wanted
to talk about being born-again, that is born from above and so He says to
Nicodemus “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” Now the term “truly,
truly” means amen, amen and it only appears in the New Testament in John’s
gospel. MacArthur writes “It solemnly
affirms the veracity and significance of what follows. In this instance, Jesus used the phrase to
introduce the vitally important truth that there is no entrance into “God’s
kingdom ‘unless one is born again.’ The
new birth, or regeneration, is the act of God by which He imparts eternal life
to those who are ‘dead in…trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1; cf. 2 Cor. 5:17;
Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3, 23, 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18),
thus making them His children (John 1:12-13).”
This is an important truth that happens to all those who trust Christ as
Savior and Lord, but something that even though it happens at conversion most
people do not realize it until after it is explained to them as this is one of
the things that happens to a person who becomes a born-again believer in Jesus
Christ.
As far as the phrase “the kingdom of God” Macarthur
writes that “in its universal aspect refers to God’s sovereign rule over His
creation. In that broadest sense of the
term, everyone is part of God’s kingdom, since ‘the Lord has established His
throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all’ (Ps. 103:19).”
Jesus here is not referring to the universal
kingdom, but instead “He is speaking specifically of the kingdom of salvation,
the spiritual realm where those who have been born again by divine power
through faith now live under the rulership of God mediated through His Son.”
I want to lastly quote from a man named R. C. H.
Lenski whom MacArthur quotes in his commentary.
“Jesus’ word regarding the new birth shatters once for all every
supposed excellence of man’s attainment, all merit of human deeds, all prerogatives
of natural birth or station. Spiritual birth
is something one undergoes, not something he produces. As our efforts had nothing to do with our
natural conception and birth, so in an analogous way but on a far higher plane,
regeneration is not a work of ours. What
a blow for Nicodemus! His being a Jew
gave him no part in the kingdom; his being a Pharisee, esteemed holier than
other people, availed him nothing; his membership in the Sanhedrin and his fame
as one of its scribes went for nought. This Rabbi from Galilee calmly tells him that
he is not yet in the kingdom! All on
which he had built his hopes throughout a long arduous life here sank into ruin
and became a little worthless heap of ashes.”
For all those who believe that they can work themselves into the kingdom
of God need to read this and be like Nicodemus who later became a true believer
in Jesus Christ.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: “6 Therefore
as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built
up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and
overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:6-7).”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember Colossians 2:6-7 and follow it.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “2 Kings” (6:1-6).
Today’s Bible
question: “How long did Jacob serve
Laban?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/15/2016 11:43 AM
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