12. Born of the Spirit - I Am Who I Am - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

good to have you guys here I invite you to grab your Bible and turn to the fourth fourth book in the New Testament the Gospel of John Gospel of John chapter 3 now there was a Pharisee a man named Nicodemus when he was a member of the Jewish ruling council he came to Jesus at night and he said rabbi we know that you are a teacher who has come from God for no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him jesus answered very truly I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are what born-again all right so let's pause before we read on any more this this whole story and conversation and passage is about the reality of being born again by the Spirit we're concluding the Spirit series with John chapter 3 being born again by the spirit and being born again is the phrase that you've heard before haven't you you've heard of this phrase and actually it's interesting it's becoming less I think less well-known or at least less stereotyped of phrase and what's come to replace it in American popular culture is the phrase evangelical right and so you guys with me here so if you've heard the phrase born again born again in American culture over the last 50 years or so has actually come to have a really specific meaning in American culture and so you can do actually someone encouraged me to do this and I did I went to the Oregonian online you need to search the whole history of Oregonian now if everything that's really amazing just go to their website and so I searched for all the stories that have mentioned a born-again Christian and also went to the lament week and that was also really interesting too and so here here's here's a born-again Christian as far as you know our city it's considered even what what types that people are referred to and these are these are almost always I found three different types of stories it's a story about someone who was doing like sex drugs rock and roll or whatever they're kind of like they're well known is like a musician or whatever an artist or somewhere in the city you know a prominent business person or whatever and their life crashes and caves in and hits bottom and then they got religion they got Jesus in some form some sort of radical they have emotional conversion experience and now there's still the prominent in the city or whatever musician artists whatever but now they're just like you know crazy for Jesus and everyone's weirded out by them so there's all bunch of stories about that in The Oregonian and the term used to refer to these type of people is is born-again Christians the other type of story is someone who maybe whatever their their background but but the point is is that at some point they've become a Christian and then they've become super vocal in the local you know or statewide political scene right and so they are translating and so there's a whole package that comes along with that with especially like back in the 80s of the religious right and the moral majority and we're born again and and it's connected with politics is really fascinating so there you go it's either like you're emotionally broken person who needs a crutch and you got religion and then you adopted this kind of narrow traditional moral black-and-white framework for your lives and that's born though you must be a born-again Christian or you know you have some kind of similar experience and then you become very vocal in the political sphere in our city and so that's then there we go that's according to The Oregonian ramit wait just go search the phrase born again mess and that's what you'll find yours it's interesting this happened to me not long ago about three months ago I was having coffee as I do regular cuts particularly as we all do regular these Portland for goodness sakes and so as that Albina press and no joke I was sitting by two young women and they were talking about a friend and they were talking about how this friend you know it stopped sleeping with her boyfriend and she's liked you know kind of withdrawn a little bit doesn't come to the weekend parties or whatever anymore and then one of them said she's become a Christian was born again Christians or something like that and it was a totally derogatory term and what what this term referred to in that conversation was exactly what Willamette weekend Oregonian referred to somebody who got religion and what they would they begin to adopt then is some sort of like very narrow traditional moral framework they got religion they got Jesus they became a Puritan or something caca right they became it was a call to religion traditional religious morality right that's what's happening that conversation that's how our culture proceeds this term born again if you use it now here's what's interesting to me about this this story about about being born again by the spirit where does the phrase born again at least in the history of Christianity occur for the very first time so you just you just read it who coined the phrase Jesus coined the phrase and and this is what I want to draw attention to right first off is who is he saying needs to be born again and really think about this so so our culture has a stereotype that it's somebody who needs an emotional crutch they got religion it's somebody who has adopted a very narrow traditional moral religious framework or something like that and the person the first person in history who has ever called by Jesus to become born again breaks all of those stereotypes did you notice that we heard that so can so who is this guy who's Nicodemus actually before we're even given his name what are we told about him he's a Pharisee which you know there's a whole bunch of connotations of that within Christianity to a lot of which I don't think are quite correct but the whole point is to say the very least is he's a very man he's in terms of like devout religious practice he has all of us be already like we don't even need to have that conversation to compare