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Day 7 John 3:1-21 John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou do, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it lists, and thou hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes, and whither it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and know not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Everything in life has a prerequisite. It doesn’t matter what you do, there are rules and natural laws you must follow to get to the next stage you hope to achieve. Spiritual laws have a prerequisite. You must be born of water, natural law, before you can be born of the Holy Spirit, spiritual law. Nicodemus came to Jesus to verify he was the Messiah Israel waited for. He knew Jesus healed people and did miracles only a man sent from God could. Jesus told Nicodemus the prerequisites for salvation. As Christians, you know you must be born again to enter heaven and have eternal life. You know there is no other road to salvation except through Jesus Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus what the road to eternal life looked like, death. He gave Nicodemus the illustration of Moses when the children of Israel were dying of snake bite. Moses put a brass snake on a pole and God would heal everyone who looked at it. Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 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. 8 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 looks upon it, shall live. 9 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. Jesus told Nicodemus he was the brass serpent the people needed to look to for salvation. He would die on a pole – a cross, and everyone who looked on him and believed would receive eternal life. Jesus also told Nicodemus it was the Father’s will for him to die so people could have eternal life. God loves the entire world, and sent Jesus, his Son to be your Messiah, your Savior and Lord. When you accept Jesus and the finished work of the cross, you have eternal life and you are born again. God’s prerequisite for salvation was to send his Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the world. Only the sinless Son of God could achieve salvation for the world. Nicodemus left Jesus that night a changed man. He knew Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God. Have you been changed? Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord? Are you born again? Let’s pray: Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to be my Savior. Thank you for showing me I must be born again to enter eternal life. Help me show your love and salvation to those I meet so they too can be born again. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 8 December 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay