When Jesus Met a Genius

Our scripture reading this morning is from John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

! We're going to read verses 1 through 16.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him,

Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,

for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered him,

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him,

How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered,

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh,

and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you,

You must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound,

but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus said to him,

How can these things be?

And Jesus answered him,

Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

Truly, truly, I say to you,

We speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen,

but you do not receive our testimony.

If I told you earthly things and you do not believe,

how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven,

the Son of Man.

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.

For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish,

but have eternal life.

This is God's Word.

Thank you very, very much indeed for the opportunity to be with you again today.

It's always a massive joy and privilege to come and be with you here at St. Sees

for two reasons.

One, because we get to see many, many old friends who we love so very, very much.

But it's also brilliant to come here because every time I come,

we see so many new faces,

and we see the church family here growing,

which is an absolute joy to see.

So thank you very much for this opportunity,

and I bring you the warmest greetings of the congregation in Carloway

and the church in Lewis.

So thank you very much for the chance to be here with you today.

And I'm also delighted to be able to participate in the series

that you're doing over the summer, Encounters with Jesus.

And today we're going to look at one of the most famous encounters

that somebody had with Jesus,

the passage we read in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

And I'll just read the first three verses again.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him,

Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,

for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered him,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one is born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, this is a very famous and a very fascinating passage,

and there's loads that it teaches us,

loads that we could look at,

and I'm conscious that in so many ways

we're only going to be just barely scratching the surface

in what is really one of the most remarkable conversations

that Jesus ever had.

Why is it so remarkable?

Well, there's lots of reasons,

but one of the main reasons,

and what I want us to focus on,

is the fact that this was the night

when Jesus met a genius.

Jesus met a genius.

Now, you might say,

well, how do we know that Nicodemus was a genius?

Well, at one level, we don't know for certain.

All we know is what it says in verse 1 and verse 10.

It says that he was a Pharisee,

a ruler of the Jews,

a teacher of Israel.

And I'm sure many of you would maybe be tempted to say today,

well, if you look at current politics,

you think, well, you don't need to be a genius

to be a ruler.

And maybe some of you are in school,

and you might even think,

well, you don't need to be a genius to be a teacher.

And maybe that's true.

And I concede, you know,

we don't know exactly what Nicodemus' IQ was.

But it's definitely the case

that if you were just a normal, ordinary Jew

living at the time when this conversation happened,

if you had seen Nicodemus walk past,

you would have thought to yourself,

that's a guy who knows his stuff.

He's the expert.

He's the teacher of Israel.

And that phrase could actually mean

that he held a very, very high-profile position

in the nation.

And one commentator I read described him

as Reverend Professor Dr. Nicodemus.

And it's definitely the case that in terms of religious knowledge

and expertise,

Nicodemus was at the top.

This chapter's telling us about the night

when Jesus met a genius.

And their conversation raises three crucial things

that every one of us needs to think about.

We need to think about necessity,

mystery,

and certainty.

Now, I don't know if I've got them up on the screen.

Oh, there we are.

Now, we need to think about necessity,

mystery,

and genius.

Now, I'm going to just start by asking you the question,

do you want these things?

Do you want necessity?

Do you want mystery?

Do you want certainty?

And I want to ask those questions

because I think many people in our culture today

would actually say,

well, no.

We don't want necessity

because we don't want to be told

what absolutely does and does not have to happen.

And we don't want mystery.

We want clarity.

And we want explanations.

But at the same time,

we don't really want certainty

because we want to be flexible.

We want to keep our options open.

We do not want to be dogmatic.

We want each person maybe to have their own certainty,

but nothing overarching at all.

Do you want these things?

Well, we're going to look together at John 3,

and we'll come back to these questions at the end.

So I want to start by thinking about necessity.

Nicodemus had a lot of strong credentials.

As we saw, he was Pharisee, ruler of the Jews, teacher.

He also recognized that Jesus was someone special,

recognized that Jesus was a teacher from God,

and he had even seen,

or at least spoken to those who had seen Jesus perform miracles.

He said, no one can do these signs that you do

unless God is with him.