he's a Pharisee in terms of like devout a devotion to the scriptures and to daily prayer prayer multiple times per day at set hours over the course of decades and years we know that he's he's old we know that he's what is he he's a member of what he's a member of the elite do you see that there he's a member of the Jewish ruling ruling council he's a man of privilege he has privileged status in their whole culture he's a Bible teacher he does what I do for a living had been doing it for a way way way longer like decades so he's he's an educated wealthy as we learn at the end of the gospel he helped fund Jesus's tomb and and and the spices and stuff that Jesus's body was in bombed in so he's a wealthy learned elderly religious studies professor and he is as a man of status in the community where every time is the only other times he appears in the gospel that people pay attention when he speaks and so on and this is the first person in history who Jesus calls to be born again so what whatever it means to be born again it is not apparently a call to become more religious it's not a call to adopt a kind of narrow moralistic framework for your life because you could I mean you couldn't invent a person who's more traditional and moral and religious than than this man you guys with me here so whatever the phrase born-again means it is not what our culture means and so we need it's like back to the sources back to what on earth did Jesus mean now this is already this happens multiple times in this conversation do you notice that Jesus totally just dodges what Nicodemus is saying Jesus what does Nicodemus come to Jesus to do is Nicodemus a broken person looking for some kind of spiritual emotional crutch in his life okay no no he's a very stable man right and things are going well for this guy and and notice look at what he comes to Jesus when does he come to Jesus the the John chooses to tell us that he comes to Jesus at night and this happens one other time in the Gospel of John we're told that some people come to Jesus at night because they're they're afraid to be seen with him publicly they're afraid for their lives or their reputation Jesus he's a it would be embarrassing for Nicodemus to be seen publicly associating with this guy Jesus has already we actually talked about this story a couple weeks ago Jesus already pulled his stunt in the temple in Jerusalem right you remember the stuff he waltzed in he acted like he owned the place and he declared it to be a farce essentially and drove out all of the money changers and so on and stopped the sacrifices from being offered because its sale in exchange of animals and so on and it's the Pharisees and the rulers who come up to him and her like who do you think you are coming to do this that just happened it just happen and so Nicodemus comes to him at night and notice look at how he talks look how he talks to him yet Nicodemus is not a spiritual seeker he's coming in response to this very overt political move that Jesus just made declaring that that he has ownership over the temple so he comes to Jesus at night and he he says rabbi we know we know that you're a teacher who's come from God I mean who who of course could do the things that you're doing unless God was was sending him now can you read between the lines right here is this guy coming like was an honest like heart searching whatever Jesus has I need it you know everything I'm at the bottom and no he's a he's part of the Jewish ruling council who Jesus just deeply offended what's he doing right here and just this is a sophisticated story right he's he's doing what we all wonder you know those the white house is something like he's doing bathroom politics right here that's what he's doing here right so there's the public statement right at the end of chapter 2 Jesus offended the ruling elite and so they all like challenged him right and shame him who do you think that you're doing but here he comes at night and Nicodemus is like listen we we know the Pharisees the rule ruling elite listen to the establishments against you Jesus but some of us think that we could help you but we you could help us you're a teacher I'm a teacher you know we could it could be very beneficial for can you read this here it means exactly what's happening he just offended the group that this man represents but he comes at night saying now listen listen we know you're sent from God so let's have a conversation and what does Jesus's response does he receive the compliment does he really even receive it does he like us thank you you know that's true I am sent from God but in a way you don't even understand you know he doesn't even like like if there ever was a good opportunity for Jesus to be like well I am sent from God but you don't even know what you're mean when you say that he doesn't even all eat just for the jugular he's just like dude you know what you know what you think it's not possible for anyone to perform signs unless God with them let me let me tell you another impossibility it's impossible for anybody to see the kingdom of God unless they're born again it just like changes a subject entirely he's not impressed with Nicodemus and he's not going to accept his his gesture so what what does he mean what does he mean he just resets the conversation it's impossible to even know God or experience the reality of of the kingdom of God unless you're you're born again what does this mean if it doesn't mean a call to religion and to morality because he's calling a very religious moral man to be born again what does what does it actually mean mean to be born again and here's I forgot to pull out my chalkboard and how could I forget such a thing uh-huh don't mind me rachel is our coffee there's water in here Rachel wherever you are I'm just going to put your water right here and put this down here for these good good folks okay as I'm want want to do I'll teach you the word that Jesus uses the Greek word now do some of you have a footnote by that word born again some of you have