"Assurance of Eternal Life under the Dominion of God" (John 3:13-16)

John 3:13-16

 Most Christians experience internal wars. These wars are those struggles that we have when we question our Christian life. We ask such questions like, "Am I really righteous?", or "Am I truly saved?” We try to live lives that would secure our salvation.

 The life of eternity is the call of every Christian. If Christians are not secure in their salvation, we have failed as Christians. Some days we are obedient and other days we fail miserably. 

 Last week we looked at how we can enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus that it is by the spirit of God that we can be born again. Jesus goes on to say that we must be willing to accept the gift from heavens.

 Jesus also tells Nicodemus that one must believe in the Son of Man in order to have eternal life.

 Nicodemus probably went to Jesus to ask about eternal life and how to see the Kingdom of Heaven because despite Nicodemus' position, knowledge and piety, he knew that he was falling short of the standards of God.
  
Like Nicodemus we feel that we are not living the lives that we should be; however, we should not allow ourselves to fall into the level of questioning whether or not we are pleasing God enough to enter Heaven. Jesus tells us that salvation is given to us by heaven. We do not go to heaven by our own efforts. The good news is that our good deeds do not guarantee us into heaven, but rather the inheritance Jesus has given us.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV

 What gives us the assurance of salvation is the Holy Spirit. It is not our fragile deeds that guarantees or explains our salvation. Instead of questioning whether or not we are saved, let us convince ourselves that we have eternal life.
  
 The assurance of salvation is based on Jesus being lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.
  

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Numbers 21:9 ESV


 Jesus is also telling Nicodemus through alluding to numbers that there are those who refuse the free gifts of life from God perish. Jesus predicts what is going to happen to him. Jesus would be lifted up on the cross, and also raised to Heaven. It was Jesus sacrifice on the cross which allows us to enter Heaven. 

Jesus met the judicial requirements to enter Heaven and his sacrifice paid our penalties. Jesus being exalted in His resurrection sustains us until He comes back.

But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.  "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:4-7 ESV

 Jesus had to leave to allow the Holy Spirit to help us.

Our guarantee of our salvation is assured so long as we continue to look at Jesus. We need to go back to the cross to repent of our sinful ways. This is one reason why the spirit of God was given to us. It convicts us to go back to the cross and seek Jesus. God wants us to be pure and the truth is that we will fall short during our walk when we try to do things on our own. So long as we look upon the cross, Jesus will be our savior.

Do Whatever He Says, and Understand Later (John 2:1-11)

 John 2:1-11

The mother of Jesus, Jesus and His disciples went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. This wedding probably took months to prepare. Unfortunately not enough preparation was done and the wine runs out at the wedding. Mary asks Jesus to do something about this embarrassing predicament. Jesus responds to his mother that He has nothing to do with the wine. Still, Mary goes to the servants and tells them to do whatever her son tells them.  


Jesus tells the servants to fill six large ceremonial jugs with water. Then Jesus turns the water into wine, and not just any wine but the finest wine ever tasted. 

The main reason Jesus came to the wedding was to show His role in the world. Jesus illustrates this fact through the Revelation's wedding super of the Lamb. Jesus came to be the light of life. This earthly wedding is to symbolize the heavenly wedding banquet. 

Mary telling the servants to follow Jesus instructions is an example for us. Jesus is our Lord and we are to listen without questioning or understanding what Jesus tells us. 

 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."
Revelation 19:7-9 ESV

Jesus made wine to show the abundance of life and blessing that will be experienced during the wedding supper.  We need to be excited in anticipation of the great banquet which comes when Jesus returns. Without the anticipation of the banquet, we become complacent and dull.

Jesus foreshadows the last banquet and He prepares us. Anyone who goes to a wedding wears fine clothes and prepares gifts.

it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Revelation 19:8 ESV

Jesus reveals himself as the light of men to show them what they need but do not know how to get what they cannot get. Jesus shows us how to get the eternal life that we desperately need. Jesus does this by giving instructions which they cannot understand. Jesus only expected them to follow the instructions and not to understand.

