Monday, May 8, 2017

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus: The Charm of Home
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus  from The Life of Jesus Christ
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

John 3:1-3

"Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." Jesus is not speaking about going to a place called heaven here.

He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
Matthew 13:11-12

You can walk around in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth!  No kidding. You can see, things from Jesus' perspective. In a heavenly perspective that others can't see! 

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (see resource below)
Luke 17:21
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
  John 3:4-8

Heavenly things are supernatural. (see resource below)
“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
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. 
John 3:9-15

Faith
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 3:16-21

You live as a reflection of Jesus here on earth to help others come to the Kingdom of Heaven.

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. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
31 “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33 Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. 36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
John:3:22-36

Everything you are given is a gift from God. 
John 3:27

When you repent and are reborn in the Spirit then you receive the Holy Spirit. And you have to remain in the Spirit becoming more and more like Jesus, never to go back to your old habits. 

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?
"No, Lord," she said.
And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."

John 8:11

Kingdom of God: Resource
Miracles/Supernatural: Resource
Holy Spirit: Resource


Clip from: The Son of God

There are several good visual bibles and movies for you to watch the scripture.
Here are some links: All free
Gospel of John

Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Matthew

Acts of the Apostles


Movies that are also good and filled with scripture: free
Life of Jesus Christ

Jesus of Nazareth

On Netflix: fees apply
The Bible 
The Son of God

On Amazon Prime: fees apply
The Passion of the Christ

YouTube Movies: fees apply

The Gospel of John (word-for-word version)


All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ,
Sherry

I will be linking up with these parties:
Mommy Moments at Life of Faith- Sun evening
The Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims
Moments of Hope at Lori Schumaker
Monday's Musings at What Joy is Mine
Tuesday Talk with Sarah E. Frazer
Coffee and Conversation at Pat and Candy.com- Tues eve
Tell Us His Story at Jennifer Dukes Lee- Tues eve
Grace Moments at Journeys in Grace
Thought Provoking Thursdays at 3-D Lessons for Life
Grace and Truth at Above the Waves
Fresh Market Friday Crystal Twaddell
Faith and Friends at Counting My Blessings

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

To sin no more..no tall order there huh? I think striving to live more like Jesus is a daily decision that we have to recommit to all the time. When one of my children says something out of sorts I ask them if Jesus would say the same thing. I know I should ask myself this more often too and speak with kinder words sometimes. Thanks for sharing.

Karen Del Tatto said...

Great exposition on these verses and great reminders that we represent the Kingdom of God on Earth and through fellow Believers and the Lord's work here on earth, we have glimpses of Heaven right where we are.'

Thanks for sharing.