The Gospel of John Chapter 3 Part One The Kingdom
Did you put into practice the take away from last week?
Remember what it was?
CLEAN HOUSE
Are you getting rid of the stuff in your life that keeps you from being a fully
devoted follower of Jesus?
We’ve started a study of the Gospel according to John.
Gospel means “the good news”
The good news of God’s story
Here’s the things I hope you have learned up to this point.
Jesus is God.
He choose you
Do whatever He says
And Clean House.
We ended last time considering Jesus expectations of his disciples.
You do realize that all Christians are expected to be disciples.
In fact Christian and Disciple are practically interchangeable.
IF you are a believer that makes you a disciple,
A follower of Jesus.
Jesus chewed out the folks who thought they had their act together.
Matthew 23:28 (NLT)
Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Hypocrisy and lawlessness—CLEAN HOUSE
No one ever said that your performance of your faith has to be flawless.
While there is such a thing as a perfection of intent,
This side of your resurrection there is no perfection of
performance.
Hypocrisy means you spend a whole lot of time trying to look good,
Trying to look righteous,
But not enough time actually being righteous.
Righteous is a relational word it means rightly related.
As disciples of Jesus we are to be rightly related
First and foremost to God.
That relationship empowers us to be
Right with ourselves, others and the Earth.
The earth being the material world.
Hypocrisy is false advertising,
Hypocrisy is bait and switch.
Hypocrisy is coming off like you are a spiritual giant on the
outside, while on the inside you really only a spiritual
midget.
Clean house of that kind of stuff.
Be real.
Be authentic.
Be a person of integrity.
There’s a more subtle form of hypocrisy that can creep into our lives.
Let’s call it fair weather faith.
John 2:23-25 (MSG)
During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn't entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn't need any help in seeing right through them.
John tells us that the people saw the things Jesus was doing and they believed.
But Jesus wasn’t so convinced about their level of commitment.
Here’s how fair weather faith works,
As long as it seems that being a believer has a good pay day for
you, you’re all gunho about being a disciple.
But as soon as Discipleship starts placing demands on you,
As soon as discipleship starts correcting your lifestyle.
As soon as discipleship takes you out of your comfort zone.
It’s good bye Jesus---
Watch this clip: Inconvenient Jesus
Accept the fact that you need a savior
Believe that the savior you need is Jesus
Then commit to following Jesus,
Commit to discipleship.
Hebrews 6:7-8 (MSG)
Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God's "Well done!" But if it produces weeds and thistles, it's more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.
Even though we are going to watch Jesus’ encounter with a man named
Nicodemus in its entirety what I want to focus on today is what Jesus is
referring to when he speaks of the Kingdom of God.
I want you to leave here today knowing what it means to live in the
Kingdom of God.
Roll Video.
John 3:3 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
I think it best to start our understanding of the Kingdom of God first from
Nicodemus’ point of view.
In the Old Testament the kingdom of God is understood as the eternal and
universal rule of God.
Psalms 103:19 (NIV)
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
This truth is manifested, or revealed where God’s rule is accepted and obeyed by
people, particularly the people of Israel.
By birth every Jew was a part of the Kingdom of God.
And there is an expectation that one day God will reveal His Kingdom to the
World and everyone will come under His reign.
Before this time others, non-Jews could become proselytes.
Proselyte means new comer,
In order to enter into the Kingdom of God a person had to convert to
Judaism
Now according to the Talmud which is a huge library of rabbinic discussions
about the Torah, “A proselyte is like a new born child”
Leaving pagan practices behind and become Jewish by faith
Was like being born anew, born from above.
For Nicodemus, to see the kingdom, to see it, meant more than just to witness it,
more than just to be a part of it, the phrase to see the Kingdom speaks of that
time when everyone will come under the rule and reign of God.
Daniel 2:44, 7:14 & 7:27 (NIV)
"… the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. …
all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. …Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'
For a Jew with Nicodemus training to see the kingdom was to participate in this
age to come.
And who was going to rule in the Kingdom,
The Jews.
So we have two things going on when we talk about the Kingdom of God.