So at one level,

all of that sounds like the ideal qualifications

for someone to come to God.

And Nicodemus is interesting because,

unlike many of the other religious leaders at the time,

it doesn't seem to be the case

that he was as opposed and hostile towards Jesus

as many others were.

He seems to be, at this stage at least,

to have a more open disposition towards Jesus.

Maybe he thought that he'd come to Jesus,

and maybe Jesus would give Nicodemus

some kind of affirmation and recognition

like everybody else probably gave him.

But that's not what happens.

Because when Nicodemus met Jesus,

the genius is told that there's something

he desperately needs.

Look at what it says from verse 3 to 7.

Jesus answered him,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one is born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him,

How can a man be born when he's old?

Can he enter the second time

into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one's born of water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh,

that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

Do not marvel that I say to you,

you must be born again.

Now, that other section there is a ticky one.

This whole passage is a bit of a ticky one

for two reasons.

One is because it's hard to understand

all the details that are being spoken about.

Especially in verse 5,

there's lots of different opinions

about what Jesus means.

When he talks about water and Spirit,

is he talking about two different things?

Or is it two ways of describing the same thing?

Or is it two aspects of the one thing?

So is it physical birth,

being born of water,

and then spiritual birth,

being born of the Spirit?

Is it referring to baptism in water,

and then spiritual new birth

that comes through faith in Christ?

Or are both referring to the same thing,

as being born of water,

being born of water and the Spirit,

the one thing that happens when we believe.

If you think about the phrase,

you need to eat a sandwich of cheese and of ham.

Is that a cheese sandwich and a ham sandwich,

or is it a cheese and ham sandwich?

Is it two separate things?

Is it the same thing together?

There's lots of different views on that.

Later in verses 13 to 15,

Jesus talks about ascending and descending from heaven,

and there's all this stuff about Moses and a serpent.

There's lots, that's really,

lots of details that can be hard to understand.

But the second reason why the passage is tricky

is because it's also very easy to misunderstand

the main point that's been made.

Because the main message,

the phrase that this passage is famous for

is the words of verse 7,

where Jesus says,

you must be born again.

That's a phrase that you hear again and again and again

in the Christian church.

And maybe it's the case that that phrase is so emphasized

that we get the impression

that being born again is something that we do.

So, it basically means to believe in Christ.

That's how it's used.

And sometimes preachers can give the impression

that, you know, it's something that you've got to do.

So, you've got to be born again.

You've got to believe in Christ.

So, you must do this.

It's something you've got to do.

It's very easy to give that impression.

But that's not actually correct.

Because the whole point that this passage is making

is that being born again is not something that we do.

It's something that gets done to us.

It's something that happens to us.

In fact, it's something that has got to happen to us.

Jesus confronts Nicodemus with a fundamental necessity.

He's got to be born again.

And so do we.

Now, what does all that mean?

What's Jesus talking about?

Well, this language of being born again

is referring to what the New Testament

will later describe in the language of regeneration.

And that's the big theological term

that often gets used to describe this.

And that word regeneration is describing

a change that takes place in our hearts

where we go from being spiritually dead

to being spiritually alive.

Sin has left us spiritually dead.

Now, one of the ways to think about that

is to recognize that everything that we think of

in terms of being dead physically

applies to us spiritually.

So, imagine a dead body.

A dead body is unresponsive.

That's how sin has left us spiritually.

We don't see our need for God.

We don't listen to Him.

We don't respond to His call.

A dead body can't perceive anything.

And spiritually, we're the same.

All around us, people are the same.

People going about their daily lives

with no sense, no perception

of the spiritual danger that they're in.

A dead body is incapacitated.

Can't do anything to revive itself.

Sin's left us in the same condition.

We're incapable of doing anything ourselves

that's going to restore our relationship with God.

A dead body is a human separated.

Body and soul separated.

Sin has had the same effect on us.

We are separated from God.

And the big point is this.

On its own, a dead body can do nothing

except stay dead.

And we've got to recognize that spiritually

that's the condition that sin has left us in.

And regeneration is describing

the fact that the gospel means

that that state of spiritual deadness

gets changed into spiritual life.