something like a little note and what does your note tell you yeah it says or from above or some you might have a note that says the word use is actually has a couple of nuances of meaning it could mean again or it could mean from from above this is this is neat but neat profound so the word the Jesus uses is the Greek word on ascend unless then let's say it together class ah nothing very good honest in' so the most basic literal meaning of this word is from above turn the page or look down to verse 31 of chapter 3 look at verse 31 and Jesus says the one who comes on ascend is above all the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth the one who comes from above he's talking about himself and John Jesus uses this kind of spatial language abut from above from below coming down going up as language as metaphors to talk about God's presence Jesus's claim is that he comes directly from the presence of God and float down from heaven of course he was born right to marry but it's the image that he shares in the very identity of God and he comes representing heaven so to speak and so the word literally means from from above however this word also has a nuance it kind of like a figure of speech type is that the word means as well which is again born again now this isn't like Oh secret deep meanings of the Bible language or something like that like where we use words like this all the time rights I have to have double double meetings actually there's a perfect example floating in English right now which is discretion yes I can't I hear it everywhere so sprays nailed it you guys know this you heard nailed it right you know what I mean you know what I'm talking about right so nailed it what is nailed at me and oh look you know there's a nice look at oh I wonder how that big thing is hanging on the wall right there oh well some people nailed it they nailed it up there right so that's a literal meaning but then it's come in contemporary English to develop this other meaning of nailed it which is like perfect or spot-on couldn't have said or done it better you guys know right and so it's not magical words or something it's just language this is how language works we often use words and sometimes with their little remaining and then we use the same phrase or word with the kind of a nuance developed meaning and so I think I think Jesus is brilliant and that he actually is doing a wordplay and intends the nuance of both namely that whoever you think you are Nicodemus that Jesus is just not impressed but he senses that Nicodemus needs to be challenged and addressed that his he needs to come to see something fundamental about his life first of all that his life needs to start over the Deen he needs a new beginning right a new a new beginning but also he he needs to recognize that whatever the form of his new life is going to take if he's going to choose to accept it it's going to have to come to him as a gift and from an entirely new source new beginning and a new sit mean to be born again and these two nuances of the words I think develops the whole the whole the whole concept now look at Nicodemus this response what does you think how does he take Jesus to mean which one from above or again Nicodemus said now how how can someone be born when they're old Nicodemus asked I mean surely they can't enter a second time into their mother's womb and be born right like how does that work now I've often thought like maybe like Nicodemus is kind of like a feeble old man and he's not so sharp anymore and so we saw what ya go and do your mother's womb again like how does that work like did you know I think we kind of think about like he's stupid and so he's like what do you mean Jesus born again so no dude this guy is this guy has a sharper mind than any of us it way sharper mind he's memorized was the whole of the Old Testament and every all these other traditions around it Mayan sharpen attack he's a member of the Jewish ruling council he's a religious studies professor he's clear I think he's surely being sarcastic here all right and he's like dude what so Jesus I'm here to play ball young man some of us are interested in in helping you and we think you can help us what's what are you talking to you nonsense what is this nonsense you talking about being born on a sin being born an orphan and what Jesus goes on to do then is he goes on to just again ignore Nicodemus this whole agenda and he develops what both of these are are all about you need it you need a new beginning Nicodemus so just just first think about what what this means he doesn't get it and he's going to try and and convince Nicodemus of what this means you need a new beginning it's most its developed sense this is its literal sense from above again is this kind of develop new one you need you need a new start Nicodemus and that's clearly what Nicodemus Nicodemus takes him to me mother's womb and start your life over again and we wasn't that what an offensive thing to say to an elderly man who's educated he's a person of influence in the community teaching the Bible his whole life and he comes to Jesus and is like young man you know listen I think we could help you when Jesus says you need a new life is like a hot slice the gumption to say something like that so you know like it Nicodemus like everything you saw was like legitimately being done for God he's a very religious man everything you thought you knew about God and you knew about God's kingdom and you knew about the Scriptures you actually need to like it was a false start your life up to this point has been a false start you need to start over again this is what a deeply offensive thing to say right now here's what's interesting this connects to something jesus said to a group of Pharisees on another occasion in the Gospel of Matthew and it was it was Jesus had been in Jerusalem again he did pull this stunt in the temple a group of Pharisees were in front of him and he just straight up said to all of them he just said listen you guys you you know the tax