The first is that the Kingdom of God is found anywhere people are living
their lives to the full.
The Kingdom of God is manifested anywhere people are
attempting to be obedient to the will of God.
The Kingdom of God is where God rules unchallenged,
The Kingdom of God is when we live as His loyal and obedient subjects.
The Kingdom of God is when we recognize Him as our Commander
and Chief whose orders we carry out explicitly no matter how
difficult the assignment.
And secondly the Kingdom of God also looks forward to the Day,
to the end of this age, when every knew shall bow and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God our Father.
With the Kingdom of God we have a present reality and a future reality.
The present reality is when we are committed,
Sold out the whole route,
Fully devoted, no turning back followers of Jesus.
When that describes your life you are in the Kingdom
The future reality is when God makes plain to everyone whose
Been calling the shots all along.
Nicodemus thought that he was in the Kingdom of God because he was a Jew.
But birth right is not the prerequisite for being in the Kingdom.
Jesus says Nope to be in the Kingdom you must be born of water and the Spirit.
John 3:5 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[
Note the Spirit is capitalized it is a reference to the Holy Spirit,
Ruach in Hebrew, Pneuma in Greek. The breathe of God.
Lets look at what Jesus means by water and the Spirit.
To unlock the full meaning of being born by water and Spirit we have
to turn to the Old Testament
Ezekiel 36:24-28 (MSG)
" 'For here's what I'm going to do … I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!
Water represents cleansing from sin.
The sin that is the human predicament is three fold.
First there is original sin,
Every human being is born estranged from a right relationship
with God.
Second there is the sin nature
Every human being is born with the desire to be autonomous,
To be in charge, to be their own authority.
Third there are the acts of sin,
Every human being has done or failed to do things that deter,
damage or destroy right relationships.
We’ve called it egoism.
The water cleanse us from original sin, and wipes our slate clean of the acts of sin.
Our acts of sin are forgiven, our original sin is reconciled.
Being born of the Spirit is how that sin nature, that egoism, problem is dealt with.
There is an inner change of attitude,
It starts small, no longer my way, but God’s way,
And it grows as you mature in faith,
Becoming more and more like Jesus as you develop in
discipleship.
Your life is being transformed from the inside out.
Luke 17:20-21 (NIV)
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Most religion is an outside in job.
We try to be good on the outside,
Look good, fit the part—
And pay no attention to the inside.
Being born of water and the Spirit is an inside job.
The outside may still be all battered and scared,
But the inside is being transformed into something powerfully radiant,
Someone who is like the Rabbi who choose them,
Someone like Jesus.
To be in the Kingdom of God one has to be born of water and the Spirit.
Jesus called it being “born again.”
You can know that you are in the Kingdom by doing a self inspection.
Ask yourself three questions.
One. Intellectually do I believe I am in the Kingdom?
By intellectually I mean you’ve read the scriptures,
And by faith realized that you need a savior.
And by faith believed that the savior you need is Jesus.
And by faith committed yourself to discipleship.
Accept, Believe and Commit are the head part of being born of
water and the Spirit.
Two. Do you feel that you are in the Kingdom?
By feel, I mean, in your heart, subjectively does the Spirit
witness to your spirit that you are a child of God?
Do you feel that God is your Heavenly Father,
Do you feel that God is your Commander and Chief?
This witness of the Spirit is the heart part of being born of water
and the Spirit.
Three. Are you living like a disciple?
By living like a disciple I mean are you sincerely,
With all that is within you want to do the will of God.
Are you obedient to His commands,
Are you loving others, seeking to meet their needs
even at the cost of a personal sacrifice?
This type of lifestyle is the objective part of being born of water
and the Spirit.
You can see it, others can see it,
Salvation daily working from the inside out,
Changing you.
When you can answer yes to all three questions
Do I believe I am in the Kingdom?
Do I feel that I am in the Kingdom?
Are I living like a disciple?
When you can sincerely answer yes to those questions,
The Kingdom of God is with in you.
So here’s your take away,
One more to add to your list.
Jesus is God.
HE choose you.
Do whatever He says
Clean House
Be in the Kingdom