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2:2011 through 15. Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him will have a Eternal life.

3:04Conversation. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. I think Jesus addressed Nicodemus' problem. He knew that Jesus, that God was with Jesus, and so he came to learn from Jesus. But he didn't understand some of the most basic elements of theology, especially soteriology. So Jesus tells him, You must be born again. Nicodemus didn't get that concept. It blew his mind. He didn't understand it, and Jesus was surprised that you don't have any clue about this. How is it that you don't understand that the fallen nature is always going to act like the fallen nature? In other words, a cat will never behave differently than a cat behaves. Even if you train and do all kinds of intense training and redecorating on the outside, the cat will always still be a cat. Likewise, fallen man will always be a fallen man unless something from above happens. You must be born again.

4:33Well, this blows Nicodemus' mind. And then he's asking, How? How can these things be? And so, what you have in John 3, you have three truly, truly statements. You can circle them. In verses 1 through 3, there's truly, truly statement number 1. Jesus is declaring the necessity of being born again. In verses 5 through 8, there is also the truly, truly statement. And he tells them what being born again means. And Nicodemus' reaction to all of these things in verses 1 through 8 is seen in verse 9. How can these things be? And Jesus says, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? And then in verse 11, he launches off into the third, truly, truly, truly, truly.

5:38I say to you. And so it's in these verses that Jesus is going to answer his question: how a person must be born again. And so in trying to articulate this, to my children, trying To articulate this in some kind of parable form. Years ago, I came up with this little parable that I call the Christmas flower. And I'll read it to you just so that it kind of helps you understand what's being illustrated here. And then I'll pick up and go back through this text.

6:27Christmas flower. What is the most beautiful flower in the world? Many experts have offered their opinions through the centuries. Some have suggested that it is the South African ghasagna with its unique patterns and brilliant colors. Others have asserted that the plumeria deserves the top spot with its vibrant colors and lovely fragrance. I'm sure you have your favorite as well. You can be thinking if I hit one of them. Others contend that there is nothing more impressive than a magnolia tree in full bloom, a stately picture of beauty and grace. Some say it's the iris, which has inspired artistic masterpieces through the century. Some say it is the lily, which has given rise to the fleur-de-lis, a decorative symbol adorning countless family coats of arms and country flags. And then there's the rose. For many, this beautiful, sweet-smelling blossom has what it takes to be the most. Glorious flower in the world. They see the rose's glory as the very emblem of beauty and love. Well, there's just so many, too many contenders to list. I'm sure I may have missed quite a few. But whatever flower the experts assigned the lofty title, the most beautiful flower in the world, a certain legendary flower's glory exceeds them all. According to the legend, this Christmas flower was so overwhelming that its beauty was actually contagious. All other flowers were limited in this one respect. They could merely put their beauty on display, causing the beholder to marvel. Only the Christmas flower could share its beauty with the beholder. Few ever saw the Christmas flower, for it only bloomed in less traveled areas, once every few years, and only for a few hours, a rare event in a remote place. Many who might happen by the flower in bloom quickly passed it by, paying little attention. Some marveled at its beauty only for a moment and then moved on. Few actually stopped their journey to gaze upon its deep beauty. For those who did, something true. Truly amazing happened. As observers gazed upon the flower, their countenance began to change. Their complexion became as bright and beautiful as the flower itself. Every external blemish was completely restored to health. As observers breathed in the flower's fragrance, every internal flaw of body and soul was completely renewed. Strength and wholeness replaced weakness and disease. An inner disposition of peace, innocence, kindness, and joy would take hold even in the most troubled of souls. The glory of the Christmas flower was such that anyone who stopped to gaze upon it was forever changed, and so was the flower. The flower did more than impart its beauty, it also received the ugliness of its observer. An incredible transaction took place. At the same time, the flower gave away its beauty, it received the blights of its observer. With each passing moment, the perfections of the flower gave way to the imperfections of its observer. And having given its beauty away, and having received all the ugliness of its observer, the lovely Of flowers became the most horrid. The once beautiful petals blackened and shriveled, the delicate fragrance faded, and the flower fell to the ground. In this manner, the flower took away the ugliness of the beholder and imparted its beauty to the beholder. And such was the glory of the Christmas flower.

