HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1325
JOHN 3
page 955
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish
teacher, and yet you don’t understand these
things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know
and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our
testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I
tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.
But the Son of Man* has come down from
heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze
snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of
Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who
believes in him will have eternal life.*
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He
gave* his one and only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him will not perish but have
eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world
not to judge the world, but to save the world
through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who
believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not
believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And
the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light
came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were
evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse
to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right come to the
light so others can see that they are doing what
God wants.*”
John the Baptist Exalts Jesus
22 Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem
and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus
spent some time with them there, baptizing
people.
23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was
plenty of water there; and people kept coming
to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was
thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew* over
ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples
came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met
on the other side of the Jordan River, the one
you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing
people. And everybody is going to him instead
of coming to us.”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything
unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not
the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way
for him.’ 29 It is the bridegroom who marries the
bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply
glad to stand with him and hear his vows.
Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.
3:13 Some manuscripts add who lives in heaven. “Son of
Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 3:15 Or everyone who
believes will have eternal life in him. 3:16 Or For God loved
the world so much that he gave. 3:21 Or can see God at work
in what he is doing. 3:25 Some manuscripts read some Jews.
• Salvation
JOHN 3:1-8
Many of us have heard the phrase born
again, referring to the process of salvation. But imagine what Jesus’ words
must have sounded like to Nicodemus!
He had always assumed that the way to
God’s Kingdom was through strict adherence to the numerous complex codes
of Jewish law. But Jesus told him that
all he had to do was to be “born again.”
Who had ever heard of such a thing?
Yet the analogy is profound. A physical birth takes place in blood, pain, and
unparalleled joy. In spiritual rebirth, the
blood is the blood of Christ, the pain is
the confession of sin, and the joy is the
assurance of eternal life! As a doctor said
after delivering yet another child, “Every
single one is a miracle.” God is waiting
to bring about a miraculous spiritual
birth in each of us. Have you considered what it means to be born all over
again?
• Giving
JOHN 3:16
Imagine that the person you love most
is on the verge of death. Doctors and
nurses keep a constant vigil, watching
beeping machines, monitoring blood
pressure, and checking tubes to make
sure none have slipped or become
blocked. What would you give to keep
this loved one alive? How much would
you sacrifice to have a normal life with
him or her again—laughing, talking,
sharing? If your love is strong and
genuine, you would give all.
This is exactly what God did for us.
Sin puts us on the verge of death. So
God, in his marvelous love, gave up
his only Son so that we might have life.
God gave his Son, and his Son offered
up his life. This great, sacrificial gift is
the foundation of our renewed relationship with God. In this most popular of all
Bible verses, the apostle John is not only
showing us how to receive salvation, but
he is also telling us the secret to deepest
love: sacrificial giving. Is there something
you have or something you do that is
keeping you from giving love or accepting the love of God and others? Give it
up before you actually forfeit both life
and love.