John 3:1-15
Monday, 15 April 2024
“…the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” -John 3:14-15
Christ Jesus impacted people from all walks of life during His earthly life and none who encountered Him went back the same. In today’s reading, we see a Rabbi, a learned Jew encounter Jesus and how his perception was changed.
Nicodemus asked Jesus: “How can this be?”(V.9)— when he heard Jesus’ explanation on ‘Kingdom entry’- so different from all that he had studied and had been teaching his entire life. Nicodemus knew that he was talking to someone from God yet His words were not pleasing to his ears. He procrastinated with questions instead of facing the evidence and accepting the truth Jesus put across to him.
We are surrounded by these very same kind of people today, people who keep asking more questions than accepting the answers given to them. Instead of accepting the plain truths of God’s Word many would like to argue things rationally. To those who have failed to understand God’s big picture of salvation, He wants to explain it again as we read today’s Scripture, just as He did many years ago to Nicodemus, so that we might grasp the truth and believe it.
· How did God work out salvation for us?
He Provides a Way (John 3:14)- God lifted up the Son of Man-Jesus Christ- just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In Number 21 we read about how the people raised up their voices against God in complaint and contempt. This was not overlooked by God. He punished this ingratitude by sending serpents amongst them. Realizing their sin they cried out to God and the only solution God gave them was to ‘Look Up at the Serpent raised up on a Rod.’ It was not the serpent that took away the sting of the bite, but the looking up at God’s provision to receive mercy that helped the Israelites find life.
In the same manner all of us are bitten by the serpent and affected by the poison called ‘SIN’ and the only way we can overcome this poison is by turning away from everything that holds us captive and looking to the Saviour on the cross – God’s provision for us, who took the sting of sin upon Himself and set us free. No matter how weak or frail or far away from God you may be, when you look up to Him, trusting and accepting His death on the cross for your salvation, you will be forgiven and healed from the sting of sin.
He Guarantees us a Promise: (John 3:15) – For all those who follow through with God’s plan provided in Christ Jesus, He promises a whole and lasting life. God sent His Son so that through Him we will receive real life, eternal life. This new life in us breaks off all ties with this earthly world and we begin a new fellowship with God which will last even after we leave this earthly tent.
We read about him later in John 19:39 at Jesus’ Tomb- His encounter with Christ had changed him. How about you? What is that one question that seems so rational to you that you cannot fathom God’s provision and promise? Now is the time! Today is the day! Look to the Saviour and Live!
To Heed:
“Let all the world look to me for salvation!
For I am God; there is no other.”
Listen: 'Turn to Me and be saved'