The state of spiritual deadness in our hearts

gets changed so that we become spiritually alive again.

And that life enables us to see our sin.

It enables us to hear God's call.

It enables us to turn from our sin and repentance

and to turn to Jesus in faith.

It enables us to be reunited to Him

in a life-giving relationship.

And the key point, the absolutely crucial point,

is that that transforming work of regeneration

is not something that we do.

The person who does it is God.

And that's why the language of being born again

is so clear and so helpful and so powerful.

Because birth implies two things.

One, it's passive.

Nobody births themselves.

It's something that happens to you.

You're born, and that is completely and entirely

because of what someone else has done.

And so birth is passive.

But secondly, birth brings life.

Birth, the new birth that Jesus is talking about

brings spiritual life.

Now, Nicodemus comes to Jesus on this night,

and he's a genius in a religion

that says that you need to do this, that,

and the next thing yourself in order to know God.

You need to do this.

You need to do that.

You need to keep this law.

You need to remember this.

And Jesus says to him,

you need to forget about what gets done by you.

The thing that matters is what gets done to you.

That's the necessity.

Nicodemus needs to be born again.

And this becomes even clearer

in the original language of the Old Testament.

Now, they say to never do this,

but I'm on holiday, so I'm breaking all my rules.

This is the Greek for the phrase,

you must be born again.

Dei humas genethenai anothen.

Now, that word dei at the start

literally translates, it is necessary.

And then the second word, humas,

means for you or to you, for you.

So at the very start of that sentence,

you've got the phrase,

it is necessary for you to be born

is the third word.

Again is the last word.

It is necessary for you to be born again.

And it becomes so much clearer when you see that.

Because when I say, you must be born again,

you think, oh, well, I must do that.

No, it is necessary for you to be born again.

Something has to happen to you.

It's an absolute necessity for Nicodemus and for us.

All of this comes as a huge surprise to Nicodemus.

But it shouldn't have.

Because the Old Testament that he's supposed to be the expert in

has already said that this is how it works.

And a key passage in that regard

comes in Ezekiel in the prophecy,

that great prophecy, chapter 36,

where through the prophet, God says,

I will take you from the nations

and gather you from all the countries

and bring you to your own land.

I'll sprinkle clean water on you

and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness

and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

I'll give you a new heart

and a new spirit I'll put within you.

I will remove the heart of stone in your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh.

And I'll put my spirit within you

and cause you to walk in my statutes

and to be careful to obey my rules.

Now look at those verses.

What's the key point?

God's doing it all.

Look at how many times it says,

I will, I will, I will, I will.

It's all God's actions.

And I think that when we see these verses

alongside the verses in John 3

about being born of water

and being born of the spirit,

you can see the connections, can't you?

The connections are actually so strong

and you realize this is actually

what Jesus is talking about.

And that's where I think that maybe

if you're trying to understand

what does it mean to be born of water

and the spirit,

I think the explanation is coming from Ezekiel

that it's talking about the same thing,

the cleansing, life-giving renewal

that comes through Jesus,

through faith in him,

through the one who was to come

to restore God's people.

So in other words, in John 3,

Jesus is speaking about what Ezekiel

had prophesied all those years ago.

It's about the fact that if we're going to be saved,

we need God to change our hearts,

to cleanse us,

to take us from darkness into light,

to bring life where sin has left us dead.

And the rest of the New Testament

echoes this teaching.

Ephesians 2,

we were dead in our trespasses and sins,

we've been made alive together in Christ by God.

1 Peter 1,

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

He's caused us to be born again

to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead.

And in fact,

John's Gospel has already told us

that this is how it works.

At the very start,

he said,

to all who did receive Jesus,

to those who believed in His name,

He gave the right to become

the children of God

who were born,

not of blood,

not of the will of the flesh,

not of the will of the man,

but of God.

For anyone to come to faith in Jesus,

it's only ever possible if God acts.

And so when Jesus says to you,

you must be born again,

He's not telling you to do something.

He's telling you that you desperately need something.

Now, the minute we recognize that,

there's two big traps that we can fall into.

One is to think that it's not a necessity.

And it's so easy to think like that.

