A formula for heavenly things
John 3:12
[12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Pythagoraeam theorem – lengths and right angles
Gravity –
Relativity – E=mc2 (matter converted to energy and vice versa)
Jesus here today will give us the formula for eternal life.
So if you were here last week you heard from John 2 that Jesus knows what’s in man…or what’s in the heart and mind of man. The two upcoming interactions with Nicodemus then the Samaritan woman will help us see this, but more than just prove that Jesus knows, it shows us where we are and where we need to be.
Since we’re in John 3 today you will obviously hear the most famous passage the world has known.
John 3:16
[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And we will get to that, but let’s walk through this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus a bit.
One point if you recall from the last few weeks that will be brought out again in a much stronger way today. The theme, the point, the gist that John is pointing to is “Believe”
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A formula for heavenly things…believe
Born once = die twice
Born twice = die once
John 3:7
[7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
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John 3:1-21
[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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” [3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
[9] Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” [10] Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11] Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13] No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [19] And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20] For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21] But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
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Nicodemus says “how can these things be?”
“From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 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 21:4-9)
Scholars believe the serpents that are designated here as “fiery serpents” were so called because their bite inflicted a burning fever that, if not checked, brought death.
The picture is one of both horror and glory. It is horrible in that the Israelites were beset by a hoard of “fiery serpents,” so many that the people could not escape, and as a result their bodies were inflamed with fever and they were on the verge of death. In fact, many died. What a hideous scene! But at the same time it is glorious because here we also see God’s glorious provision of healing. Our Lord left no doubt about the application: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” This is a picture of the dying, sinful world with the atoning cross raised high.
The snakes are symbolic of sin—in fact, the perfect symbol of sin because it was a serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, thereby bringing sin into the world. Our very natures have been polluted. Paul says, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10; cf. Psalm 14:1-3). Then we see the likeness of a serpent lifted up on a pole. It is significant that Moses elected not to use an actual serpent. The symbolism would not have been so exact and perfect if he had. Our Lord became sin (or a serpent) for us. Romans 8:3 says, “God . . . sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin . . . condemned sin in the flesh.” Second Corinthians 5:21 adds, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” And Galatians 3:13 states, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
With all the animal realm from which to choose, God chose the perfect symbol—the serpent. Our Lord on the cross took the sins of the world upon himself as symbolized by the writhing serpent.
Let’s not miss the importance of the gaze of faith. Numbers 21:9 says, “And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” The command to look to that uplifted serpent was a gracious foreshadowing of looking to Christ for our salvation. No wonder our Lord said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Moses raised that serpent up high in the camp, and all the dying Israelites had to do was look to that pole and be saved. No matter how horribly they were bitten, no matter how many times they had been bitten or how sick they were, the opportunity for salvation was there. Even the most degraded and miserable sinner who looks to Christ will be saved. That is why our Lord used this wonderful illustration.”
So what illustration can I give you today to help you see. I have to remind you that I am here to preach and teach the word and I can make my arguments and plead and beg, but you have to let the Holy Spirit work inside of you. You must not let the devil or your old thoughts and habits or your flesh fight this, this is God’s word, God’s Spirit speaking to your Spirit, your soul.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
[6] Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. [7] But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. [8] None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [9] But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
[10] these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. [11] 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. [12] 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. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
[14] 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. [15] The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. [16] “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
In Numbers 21 if the Israelite hesitated he would die. They had to gaze upon the serpent on the pole. Kinda feels weird doesn’t it. I mean a serpent on a pole?
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James Webb images…. Unbelievable right? But you know it’s there.
Carina Nebula Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was imaged by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.
Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high.
That’s far away, what about something closer?
What is the Memory Capacity of a Human Brain?
The human brain’s memory capacity in the average adult can store trillions of bytes of information.
If you have a fairly new computer, tablet, or smartphone, you understand the phrase “megabytes” and “gigabytes”, this knowledge might help put your brain’s immense information storage capacity into perspective.
Early-generation personal computers had – at best – a few megabytes of hard-drive information storage capability. That’s a few million pieces of digital memory – seemingly a lot at the time, but small by today’s standards.
For instance, it is not uncommon for today’s smart phones to have “gigabytes” (16GB, 64GB, 128GB) of memory capacity or more.
To put this in perspective, the computer onboard the first Apollo spacecraft that landed on the moon had an operating system with just 64 kilobytes (64 KB) of memory storage capability. The computer in that example could handle just over 64 thousand bytes, which is just over 64 thousand characters of information. Today, most digital toasters have more computing power than Apollo 11 had, and your average smartphone is literally light-years ahead the computer that guided and controlled that spaceship.
the average adult human brain has the ability to store the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes digital memory. This might seem lesser to some people but this much storage can store up to 300 years of continuous video.
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So physical things that we still can’t quite comprehend but we trust and believe.
How about this?
If you were told today that you have cancer right now and that you were going to die except for one cure would you take it? What if you didn’t understand all of the medicine and biology and chemistry behind it? If your child or grandchild was diagnosed with cancer today and there was only one place in the world that you could get the cure and it cost everything to get there and to pay for it, would you do it?
I’m telling you today
Romans 6:23
[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It’s not how much money you have.
It’s not your social status.
It’s not your church membership.
It’s not your family history.
It’s not your education.
No special card, or class or membership.
It’s Jesus’ work alone that can save you. You must be born again.
John 3:16
[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And if you have been born again…… are you understanding the heavenly things Jesus is telling you to do? It’s not a mystery.