collectors and prostitutes are seeing and entering into the kingdom of God head of all of you what he says to them the pimps and the prostitutes are ahead of you and getting into the kingdom way way quicker than the new are Pharisees and what does he mean by that alright you surely doesn't mean that they're more moral and religious than the Pharisees so his point is that so here you have these people and this is where perhaps the stereotype of born again comes from in our culture or whatever because when when you have someone they've come to a place in their life where they have hit bottom they are emotionally broken or in any other kind of life crisis a financial crisis or someone on their deathbed somebody who lives in poverty or in a socially socially marginal in a situation people in those life circumstances tend this is a stereotype but it tends to be true tend to be more quick to see their need for a savior for someone to come and rescue them much more quickly than someone who is in a socially comfortable life has you know enough wealth and things are going kind of fine and they're mostly moral and religious person like who's going to be more quick to recognize like holy cow my life's not working out for me Nicodemus his life is working just fine for him which means it's going to be more difficult for him to see that he needs to start his life over again which is exactly what Jesus is saying you like back of the line Nicodemus your life has been a false start up to this point whatever it means to be born again the first thing Jesus develops it's this it's owning that that my life and how I think about things and the way I value things and who I think I am and who God is it's not okay I'm just not okay and the moment I began to think I'm okay is the moment that Jesus is mine we begin to totally lose track of reality to be born on earth into be born again now so that's the first thing he means when Jesus is Aswad you know so how can be sown born when they're old Nicodemus asked surely they can enter a second time into their mother's womb Jesus once again just dodged it's like he just was bulldozing over Nicodemus right now verse 5 he just goes on jesus answered very truly I tell you no one can enter the kingdom of God What did he say up in verse 3 he said no one can see the kingdom of God here no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born well of water and spirit so the first time he said no one can see the kingdom of God unless they're born ah nothing Nicodemus doesn't get it so Jesus tries again he tries again and using different vocabulary different words and here using vocabulary and words that he knows Nicodemus ought to know ought to be familiar with him so whatever it means to be born again it's the same thing as being born of water and born of the Spirit born of the Spirit we're born of water and spirit now here I think um Jesus is playing to Nicodemus as the Bible scholar here he's using imagery and language that Nicodemus at least ought to know if he's read his Bible at all and we know that he's read and taught from his Bible for decades decades now Jesus is using alluding to at least two passages in the Prophet the Hebrew prophets that talk about a future day when God is going to bring the kingdom he's going to return personally and bring his kingdom and and restore his world bring justice and the Messiah and so on in two of these passages they talk about the coming of the Spirit the coming of God's personal presence to to restore and bring justice and bring judgment and so on and they they talk about the spirit with metaphors of water water and spirit I'll just show you because I like to do that kind of thing Isaiah 44 this is uh this is Yahweh the God of Israel talking and he says I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon your offspring and here he's talking about the faithful remnant of God's people who are going to turn from their sins and see that they need the salvation that comes from God alone and so on and so he says for them I'm going to pour water on them and it's going to saturate the the thirsty ground that is their lives and their hope and then uses this metaphor it's like I'm pouring out the spirit on your offspring and it's in my blessing on your descendant and when God pours out his life-giving personal presence like water is going to bring new life do you see was it follow the poetry here they're going to spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams so Isaiah uses this rich metaphor that humanity and Israel God's people are just like this dry parched cracked ground that needs water and when God gives the gift of his spirit it's going to be like water that brings new life out of what is dead there's another prophet that came a hundred or so years after Isaiah and he used the same images of water and spirit but took it in a whole new awesome direction look as Akhil says he says I'm going to sprinkle clean water on you and you're going to become clean from all of your impurities and from all of your idols I will cleanse you so here the problem is not like dry parched you know ground the problem is that the heart of God's people Israel or grinding they're dirty they're impure because they've given their allegiance to false gods who have compelled them to live in to act in ways that have dehumanized them and that have destroyed them and so he says I'm going to wash like I'm going to wash your heart wash you again and look at what he says here those it's not just washing you externally there's something internally that needs to change he says I'm going to give you a new heart and I'm going to put a new spirit within you I'm going to remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a soft fleshy heart now how is that going to happen how how is a human heart the center of desire and decision-making and feeling going to be fundamentally removed and transformed and then here we go I'm I Yahweh God says I will put my spirit within you and make it so you walk in my statutes and are careful to