It's so easy to think,

well, yeah, I get this is important,

but it's not that important.

It's not unnecessary for it to be all God.

Surely I can do a bit myself.

But when we think like that,

whenever we think like that,

we are massively underestimating

the effect that sin has had on our lives.

Spiritually, sin has completely jiggered us.

That's why the language of deadness

is used again and again and again in Scripture.

Because that's how serious it is.

That's how much damage has done.

We are utterly helpless.

Can you save yourself by doing stuff?

Can you save yourself by your own efforts?

Well, that's the equivalent of asking yourself,

can you born yourself?

The other danger is to think that,

yes, it is a necessity,

and yes, God does have to do it.

And that means it's probably not going to happen for me.

And lots of people think like that.

It's so easy to think like that,

to think, well, if I can't do anything,

and if it's all God, then I'm snookered.

If God has to do it,

what if he doesn't?

What if it doesn't happen?

Well,

if you're worrying that right now,

if you're thinking,

well, what if this hasn't happened to me?

What if this doesn't happen to me?

And what if God just

goes past me?

What should you do?

Well,

well, you need to ask,

what's the first sign

that God is doing this work

in somebody?

Is it that you recognize success?

So you can start looking at yourself

and think, yeah, I know,

I know I'm born again.

I know this has happened.

I know.

Is that,

is it,

is the first step that you recognize success?

No, I don't think that's the first step.

I think the first sign

is that you recognize necessity.

That you start off by saying,

I need to be born again.

One of the very first signs

of spiritual life in your heart

is being able to see

that being born again

is an absolute necessity.

So take heart

if that's what you're wondering.

There's more to learn

from this passage

when you think about mystery.

Nicodemus struggles

with all that Jesus is saying.

And there's a really interesting contrast

between Nicodemus and verse 2

when he says,

we know that you are a teacher

come from God.

And then in verse 9,

he's like,

how can these things be?

Nicodemus is struggling

to understand Jesus.

And that's because

there's an element of mystery

surrounding what Jesus is teaching.

And that sense of mystery

is reinforced by verse 8

where Jesus says,

the wind blows what it wishes.

You hear its sound,

but you don't know

where it's coming from

or where it goes.

So it is with everyone

who is born of the Spirit.

Now here,

Jesus presents us

with a reality

that's often very hard to accept.

but one which actually

makes perfect sense.

He's facing us

with the reality

that when it comes to God,

we will always have to embrace mystery.

We will always have to embrace mystery.

And that makes perfect sense

because the only way

of avoiding mystery with God

is to be God.

And Jesus uses the wind

as his illustration for this.

And his point is that,

you know,

when it comes to the wind,

you can't explain its source.

You can only observe its effect.

Now today,

we might say,

well, we understand wind.

We know how high pressure

and low pressure works.

And we can actually map

the direction of the wind.

In fact,

we can even predict

the direction of the wind.

But that's not the point

because the key thing

we have to recognize

is that Jesus is speaking

to the people of his time

who didn't recognize that

and didn't understand that

in the way that we do now.

It's an illustration

that's relative to his audience.

If Jesus was coming

and speaking today,

I think he would maybe use

the illustration of gravity

because there's still a lot

that we don't understand

about gravity.

We don't really know

how it works,

but we can definitely

see its effect.

When it comes to being born again,

when it comes to that

great work of God

where he changes us

from being spiritually dead

to being spiritually alive,

there is a lot

that's a mystery.

So precisely how it happens,

precisely when it happens,

I can't explain

every detail of that,

but we absolutely can

see its effect.

You can see it

in your own lives.

You can see it

in the lives of others.

You can see it

in the history of the church.

There's absolutely no doubt

that for millions

and millions of people,

an amazing change

has taken place.

And that's why

when it comes to being born again,

I don't think it's wise

to try and waste our time

explaining every aspect

of the source.

Instead,

you need to look

for the effect.

And that's so important

for anybody here

who struggles with doubts.

So some of you may be here

or maybe not sure

if you're a Christian yet or not,

and you're thinking,

well, I really don't know

where I stand before God.

