In order to understand today's
lesson in John 3 we have to return to the very beginning of the
Gospel where the author writes, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things came into being through
Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has
come into being through Him was life and the life was the Light
of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it" (John 1:1-5 NRSV).
The author goes on to say that John the Baptist came as a witness
to testify about the Light so that all could come to belief through
him. John was not the Light but was sent to tell others about
the Light and to invite them to come to the Light and receive
the Light for the true Light was coming into the world.
One individual who was interested in receiving the Light was
a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nicodemus. He sought out Jesus
in the cover of darkness so he would not be detected by his peers
who despised Jesus. His coming at night symbolizes that Nicodemus
was living in a Kingdom of darkness, where the truth was neither
understood nor practiced. Give him credit, however, for he sensed
something important was missing in his life and he felt Jesus
might know what it was. Have you ever felt or wondered if something
is missing in your life? What steps have you taken to discover
what it is?
Jesus attempted to help Nicodemus discover what was missing
in his life because Nicodemus is representative of a universal
human condition. What was missing in this religious leader's
life was the life-giving Spirit of God. Nicodemus, like all of
us, had only been born physically. The opportunity for his spiritual
birth was standing before him. While he had a faint sense of
it, he still did not have a full grasp of it.
Jesus tried to explain first using a strange story familiar
to Nicodemus. "Remember long ago," Jesus said, "when
your ancestors were wandering in the desert? God had done powerful
things to win their release from Egypt. In the desert God had
provided food and water but the people were constantly complaining.
One day many of them were bitten by poisonous snakes. In order
to be saved from death they had to look upon a snake which Moses
made from bronze and held before them to see. Whenever someone
who was bitten looked upon the bronze snake which was lifted
up before them, they lived."
Just like the snake was lifted up, Jesus told Nicodemus the
Son of Man had to be lifted up so any who believed in Him would
have eternal life. Of course Nicodemus didn't understand. Nobody
at that time could have understood Jesus was God in the flesh
who had come into the world because God loved the world God had
made. In that love God would pay the debt of human disobedience
in order that the love relationship between God and humanity
could be restored. Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus God did not
do this to condemn the world but did this to save the world from
returning to the darkness which existed prior to creation.
Furthermore, those who believe in Jesus have no condemnation.
Those who do not accept what God has done in Jesus are condemned
already.
The choice each person must make is whether or not they will
live in the light and truth of God or in the darkness of self-centered
sin. Living in the light means loving and serving God and neighbor.
One must do both for to attempt loving one without the other
is leaving out half of what is necessary for living in the Kingdom
of Light.
In order to live in the Kingdom of Light one must have God's
life-giving Spirit within them for the Spirit is how God equips
us for understanding the Kingdom and how God empowers and gifts
us for serving in the Kingdom. We cannot do this on our own nor
can we acquire any of these things in any manner other than admitting
we need this life-giving Spirit and acknowledging it is a free
gift of love from God for us. The action of God's imparting
this gift to us is called Grace and true to the song's
title it is indeed amazing and awesome. It is unlike anything
else we can receive in our life. It is the pearl of great price,
the one thing for which we should be willing to sacrifice everything
in order to obtain it.
Why should we do this? Paul puts the answer directly before
us in Ephesians 2:1. "You were dead through the trespasses
and sins in which you once lived. He goes on to say in Ephesians
2:8, "for by grace you have been saved through faith, and
this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God ...."
Being born of the Spirit or being made over or re-created by
the power of the Spirit, which is the love of God at work today,
means that we receive eternal life. This is a frequently used
term in Christian circles and is often very misunderstood. It
is not just about quantity of life nor is it to be understood
as that which happens following our physical death. It is meant
to describe a quality of being which comes from living in the
presence of God in the present moment. This life begins the moment
we choose to live in God's Kingdom of Light by accepting
Christ for who He is and for what He has done. This life begins
when we admit what is missing in our life which is not yet having
been born in the Spirit. This life begins when we invite God
to live within us by asking for and receiving God's Holy
Spirit. It is called "realized eschatology" and means
we can begin experiencing the End Time immediately.
This is an action that must be taken by every single person
who wants to live in God's Kingdom of Light. I am in no
position to limit how God's grace works. We are told quite
clearly the normative way is for us to confess our separation
from God and to ask to be reconnected through Christ who has
made the reconnection process possible. Then we are to ask for
the gift of the Holy Spirit which is the way God imparts the
gift of Grace to each of us today.
Coming into the light is a gift from God given to those who
desire it because they realize the way of the world and of darkness
is not what God created us to experience. There is so much more
and it is so very beautiful and fulfilling. We have a choice
to either live in darkness and love evil or to come to the Light
of Jesus Christ and become whole through God's love. I
invite you to choose the Kingdom of Light. |