obey my laws josh garrels mentioned this passage last week when you talked about romans 8 and so on about the gift of the presence of the Spirit this is a whole theme in the prophets and of Jesus in the New Testament is that the gift of the Spirit it's this personal presence of the creator God in your life and there's lots of different ways you can talk about it here it's that it actually just it's inviting a new roommate into your life it's even more it's not just a roommate it's like it's a cousin it's a covenant partner it's like you're married to Jesus and he takes up personal residence in your life in such a way that it begins to influence your very volition in your choices and how you frame and think about things and all of a sudden the things that you used to do that you knew you knew you shouldn't do but you thought they were awesome all of a sudden like you're a Christian and now you do them and they're just like they're miserable and they actually like oppress you at least after you do them right you feel horrible about yourself and you're like dang it like sinning isn't even fun anymore you know and so that's well that's what josh garrels talked about last week right and that's what this is getting it here so water and spirit when when the Spirit is poured out it's going to be both this a new source of life and that's what Jesus is getting at here from from above Nicodemus you if you if you don't understand that your life has been a false start up to this point and everything you thought you knew about morality and religion and who God is and so on if you don't see it as a false start you don't know anything about biblical faith and if you don't see that your life needs not just some like additives so so he comes to Jesus as a teacher right and he doesn't say like Thank You Nicodemus for the compliment and you know you're like you're quite a devout man and I see that there's just one part of your life here that needs some work you have a short temper you know so let's work on that one with you like it doesn't if he just goes right for the jugular and he's just like you need a new life and you you actually need your very being to be animated and driven by a whole new source you need a new life source Nicodemus and by the way done with Bible scholars here Isaiah 44 Ezekiel 36 and and you know for real Bible geeks I won't get into it go read Ezekiel 37 which talks about well I'm here I'm talking about it even though I said I wasn't going to Zico sees this vision of not just a whole valley of dead people but of just dried wizard bones that depicts the people of Israel the covenant people and the only thing that will give them life is if the wind spirit and God breathed his spirit and all of a sudden these new human beings it literally it's like muscle and sinew wrap around would be great to depict this with you know CG graphics today and and to like the sinews wrap around the bones and the bones come together with a great rattling noise that he hears and new human beings are animated by the spirit and I think that's what Jesus is alluding to here no one will see no one can even enter the kingdom of God unless the reality of the Spirit born of water and spirit comes about Nicodemus look look at what he goes on to say he says flesh gives birth to flesh but Spirit gives birth to spirit you shouldn't be surprised Nicodemus but I say you need to be born honest in the flesh mortal humans human beings are incredible image of God like incredible it's a human beings are awesome right and so I'm amazed every day living with these two little tiny human beings who have come into Jessica eyes life and watching them grow and develop and you're just like human beings are the craziest things on the planet they are the most bizarre things on the planet I think we are about they not my sense but we are right they're incredible they're incredible but at the same time we're we're compromised there's something fundamentally flawed and wrong with us and I mean I hope I don't have to convince you of that too too much you know and so even if you're uncomfortable saying there's something really flawed about me I hope we can agree there's something flawed about us right and the human race and it's a very small step is to go from us to to me and so human beings here we are returning human history thousands and thousands of years and like we now can throw technology and money and education at the perennial human problems and how's that working out for us right it's just it's it's okay and we can solve some issues but it's just tires spinning in the mud and Jesus says listen like human being human mortal lives compromised by selfishness gives birth to more human life that's compromised by said you can't expect something new just from the same exact source if you if you want a new human life you need a new source Nicodemus if you have a cherry tree in your front yard and you're like man I've had cherries you know for a few years now and I'm kind of tired of cherries and the birds get them all anyway you know and so I'm going to I want some peaches I get some peaches so you know what I'm going to do I'm gonna I've never really watered very faithfully I'm gonna water my cherry tree I'm gonna prune it this winter I've never proven my territory before me I would prune it and what will you get next summer you'll get you'll get cherries I mean of course this is kind of a stupid illustration but it makes the whole point of that it makes the point that use is making right so if you want if you want peaches like don't just work harder at your cherry trees yes say you don't that's trying to reform or change the Carey tree you need a new route you need a new source you need to be born on 'litham you need some driving animating energy and life and person in your life if you actually want to get different fruit and don't nicodemus expect that you're going to get who I am if you are trying to fit me into your like religious political agenda framework here Jesus dude he's so gnarly look he keeps