11:00You see, the glory of Jesus Christ is his ability and willingness to remove sin and impart his righteousness for all who behold him. But where does this take place? It takes place at the cross. There is the glory. There is the flowering perfection of humanity, the flowering beauty and glory of your Creator, the just God, the merciful God. Jesus Christ on the cross is the flowering beauty of humanity, and those who take in who He was and by faith took in what He did there are born again.

11:55Something within them dies and Something within them comes alive. And it happens there on the cross, taking in what he did and who he was. And this is what Nicodemus needs to learn. This is what we need to learn. Make sure you understand how and where this transaction takes place. This is Jesus' answer to Nicodemus' question. So Jesus is going to flesh this out in these three verses, and we'll walk through these in our time this morning. But first, Nicodemus or Jesus is going to deal with a more fundamental problem that Nicodemus has. There's a fundamental problem. Looking back at verse 11: Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? The plural there is interesting. Nicodemus has already said that I know that God. Is with you because you're doing all these things.

13:36For no man can do these things unless God knows God is with him. Jesus is saying, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen. But here's your problem. You don't accept our testimony. The miracles say something. Jesus is articulating something. And Nicodemus is, how can these things be? Kind of like in disagreement. And Jesus points out: here's your problem. You're not accepting our testimony. This is why Nicodemus, if he persisted in this way, he would not ever see, enter, or understand the kingdom of God. He was not accepting Jesus' testimony. There is no way he's going to understand how to enter the kingdom of God unless he listens.

14:38You can imagine if the first time I met Nancy, I said, came up to Nancy and I said, hey, Nancy, my name's Tom. I'm from Texas. Liar. What do you mean, liar? My name's Tom. I'm really from Texas. No, liar. No one named Tom looks like you from Texas. No way. Liar. Our relationship wouldn't really go very far, would it? Well, this is exactly how the Son of Man was received by his own people. Liar. Who are you? Nicodemus could not understand Jesus until he first believed Jesus. And the same is true for you and me and your children and everyone else.

15:23If you think Jesus is a liar, or if you think that the scriptures that tell us about Jesus are unreliable, you're never going to be able to understand Jesus or the way into the kingdom that he offers. If Nicodemus doesn't understand the reality, the earthly reality, that a person needs to undergo a complete change in order to enter into heaven, he will never understand how that change takes place. You can dress up a cat, you can make a cat do all kinds of things, but at the end of the day, the cat is still a cat. Nicodemus, you're still a fallen human being unless you're born from above.

16:11And if you don't believe that a supernatural rebirth is necessary, then you'll never believe how it takes place. And the same is true with us. You must be born again. Nothing is more plain in Jesus' language here is that you Must be born from above in order to see, understand, enter, and have eternal life. Well, this should have been the end of the discussion. Nicodemus wasn't listening. But Jesus, in his grace and goodness, and his mercy, he goes on to teach Nicodemus three heavenly things or truths, three heavenly truths in verses 13 and 15 that precisely answer the question: how does one become born again? So I want you to see these heavenly truths so that you will know how one is born again, so that you will know how to go to heaven, so that you will know how to instruct your children how to go to heaven, and where this transaction takes place, and where one comes into the new covenant.

17:33First of all, to go to heaven, to be born again, one must recognize the credibility of Jesus. One must recognize the credibility of Jesus. Look at verse 13. No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. No one has ascended. He's telling Nicodemus, look, no one has ascended up there to go and figure all this stuff out and bring it back. No one is. Is capable of ascending into the very presence of God, but only he who has descended from heaven from the very presence of God. There has been one, only one, who has come from the very presence of God. And therefore, Nicodemus, the truth about God and who enters his presence must come from one who truly knows.

