“LIFT UP JESUS!” John 3:9-15
INTRO – We have come into this place today to lift up Jesus! Have a pastor friend of mine who is in a very large church in another state. Person came to him and told him that they were leaving his church. Asked why. “We’re tired of this ‘Jesus-ism.’ Every time we come, all you do is preach about Jesus.” Pastor told him that he was sorry to see them go and wished they would reconsider. But then told them, “But you need to know that every time I preach, I will be preaching about Jesus. So maybe you need to go ahead and find another church.”
Every time, we meet together for worship, we will be lifting up Jesus. We will be worshipping Him, proclaiming Him, trusting Him, and obeying Him.
In a recent Christianity Today survey (March, 06), 50% of Americans say they have had at least 1 religious or spiritual transformation. 35% of those transformed said they were not “born again.”
I want to make abundantly clear to you today that to be born again IS to be spiritually transformed. Paul said in Romans 12:2 – “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV) The only way to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” is to be born again and receive the “mind of Christ.” 1 Cor. 2:16 tells us that “we have the mind of Christ.”
To be born again means that we have been transformed, and that we are being transformed. 2 Cor. 3:18 – “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
To be born again means that we have been transformed, that we are being transformed, and that one day, we will be completely transformed. Phil. 3:20-21 – “…our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus that we have been studying for the past few weeks focuses on the absolute importance of being born again and all that means. We must remember that unless we are born again – eternally transformed by the divine work of the Holy Spirit – we cannot see the Kingdom of God. We must remember that unless we are born again - born from above, born anew, born of God, born of the Spirit, born through the Word of God – we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
As we lift up Jesus today, there are some things I would like for us to consider:
I. LIFTING UP JESUS IS SPIRITUAL IN NATURE – v. 9-12
Nicodemus – Pharisee, member of the Jewish ruling council. Jesus called him, “Israel’s teacher.” KJV – “Art thou a master of Israel…” He was schooled and highly educated. Knew OT through and through.
But he just was not getting it. He did not comprehend Jesus’ teaching about the new birth, even though the OT uses similar language in some beautiful verses from Ezekiel 36:26 – “I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.” (NLT) Here we have proof that a person may have a comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures and still be lacking in spiritual insight. 1 Cor. 2:14 – “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The AMP version puts it this way: “But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.”
Friends, if you are relying on your intellectual ability to figure everything out, you are going to miss the Kingdom of God. If you are waiting until you completely understand everything before you yield your life to Christ, you are going to miss the Kingdom of God. Today and every day, we lift up Jesus in this place and in our lives b/c we know Him and we have seen Him at work. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth according to John 16:13. We lift up Jesus, not b/c we are so intelligent, or b/c we have everything completely figured out. We lift up Jesus b/c we KNOW that He has changed our lives; b/c the Holy Spirit continues to teach us the truths about Jesus; and b/c we absolutely believe that Jesus can and will save anyone who comes to Him and believes on Him alone for their salvation. We lift up Jesus!
II. WE LIFT UP JESUS B/C HE IS UNIQUE – v. 13
Jesus is unique. He is the unique God-man, 100% God and 100% man. Those familiar words in John 14:6 remind us that Jesus is THE [unique] Way, THE [unique] Truth, and THE [unique] life. We lift Him up b/c of His uniqueness. There is no one else that we would or should lift up – only Jesus! Hymnwriter – “Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is he precious to me? He is my Lord & my Savior; dying He set me free.” No one else is our Lord & our Savior. No one else died to set us free. Jesus is uniquely our Savior & Lord, uniquely the Messiah.
In v. 13, He gives us another glimpse of His uniqueness when He says, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.” Jesus is the only One who came from heaven, the only One who would go back to heaven, and the only One who can get us to heaven. 1 Peter 3:22 – “[Jesus] has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” Jesus’ home is heaven, not earth. No other human can say that. But b/c of His unique position as the only begotten Son of God, the 2nd person of the Trinity, Jesus chose to obey God, to leave His home in heaven, come to earth, and be lifted up on the cross for our sins to give us eternal life.
One pastor said that John 3:13 “…teaches that no man ever climbed up into heaven by his own power. The only one who has ever ascended to heaven in His own strength is the One
who originated in heaven and came down to earth before He ascended.” (Pastor David Reagan)
Dr. R. Larry Overstreet of Northwest Baptist Seminary – “The overall sense of the passage is that the perfect knowledge of God’s plan of salvation, including the new birth and eternal life, is not obtained by any man ascending from earth to heaven to have it revealed to him. No man has so ascended. Rather, the Son of man, who has perfect knowledge of God’s plan, “being essentially and unchangeably ‘in the bosom of the Father,’” has descended to this earth not only to reveal how the new birth is necessary (John 3:3, 5), but also how it can be obtained only through the Son (John 3:14-17).” (Journal article: “John 3:13 and the Omnipresence of Christ”, www.baptistcenter.com)
III. WE LIFT UP JESUS B/C HE WAS LIFTED UP – v. 14-15
Look at Numbers 24:4-9 w/ me. Jesus used the OT to teach the Pharisee, Nic., the Gospel truth that could bring him life. Knew that Nic. would know the story from the OT. Think about the life-changing, life-altering truths that Jesus was teaching:
- The people’s grumbling and complaining had brought G’s judgment against them. Our sin will bring God’s judgment against us.
- The people had a great need b/c they were dying from the poison of the snakes. We have a great need b/c we are dying from the poison of our sin.
- God provided a way out of the terrible predicament that the people were in. He has provided a way out of our sin and spiritual death.
- The bronze serpent was lifted up and all who looked to it were healed and saved. Jesus Christ, who has defeated death and hell for us, was lifted up on the cross, and all who look to Him and Him alone will be saved. Heb. 2:14-15 – “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” (NLT)
But there is one thing that we need to know and understand today. We lift up an empty cross today!