going he doesn't even stop look at verse 8 he says less than that the wind and wow this goes all the way back a couple of months remember the biblical words for spirit also mean wind or breath and so here it's the Greek word pneuma that he's using all up above here spirit he goes on and says the wind or the spirit blows wherever it pleases you can hear it but you can't tell where it comes from or where it's going so it is with everyone who is born of spirit - so I I can try and be compelling as I can in explaining this but the fact is is that for the fundamental transformation of the human heart like I cannot predict or engineer that in anybody you have people in your lives that you love very much and they don't want to know Jesus they don't care about it and you'll never be able to engineer that inside of them I can't even engineer it in my own life realize so much less anybody else's and so Jesus is like it is this organic kind of mysterious existential reality that when a person comes to see that my whole life up till now has been a false start and I need something completely that is not I don't just need to add Jesus to my life I need to actually fundamentally scrap my whole way of thinking and living and somehow make Jesus the foundation of all of all of that we cannot engineer that in each other that's something that happens that needs to be a deep-rooted change that comes from above from an outside source how does that happen or what's happening like what would bring someone to even want to embrace that kind of fundamental change and I think that's where Jesus goes next with it Nicodemus is response he's just like huh how can this be Nicodemus path and Jesus he kind of gets in his face he says listen you're you're a teacher of Israel you called me teacher I'll return the favor you're a teacher too and I'm just talking like basic prophet spirit 101 here Nicodemus what do you mean you don't get it what do you mean you don't get it you're Israel's teacher said Jesus do you don't understand these things listen very truly I tell you we we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen but still you all don't this is a Texan and texting you right here y'all but still y'all don't accept our testimony Jesus is returning the favor here remember Nicodemus said rabbi he says he does he say I know that you're a teacher come from God do you remember what he said he said we know the group that I represent and so Jesus is like touche right very true I tell you we speak and this is a theme that's all throughout the gospel where Jesus comes with this claim that he's not just a teacher right he's not just a rabbi and teacher but that he he's and and the God of Israel are one he shares in the very identity of God that he comes to to represent and embody the one true God as God as God the Son as tooshie all throughout from the first sentences of this gospel and so and so he says I my father the spirit and I we speak of what we know he's not asking Nicodemus if life do you approve of what I'm saying is just saying listen like I've come directly from God's himself I embody the God of Israel himself by sharing the identity of God and I'm telling you I know what I'm talking about and you're not you don't believe what I'm telling you if I've spoken to you verse 12 he goes on of earthly things I'm trying Nicodemus these metaphors from the prophets birth and water and spirit and you're still not believing and accepting me how are you going to believe if I try and and like use non metaphorical language and speak of heavenly things listen Nicodemus no one has gone up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven he refers to himself as the son of the son of man just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him and then what follows john 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have but have eternal life this is this is really profound what Jesus is getting on here so he says Nicodemus your life you need to first come to this place you need to recognize that whatever your life is going to look like if you accept that your life is a false start it's going to be from outside yourself it's going to be the gift of the Spirit a new source of energy in your lives and then Jesus pulls pulls out this line he says Nicodemus like you're Israel's teacher right and here you are you're approaching me as a teacher and essentially he's challenging Nicodemus because Nicodemus doesn't believe that Jesus is who he says he is if you don't believe who I am Nicodemus then ultimately Jesus is say you're not going to understand who you are if you don't understand me you're not going to understand yourself because Jesus said I'm not here to just teach you I'm not just like here to add some new examples or inspiration to your life that's already pretty good and just needs to go the next step like you need something else entirely and that something else entirely he alludes to when he talks about snakes and deserts good did you see that in verse 14 he loses the story about Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness do you know the story this is one of the more bizarre stories in the whole Bible very correct so the people of Israel going through the wilderness they rebel against God and so these poisonous snakes crawl into the camp and start biting the Israelites and people are like getting sick and infected and they're suffering and some people are starting to die and so God tells Moses get a get like a bunch of bronze and melt it down and shape it into the image of the snakes that are biting everybody and then put it on a pole and lift it up super high and everybody who looks at that metal snake will be healed you're like the Bible is so weird the Bible is really strange right is a bizarre a bizarre story so regardless of how bizarre it is what's what what's that story about it's a story about people who are infected with the sickness and they're dying and and it's connected to their own sin and selfishness and rebellion and then as a result they're sick