18:24Jesus had an unbreakable union with his heavenly Father. He was having, he will always have. He's a credible witness to heaven and who goes there because of where he descended from. And the miracles, Nicodemus, should have, you knew that testified where Jesus was from. But he, even though he admitted that, he wasn't listening to Jesus. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. What does the Son of Man mean? What is that title? Titles are important because a title says something about how you see yourself or how others see you. I remember when I was growing up, I had an older brother. His name was Dan. His full name was Carrie Dan Baber. And he loved to go around the house and be called Dan.

19:30Because he'd say, I'm Dan the man. Dan the man. You refer to me as I'm Dan the man. And I'd look at him, no, you're Carrie the fairy. Carrie the fairy. And then I'd have to hightail it out of there, you know, take a few and then run out of there. And that was just an aggravating little brother. But that's but it would sure change how he saw himself and how he thought I saw him. But that's what happens with a title. So when Jesus is using the word son of man, he is important to understand what is going on in Jesus' mind when he uses this expression, because it's how he sees himself. In fact, the first time Jesus refers to himself in every gospel, he uses this expression, son of man.

20:24And when you do a biblical study on these terms, and I'm not going to go and give you all the details, but there's two basic biblical categories of thought that come to mind when you see the term son of man. It's in context, number one, that deal with the weakness or lowliness of all mankind. Weakness and lowliness. We're weak morally, fleshly. Our word is weak. There's A weakness, even a moral weakness. There's also a lowliness, an insignificant. Who is man that you are mindful of him? So there's this one category where you see the word son of man, a phrase used, it's referring to our weakness, our lowliness, frailty. And then there's another category when you see this expression, the son of man, it's also speaking about the strength and glory of the individual God has established to rule humanity, the son of man. You see, God has purposed that man will be ruled or shepherded by man. Man will rule man. And so man's ruler will be a son of man, little s, one born in our likeness, a descendant of humanity, a man.

21:56But also this son of man, he will be the man of God's power in his weakness. Or the likeness or the weakness that he bore was our likeness. So he came in flesh. And the power he displayed in his, even in his humility, was his God-likeness. And so as the son of man, he displayed both human weakness and power. Of earth's creator and king. And he is the answer to Job's cry. In Job 9:32, Job says this, For he is not a man, as he's contending with God. He is not a man as I am, that I may answer him, that we may go to court together.

22:52There is no umpire between us who may lay his hand upon us both. So, what Job is saying is: look, there's no mediator. There's no one. God is God. He goes on, Let him remove his rod from me, and let not dread of him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear him, but I am not like that in myself. In other words, I cannot speak to God. There's no one that can mediate. There's no one who understands my weakness and my frailty and can also know his power and his omnipotence and bring us together.

23:33Well, the Son of Man, that's who Jesus sees himself. And we must see him as both. Job would have loved to have spoken with Jesus. A humble peasant and yet a glorified king. Omnipotent power veiled in human weakness. See, if anyone Could tell Nicodemus about heaven and the way into it, it was Jesus. However, Nicodemus wasn't believing Jesus's word. You see, it's easy to understand if you take for it, think about it for a moment, that heaven is for those people who are going to never die.

24:25Heaven, if there is such a thing of heaven as heaven, and if people live forever there, then we can intuitively know that something must happen to those who enter so that they can live forever. The question is: when and where does that something occur? That's what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus, what he does is he's setting Nicodemus on a course to believe. And the answer begins with Nicodemus, you need to start believing Jesus' words. You see, we must believe Jesus' testimony.

25:09Who are you listening to to describe who goes to heaven and why and how? Who is the authority? Across the horizon of this earth, there is none but Jesus. He is the one who knows, He is the one to whom we Are to listen. We must receive Jesus' testimony, and the scriptures testify of Christ. They also testify of the miracles which testify to Christ. You see, his words, and they testify to his words that testify that he is from God. And so we must listen to Jesus, and we must recognize the credibility of Jesus. If you're going to be born again, you're going to have to recognize he's the credible witness to how these things are done. And that's what Nicodemus had to learn. Nicodemus, you're not receiving my words.

