Salvation of the world comes through the sacrifice of Jesus. This daily devotional looks at what the Holy Spirit teaches us.
Nuggets
- Jesus used an event in the Israelites’ history to explain His mission.
- Jesus became our Savior to save us from our sins.
- Jesus’ only mission was to save an already-condemned world.
Devotions in the Never Alone: The Holy Spirit in Our Lives series
Jesus wanted to make sure that Nicodemus understood what He was trying to tell him. He gave Nic the gospel condensed into one verse.
It is this verse that is the basis of the Holy Spirit’s teaching. The Holy Spirit expands our revelation of God and Jesus from here.
There are some other verses we want to look at today, also. Let’s get started.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
Nicodemus was still scratching his head as to what Jesus was specifically talking about. He even offered another question to get it figured out.
Jesus called Nic on his non-understanding. “Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?’” (Jn. 3: 10 ESV).
In verse 11, Jesus told Nic that “… we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen …” (Jn. 3: 11 ESV emphasis added). He was talking about Himself and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said that the problem Nic had was that he didn’t believe what He had told him.
It isn’t up to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to convince us. It is up to us to believe.
Lifting Christ Up
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 14-15 ESV)
Jesus used an event in the Israelites’ history to explain His mission.
We should thank Nicodemus that Jesus was able to lay it all out as to what is involved in Christianity. Maclaren gave us a summary. He wrote, “Complete Christianity, according to Christ, involves — (1) A radical change comparable to birth. When Nicodemus staggers at this, our Lord (2) unveils what makes it possible — the Incarnation of the Son of Man who came down from heaven. But a Christianity that stops at the Incarnation is incomplete, so our Lord (3) speaks of the end of incarnation and ground of the possibility of being born again.”
Resource
Elaine-speak.
- We can only experience Christianity when we experience new birth.
- That is only made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
- We have to believe that, not just know it.
See the second bullet. It is all predicated on the fact that Jesus lived, died, and lives again.
Jesus was raised in the cross just as Moses raised the bronze snake in the wilderness. “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Num. 21: 8-9 ESV).
The corresponding act that gains healing is the look of faith upon the substitute. The Israelites looked upon the snake to end the plague God had sent. Jesus was sent to heal mankind of their sins.
Nic would have understood the Moses story. He should have been able to put two and two together and see Jesus was to be the healer of the world.
Where could Nic have connected the dots?
- Regardless of the size of the Jewish camp, there was only one serpent for healing. Regardless of the size of the word, there is only one Savior and Redeemer.
- God commanded the serpent be lifted up to stop the killing. God designed the Plan of Salvation.
- The serpent was lifted so all could see. So was Jesus.
Resource
We know that Jesus warned the disciples about His coming death. We don’t know how much He would have been talking about it at this time to others.
Still, Jesus is already talking about it in private conversations. (Maybe He was giving Nic a heads up that he would eventually have to take a stand for or against Christ.)
Jesus knew from the beginning of His mission how it would end.
Lifting Christ to be the World’s Savior
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 ESV)
Jesus became our Savior to save us from our sins.
God knew before He created us that we were going to disobey Him. He created us anyway because He loves us.
But God didn’t stop there. Even before He created us, He designed the Plan of Salvation. God does not want the separation caused by that sin to last throughout eternity.
God sent His most valuable gift to accomplish the Plan of Salvation because restoring those relationships meant that much to Him. We know the gift was valuable to Him because Jesus was His “… one and only Son …” (Jn. 3: 16 CSB).
Nothing that mankind could do could pay the penalty for our sin. We are corrupt, so we wouldn’t be eligible to be a substitute.
But God didn’t even wait for us to ask for forgiveness and salvation. He put into place the remedy before we were even sorry.
God is adamant that we have to come to salvation His way.
- “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Ac. 4: 12 NIV).
- “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Ex. 20: 3-4 NIV).
- “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NIV).
All of Scripture documents God’s love for all of mankind. God’s call for salvation is to all. “For God does not show favoritism” (Rom. 2: 11 NIV).
God loves us — even He should have deemed us unlovable. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5: 8 NIV).
God has an immense amount of love for us. That is the reason He did not turn His back on mankind when Adam and Eve chose to disobey Him.
We don’t have to clean up our acts before we can come to God for forgiveness. He will forgive us where we are.
Be careful here, though. God loves the sinner; God does not love the sin.
Why can’t God love the sin if He can love us? “For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face” (Ps. 11: 7 NIV).
Yes, God sent Jesus down to earth knowing full well that He was sending Him to die. He knew that the death would be for someone considered an enemy. Let’s face it. Unsaved mankind is not God’s friend.
Why? Why did Jesus have to die?
Jesus needed to shed His blood. The sacrifice had to be a blood sacrifice.
What? Is the independent person in you asking why God didn’t just make forgiveness as an achievement that we accomplish rather than having Someone accomplish it for us?
Isn’t that the point? It isn’t about us — it is about God and Jesus and what They have done for us — what we can’t do for ourselves.
To Save the World
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3: 17 ESV)
Jesus’ only mission was to save an already-condemned world.
Some argue that Jesus’ mission was not to condemn the world. No, it wasn’t — but not in the way they are arguing.
What some neglect to acknowledge is that the world was already condemned when Jesus stepped foot on it.
Jesus was here to save us.
But Jesus was only here to save us spiritually. He wasn’t here as a social Savior to heal all what is wrong with our world.
Saved/Condemned does put a big gulf between us — both literally and figuratively.
- “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us” (Lk 16: 26 ESV).
- “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15: 19 ESV).
Believing in Jesus makes us live contrary to the world. Satan is in charge of this world. Satan teaches the exact opposite of what Jesus and the Holy Spirit do.
This is all contingent on faith. Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
We were talking last week in the Sunday Morning Bible Study time that salvation really is simple. We just have to choose to believe.
Without faith — the belief that Jesus is our Savior and Lord — we do not gain access to God, we are not forgiven of our sins, and we remain spiritually dead.
We have talked before about evaluating our relationship with God. We must always determine where we are in our walk with God.
Making the Connections
It is nice to focus on the incarnation. Babies are fun. They are so cute, and there is so much expectation about new life.
That isn’t the crux of Christianity. Christianity is only here because of the death, burial, and resurrection.
- We gain eternal life when we come to Jesus in faith.
- We are justified and pardoned when we ask for forgiveness and repent.
- Regeneration begins within us.
- Salvation only comes through the grace of God.
- We should accept God’s mercy with gratitude.
Resource
How Do We Apply This?
- We can only gain salvation when we ourselves make the decision to follow Christ. We cannot be saved by proxy.
- We are instantly saved when we make a genuine confession to God asking for forgiveness and repenting.
- God will sanctify us throughout our lives as we seek to become closer to Him.
- Jesus is the only way through which we are saved.
Resource
We have to believe enough so that we change our lifestyles to reflect God’s laws and commandments. When we do that, we gain His character.
How do we do that?
- Strive to gain His character.
- Work to grow our faith.
- Love as God loves.
Father God. Thank You for the Plan of Salvation. Thank You for restoring our relationships with You. Help us to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What do you think?
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