and they're dying but the very thing that is killing them right the snake is strangely transformed into the very thing that becomes a source of life if they will simply look at it in trust and hope be with me here that's surely why Jesus is drawing drawing on the story because look at what he says he says just as the Moses lifted up the snake so the Son of Man he's referring to himself must be lifted up Jesus says just like that snake was lifted up so I am going to be lifted up now what's that what's he talking about he talking about I'm Jesus I'm the king and I'll be exalted in heavenly glory over all things is that what he's so he's talking about so what this is the phrase Jesus uses a lot all throughout the Gospel of John and can you think of a moment where Jesus is literally lifted up it's a reference to the cross in in the Gospel of John Jesus as exaltation is precisely the moment that he's hoisted up on to this Rome and execution rack and it culminates the whole story because because there according to his claim he is the son of God it was John 3:16 right sent into the world to actually absorb into himself the the collective effect and the consequences of our stupidity and selfishness and and sin and evil and he takes it for us and it takes him to the bitter end death itself but because his the commitment of the Creator God and his love is so deep and so permanent in its commitment to our world that even our own sin and death aren't allowed to be the end of the story and so in Jesus's resurrection from the dead we have God's fundamental statement to our world to a sinful rebellious to that's spinning its tires in the mud I love you I'm here to save you and and what Jesus it seems to me he is telling Nicodemus is Nicodemus as long as you look to me as your teacher what you're really telling me is that you you're looking for some more inspiration you're looking for a better example and you know some additive to your lives to help you get along to the next step but the whole point is that you're still the driver you're still the source of your whole journey and and about your accomplishments and you and so on and what he's trying to get Nicodemus to see is like you're sick Nicodemus you're infected with your own with your own selfishness with your own status with your own sense of accomplishment with with your own desire for the approval or whatever it is he's you're sick dude you're dying and you need a new life and you need a life that's not going to come from just like pruning and watering your cherry tree more like you need a new route to be given to you as a gift you need a Savior Nicodemus you don't you don't need a teacher and and this this is all connected to the work of the Spirit the work of the Spirit as long nikka Dimas is you don't understand these things you're lost it's only when you break through from seeing me as a teacher to also not just he as a teacher but he's more than a teacher and it's actually he can only really become your teacher once he first becomes your Savior and so think of it this way you know I don't know if you've ever had the experience of feeling like a horrible Christian anybody alright anybody so you just like I I suck at this like I'm just not very good and you read you know go read the teachings of Jesus you know the classic teachings of Jesus and Matthew chapter 5 through 7 Sermon on the Mount and you read those teachings and and if you can finish Jesus's teachings and be like I'm up for it here I go then the life good luck you know hang like you know let's have a conversation in five years or whatever and likely you'll be able to do some maybe even all of what Jesus is saying some of the time but it'll what it'll do is it'll crush you actually it'll crush you because it's both meant to reveal about the goodness and generosity and justice of Jesus's character but also meant to show us something about ourselves I to show us that there's something more fundamentally wrong with us than just an inability to keep rules yeah and to be moral good to get religion and to be born again and be like moral good religious people or whatever there's something more fundamentally as Ezekiel said I need a new spirit I need the gift of God's Spirit so let me I mean I'll just I'll speak very honestly because I don't know how else don't know how else to speak in my own life in the last year so the way that I have become most aware of my needs to start over or at least a part of my life over and and be energized and animated by the Spirit is an area of truth-telling in my life I'm like many of you I'm a conflict avoider anybody conflict avoider is united right and so I run from difficult tense moments and conversations like I don't even run very fast but I can run very fast right from a from a difficult moment and so what so here's what happens is I noticed this about a year ago this pattern and a door of hope you all have helped expose this deep flaw within my heart so so you know there'll be a moment it comes up a difficult conversation or maybe like an email or something like that and it's like it's awkward was a hard subject a hard topic I don't quite know what to do and so what I do is I just let it get to the bottom of the inbox it just goes down there and then it just and then six months or so I'm like oh yeah those those one hang it well oops delete you know oh and you know so I'm right so this is my confession I'm trying to be honest and so if that's I've done that to some of you and I'm sorry and here's why I do that why I do it and it gets even worse of course because some of you have kind of a head you get that question I sent you or whatever I'm like oh yeah where's it that doll or something you didn't get my response or something you know I go and none of you have done this before right you know what I'm talking about and so what is going on there if Jesus is just my teacher then I go to Jesus's teachings and you let your yes be s and let your novena and just like dang it I screwed up again you know and so you know I'll confess