26:19To be born again, one must also reflect upon the cross of Jesus. Look at verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Notice when you see a comparison, calling out the very beginning word, as or like, there's a comparison being made. Jesus is taking an Old Testament event and he's making a comparison, a very profound comparison that is answering the question, how one is born again.

27:01And so we need to understand this serpent in the wilderness. What is the serpent? Why did Moses lift up this serpent? And how does this relate to us being born again? Well, as we go through the Old Testament, you very quickly pick up on a very disturbing pattern. And it's chronicled throughout, all the way to the very end. It reveals man's deepest and most persistent problem. And it's his unbelief or his distrust of God and God's word. You see, Adam lost paradise. Why?

27:54Because he didn't believe and trust in God's Word, ultimately. Remember when the spies went into the land? They didn't think they could go in and conquer. So they didn't enter the land because they didn't believe and trust God. Even a more profound example is: Moses was called to speak to the rock. Instead, he struck the rock. And he failed to enter the promised land because, and it is expressly spelled out there, because of. His unbelief. Numbers 20, verse 12. And friends, I find this alarming. If Moses didn't believe enough to simply take God at his word so as to enter the promised land, what hope is there for the rest of us?

28:49If Moses' faith wasn't sufficient to get him into the promised land, I know my faith isn't going to get me into heaven. I cannot have faith in my faith either. Just like Jesus couldn't have faith in Nicodemus' faith or faith in those who were believing in him because of the miracles. Cannot have faith in an earthbound faith. But as you keep reading through the book of Numbers and this people that did, this Joshua generation that did enter in, God did prepare them to believe.

29:38And so to understand how a person is born again, we need to get our minds around God's solution to this persistent unbelief in this generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt and then wandered around, and then the second generation. That's still very much riddled with unbelief, how God prepared them to enter into the land. And to do that, I'm going to read to you Numbers, beginning in chapter 21. You're going to have to get your mind around this. Numbers chapter 21, verses 6 through, well, it's about, it's a short episode.

30:319. Let me just read these words to you. The Lord sent. Well, let me just tell you what happens here. You come into the land, they're about to go into the land, and God exposes Israel's chronic problem, this persistent unbelief. And it raises its ugly head again in verse 4 of Numbers 21. Then they set out from Mount Hort by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Eden. And the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and 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 miserable food. So here they are. 38. Years later, another generation, why have you brought us up here to die?

31:37God could have put an end to them pretty quickly if that was his goal. Could have taken them all down with the Egyptian army. But after all the good that God had done, Israel still distrusted God. There's a lesson for us here, by the way. God has done so much good for us. And yet we still have this persistent unbelief, don't we? Israel's ability to go into the land and possess it was dependent upon them believing and trusting in God. So here's God's solution. I'll read it. Beginning in verse 6. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned because we have spoken against the Lord and you. Intercede with the Lord that he may remove the serpents from us. And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard, on a big pole or flagpole type thing. And it shall come about that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live. And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard, and it came about that as If a serpent bit any man when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. That's it.

33:09That was God's way of dealing with it. And by the way, after this, they don't complain anymore. You can go through Numbers. It's like, I think this is about the 14th time that they are grumbling and complaining. This ends it because he gets rid of a whole lot of unbelief. And I mean, quickly. How does he do it? Serpents come in, they bite people. What happens? They're really poisonous. So what happens? Everybody who gets bitten is going to die. It's a death sentence. It's a sure thing. Unless, well, that's what happens. So people are getting bitten, they're dying, and now they're crying out. So this judgment leads to desperation, and God used the serpents to bring the people to a point of desperation so they would turn and look to God.