Some of the things the Lord asks us to do is beyond our understanding. Our main role is to commit to whatever he tells us even when we do not understand. He must commit even if it is painful or beyond our ability. The only thing to get into the banquet is to be committed to what Jesus us instructs us to do.

Jesus knew the end from the beginning. This is why Jesus did not taste the wine until all six jugs were filled. Jesus knew the end result. We can be confident that Jesus know what He asks us to do. Jesus knows the end of our lives from the beginning. For this reason we can put our trust in Him. Nothing happens by coincidence when Jesus is involved. We can trust Jesus and find courage. 


 Jesus also knows and has the means to get us to the end. It may seem illogical at times, but Jesus just wants us to have faith so we can do His works. For us that are growing into the Son ship of God, we have opportunities to put our faith in action. 


 We can put our trust in Him because He has put in place supporting aid to help us through. Mary was there to tell the servants to follow Jesus. Mary appears to be an insignificant woman, but God used her. God can use insignificant aids and people to show us what to do. Mary had had a personal revelation of who Jesus was.  Let us do the same through our testimony and obedience to Jesus.

The Condition of Experiencing Dominion of God (John 3:1-8)

John 3:1-8 

We read in John 3 that Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night with a crucial question. Probably Nicodemus asked Jesus how one could see the Kingdom of God. Jesus gives an answer that we all know, but maybe it is one we still struggle to understand. We need to know a little about Nicodemus before we can start to study Jesus’ answer to his question.

We know from the Bible that Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler. He was also a teacher of the law. 

Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 

John 3:10 ESV 

The Pharisees were holders of the law. The Bible tells us that the Pharisees were given the responsibility to keep the law. They committed themselves to keeping God's law. God gave 10 commandments, but the Pharisees expanded this to 613 commandments. The Mishnah was 840 pages long and detailed the laws. Not all rabbis were teachers of the law. Rabbis had to study and master these laws before they could be become teachers of the law. They were very much respected and were people who did things openly.

It seems a bit odd that Nicodemus went a night and not during the day: however, we do know that at this time the Pharisees had not accepted Jesus. This is probably why Nicodemus came at night, so that it would not be publicly seen. He and some other Pharisees could see that there was something special about Jesus. Nicodemus addresses Jesus as a Rabbi or a teacher from God (John 3:2). This verse tell us that Nicodemus along with others observed Jesus as someone from God. We know in John 2 after Jesus clears the temple, Jesus does many great things and wonders.  

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 

John 2:23 ESV 

Nicodemus saw something different in Jesus and wanted to ask Jesus questions, especially concerning the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see the Kingdom of Heaven you need to be born again. This answer is not what Nicodemus had expected and goes against the Pharisees' beliefs about following the law.  

The Lord tells Nicodemus that one must be born anew to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The language used means to enter the sphere of God's reign and the dominion of God's ruling. Jesus explains that one needs to get help from above. In fact, in John 1, we read about Jesus' purpose on Earth. 

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

John 1:11-13 ESV 

Jesus tells Nicodemus that it is not our actions to bring us into Heaven, but rather our willingness to be born anew from Heaven. Nicodemus could not accept this, but many of us have. However, even those who accept rebirth still ask how we can enter heaven. By accepting the rebirth we allow God to control of our lives. We have to let go of our old lives, traditions and beliefs. Often times we rejoice that God has forgiven our sins and accepted us, but we refuse to allow His dominion over our lives. We do not know Him as our Lord. We have to sacrifice our self all the time and allow God full control. 

Those of us who are reborn also need to be led and moved by the Spirit. The Spirit is like the wind which moves objects, but no one knows where it comes from or where it goes. We do not know what our future holds, but we can trust the Spirit of God will move us in  

Jesus warns us that we cannot earn our salvation. Paul tells us the same in Romans. 

as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 

Romans 3:10-12 ESV 

We need to learn to live and be governed by the Holy Spirit. The sooner we submit to God and surrender to the fact that we always fall short, the sooner God can use us. We need to stop striving to enter Heaven on our own. Let Jesus' spirit shape us to develop a Kingdom culture. 

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ESV 

Although we have been born from heaven, we still need to allow the spirit of God to move us.