and I'll take the bread in the cup and I'll tell friends please pray for me and try harder and and then like that goes on for a while and then it doesn't change and then after a while you start to get like angry with Jesus and you're like dang it I'm trying Jesus you know that like give me a break or whatever and or maybe some of you it gets you know you're already prone to self-loathing and so then you're just like I'm a miserable liar and Jesus could never love me or some of you are prone towards justifying your behavior and you're like why does Jesus think lying is such a big deal in the first place it's really not a big deal dang it Jesus why are you searching you know like yeah you get you get stuck and what is not happening is I'm not getting to the source of the issue and and if Jesus is just my teacher then I just looked at him and I try harder water the cherry tree pruner or whatever but but Jesus is saying dude like Nicodemus you're Israel's teacher and you don't understand that you need a Savior you don't understand that your heart is is in a state that you can't fix it needs to be given to you as a gift and so what it what I look to what Jesus does is my Savior I look at a world a large part of which is in the state that it's in because none of us will be honest with each other and we don't tell the truth to each other and we lie and we covet and we do underhanded things to each other and look at our world as a result and Jesus comes as the Savior representing the love of God to absorb the effects and the consequences in into himself on the cross and I'm called not to just like look more and more of my behavior I'm called to just look what is he okay just as the son of man was lifted up like the snake was in the desert you just look you just look at Jesus you stop looking at yourself you just look at Jesus and all of a sudden you see like in even given the state that my heart is in like he loves me he did that for me he did that for me he loves me and that changes the game it changes the game in it and it all of a sudden eyes view my misbehavior in a completely new way because it's not just about my inability to keep the rules is it right it's actually because my heart my allegiance and what I look to for value and meaning what I look to as my God is you all and your approval of me and the fact that I'm a good pastor and I can remember everybody's name and I can remember all of your prayer requests and even your grandma's prayer requests that you shared with it you know and like and that I'm a responsible person I can handle my email and I want people to think well of me I want people to approve of me because that apparently I think is what makes me acceptable that justifies my existence in the universe there's people like think I'm a good guy something like that and so what what actually is what am I looking to to make me acceptable to God not what Jesus did for me but it's what I'm trying to do for myself through all of you what screwed-up person I am yes and we're all doing this to each other all of the time what a hopeless love and that's exactly the point exactly the ploy because because if I if I can just get there now Jesus says we can work we can work with you you won't you realize that your lies is a false start and that you actually need something new from outside of yourself to animate and so animates you and so I need to confess what the sin underneath the sin which is not just my inability to keep the rules but it's that I'm worshipping a false god and I'm looking to ground my value and my acceptability in something other than what Jesus has done for me and Jesus says the Spirit is the one who who comes into your life and brings that insight again and again Here I am almost twenty years in and I to like get converted all over again in the last year in this part of my life hi gets done so how do you get born again and I think that's about a silly a question is saying how did you get born you know like how did you get born the metaphor is is significant so you didn't get born you just were born right does anybody use to be born you know no and so what what what you do is simply recognize that someone has labored and gone through pain in order to offer birth to me and I don't like the way to be truly grateful son is not to like examine her motives like why did you give me birth or something like the whole point is just a look to my mother and be like thank you like you you went through hell for me you bled for me you went through something that was potentially life-threatening for me and and it it melts my heart into a new state and it seems to me that that that's precisely what Jesus is inviting if he's inviting Nicodemus to be born again he's inviting all of us to be born again and I need it and you need it and we we need what I don't look for an emotional experience like we were all born in different ways and we all get born again in different ways but it's how it has to involve at least what Jesus is talking about here okay I've been talking for a long time I don't know where you're at and I don't know maybe you're a Christian and you just you're not living as if you're born again or you you you're you're recognizing this need but there's just new stuff in your life and you need to confess and get to the real sin underneath the sin not just the rule breaking but like the fact that you have some false god and some false allegiances in your lives that motivate you to do the things that you do just like they do me and so we have a time of worship as we do every week ahead of us and let's just pray you guys like this pray and let's just let's recognize that God's love is with us and for us that the gift of his Spirit is available to those who just come to Jesus and and look at the Son of Man lifted up to die for the sins of the world because he loves you love stuff amen we closing the word of Prayer you

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 55min 43sec (3343 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 21 2017