34:01Death has a habit of doing this. When you're faced to God, faced with death, you kind of like start turning to God. Numbers 21:7, so the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned because we have spoken against the Lord, and you intercede with the Lord that he may remove the serpents from us. And Moses interceded for the people. So here, the death sentence caused a change in attitude toward God. Before the first, Fiery serpents, what are they doing? They're mad at God. They're mad at Moses. But afterwards, they're seeking God's forgiveness and his help. And so then God brings them salvation. And I mean salvation and deliverance from this particular event. Numbers 21:8, then the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard. And it shall come about that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live. And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard. And it came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. So what Moses, the solution. So what does Moses do? Or God has Moses do. He has him make a bronze serpent and hammered bronze and sets it up in a prominent place that whoever looked to it, so it's in a place where you could, if you get bit, you can somehow get to a quick place and look at it.

35:35And whoever did, they had their death sentence removed. That's the way it worked. By looking, but see, but the problem isn't the poison. That's not the problem that God's really dealing with. What is it? It's their condition of unbelief. And so by looking to God's remedy, guess what? What happened? Unbelief. Not only did they look to God's remedy, but as they did, not only did their death sentence was removed, but so was their unbelief. What happened to those that didn't believe? They didn't look. And guess what? Those that didn't look, guess what happened to them? They died.

36:25Those that did believe, guess what they did? They looked and they lived. So guess what happened? A whole lot of unbelief was removed from that generation. Think about if that happened today. Suppose that something like that happened here. We all have an immediate death sentence and only people that look at the cross and that they would be saved. And they'd be those that didn't look, they'd die. So guess what? Guess who's remaining? Those who believe. Do you see how God did that for this generation? And this became the Joshua generation that goes in and takes the land because they learned to trust. God removed a whole bunch of unbelief.

37:18It's a simple and profound way to get rid of unbelief in a population. Send a death sentence and those who don't look to God's solution. Will die. Those who do look will live. So at the end of the day, guess what you have? Those who have faith. That's the analogy that Jesus is using. You see how God, look, I hope, hopefully, you know this, that you have a death sentence. I hope you know that. We're all terminal.

38:01Are you looking to God's solution? Where is that solution? The cross. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, omnipotent power in human flesh, upon the cross. That's the glory of Christmas. If I can use that term. Look at verse 14. Look back there. So let's go back to John. Look back at verse 1. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Now you know where Jesus' mind is? Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

38:49Lifted up. What does he mean there? That is a clear reference to the cross. In fact, in John 12, 32, Jesus said this, and I am. If I am lifted up from the earth, it will draw all men to myself. But he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die. What is Jesus telling Nicodemus in language that Nicodemus can understand? The Son of Man, the powerful ruler that is to come, to rule the nations, must be crucified.

39:27Why? Why must he be lifted up? Well, that takes us to the third heavenly thing or that third heavenly truth that Jesus tells Nicodemus in answering this question: How does one enter the kingdom of God or how to be born again? So, to be born again, one must recognize the credibility of Jesus. One must reflect upon the cross of Jesus. And three, one must be believing in Jesus. Look back at verse 15, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

40:07The reason for Jesus' crucifixion, very spelled out so that the reason for the Son of Man being crucified is so that people who are believing, the verb there, the ones who are believing in him, so that everyone who is believing in him will in him have. Eternal life, and this is without distinction, without limitation. It's a universal truth, whoever, Jew, Gentile, this is the criteria for God's people, and this is how one enters into the kingdom of God.

40:50It's not a matter of race, it's not a matter of gender, it's not a matter of age, it's not a matter of status or how well your education or any. It's about faith. Are you believing? And faith, and I know this isn't good English, you must be believing, but it's good theology. You might just say, well, you must believe, but we miss the dynamic there. You must be believing in Jesus. That's what he's saying here, so that whoever is believing will have eternal life. They will not only see the kingdom of God, they will not only enter the kingdom of God, but they will possess eternal life. You see, heaven is populated by present and ongoing believers.

41:45So you think about the pattern of fallen man. Adam in the garden. Adam couldn't possess paradise because of his unbelief. Israel could not enter into the land or remain. In the land because of their unbelief. And this is what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, and you, and me, we cannot enter heaven unless we take in who Jesus is and what he did upon the cross. And by so doing, be born again. You see, when you take in what God has done, when you take in who this Son of Man is and what he's doing on the cross, put your mind meditating on this reality. Therein is the glory of God. There is the glory and the perfection of humanity right there.

42:58And it's a beauty that is so powerful that it's contagious. It's transferable. You can't take it in and not be changed. Do you have faith in your faith? If not, recognize the credibility of Jesus. Reflect upon the cross of Jesus and be believing in Jesus. You see, earlier in this chapter, Jesus explained to Nicodemus the cause of the new birth. It's by grace alone, it's the work of a spirit. And then in these verses that we looked at tonight, he explained the mechanism of the new birth. It's through faith alone. And it's not the faith of the parents, it is faith alone. One must come into the proximity of the cross and take in the reality. A person must understand what God is doing there on the cross for their sake.

44:20How does the rebirth happen? Well, the best answer, based on all what Jesus is saying, it happens in conjunction when one is reflecting upon the cross of Christ, the Son of Man, Jesus, and God wants the world to know that the ruler of the world has submitted to a Roman crucifixion for the sins of his people. You know, I love, by the way, you know, Nancy and I thought we would go get a Hamburger today for lunch. And you know what?

45:06We didn't go off into a pastor somewhere hoping to find a burger. You know what we did? We went to a restaurant that served hamburgers. And guess what we found there? Hamburgers. Where does being born again happen? Friends, it happens when a person comes in proximity to the cross. So in your evangelism, whatever you do, you've got to get to the cross. You've got to be reflecting upon the cross. That's where the glory is put on display. It's in proximity of that where people are going to come to Christ. Yeah, you can go off to Las Vegas and God can save you there, sure.

46:06But it's only going to happen when you come in proximity to the cross and take it in. That's what Jesus is saying. There's a lot of unbelief today. We hear it, and I love what we celebrate. I love the crush that's been set out in the foyer. It's a simple reminder of the manger and God being born among us. It's highly significant. You see, because there's a lot of unbelief today, there's a lot of lies that people believe.

46:50Have you ever heard this one? My life doesn't matter to God. Have you heard this one? God cannot forgive me. And even if he could, he wouldn't. My life is insignificant. My life doesn't matter to anyone. God will not accept me. But you know, reflect upon the cross. Because what does that say? The Son of Man, the ruler, the manger. He came a long distance to the manger. He goes even a further distance from the manger to the cross. The most significant individual in all the universe.

47:50You have to contemplate why would someone who possessed such power go to the cross if he intended to live and he He certainly did. That's evidenced by his resurrection. Why would he die? What is he doing there? What is God doing up there on the cross? You see, the cross is not only where the sting of death is removed, but the condition of unbelief is also removed. When you gaze upon all these things, I guess my life does matter. When I take in who Christ is, and I take in the distance that he traveled to come, then I guess, yeah, I guess my life does matter to you. I guess God can and does and will forgive and accept and delight and give me life.

48:49So, where do we go with all this? Center your life around the cross. You've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Do so tonight. Recognize who He is. Reflect upon what He's doing there and be believing in Him. But center your life around the cross. Start each day with an unhurried reflection upon the cross. This is the fountain place. This is where the glory, this is where that transforming glory will we never outgrow. Never ceases to impart its beauty to the beholder. Don't go through life in a hurry and miss this flowering glory of God and humanity displayed upon the cross.

49:56Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the night that Nicodemus came and talked to you. We thank you for the instruction that was given. We thank you for the words that were written down. We thank you that what is significant about that night, about what is said, Father, is right before us, so that here we are some 2,000 years later. And Father, we can go back to that conversation. We can take in. We can learn. So, Father, thank you for the cross.

50:41Help us to meditate upon it. Take in who you are. Take in what all this communicates. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.