Some of you may have said

for a long time,

I am a Christian,

but actually deep down,

and you're constantly plagued

with doubts,

thinking, well, am I really?

And you see things

in your life

that make you question it

and doubt it.

And many of us

struggle with that question

of assurance.

Am I really a Christian yet?

I don't know.

I'm not sure.

For some people,

becoming a Christian

is sudden and clear

and obvious.

Their conversion

from darkness to light

is like a switch.

But for most people,

for me,

and I'm sure

for the majority

of people here,

that movement

from darkness to light

is not a switch.

It's a dawn

that happens slowly

and gradually.

And for the gradual ones,

there's always the question,

how do I know

it's actually happened?

How do I know

I'm saved?

Well, one of the questions

you can ask yourself

is this.

If you think back

to a time in your life

when you know

that you weren't really

that interested in Jesus

at all

and none of this

was really on your radar

and then look at yourself

now,

ask the question,

are you different?

And I'm not asking,

are you perfect?

I'm not asking,

are you sorted?

And I'm not asking,

you know,

are you where you want to be?

I'm not asking that question

at all.

I'm just asking,

are you different?

So are you drawn

towards Jesus

in a way

that you never were before?

Do you realize now

that you never knew before

that you need Him?

Do you wish you could say,

I'm a Christian?

Do you look at other Christians

whom you know and love

and think,

what they have

is absolutely

what I want in my life?

And do you feel,

do you pray more now

than you used to?

Do you read God's Word

in a way now

where it's actually

starting to quench

your thirst

in a way that it never did before?

Do you understand

that you need Jesus

more than anything?

And if the answer

to any of those questions

is yes,

and even if it's a yes

that still has

a very long way to go,

if the answer is yes,

then it tells you

that God's wind

is blowing in your heart.

And if you're still doubting that,

then here's the proof.

Dead people don't even

think about those questions.

Now, all of this

is reminding us

that when it comes to God,

to creation,

to salvation,

to new birth,

to the interactions

of time and eternity,

to the disclosure

of God's revelation

in Scripture,

to the outworking

of God's purposes

across history

and in your own life,

in all of that stuff,

there is a lot

of mystery.

And I can't explain it all.

None of us

can explain it all.

There's unavoidable mystery

in all of these things.

And rightly so,

rightly so,

because God

is so much bigger than us.

He always will be.

He's always meant to be.

And if you don't like mystery,

you think,

well,

I don't want a God

that's mysterious.

I don't want a faith

that I can't explain everything.

Well,

you've got to think

of the alternatives,

because when it comes to God,

the alternatives

to mystery

are worse.

And I can only actually

think of three.

One is blasphemy,

where we basically,

we dictate to God

and say to God,

this is what you should be like,

and this is the box

that you need to fit in,

and you need to conform

to all the explanations

that I can handle.

That's actually blasphemy,

because that's to bring God down

from who He really is.

The other is idolatry,

where we think,

well,

I don't want that mysterious God.

I'll start worshipping this

that I can fully understand.

And we exchange the real God

for a false God.

Or the third alternative

to mystery

is just blindness,

where we just wander around

aimlessly thinking,

I don't know.

I'm not going to think about it.

But here's a crucial question.

We're recognizing

that we've got to embrace mystery,

but does embracing mystery

mean that everything

is ultimately a guess?

Well, that takes us

to our last point,

certainty.

And this brings us

to actually one of the biggest mistakes

that people can fall into,

and one that frequently

has led people

to dismiss Christianity

and say,

this is not for me.

And the mistake is this.

we think that mystery

and certainty

are incompatible.

And when people think like that,

they tend to say things like,

if you can prove to me

that God exists,

then I'll believe.

If you can prove the Bible

with evidence,

then I'll believe.

If you can eliminate

all mystery,

then I'll believe.

If you can explain

why this, that,

and the next thing

has happened to me

in my life,

then I will believe.

And all of that kind of thinking,

it's easy,

it's understandable,

but it all lies

on the assumption

that mystery

and certainty

are incompatible.

But that's not true.

Mystery

does not have to result

in doubt

and skepticism.

And that actually

makes perfect sense

because it's true

in every area of knowledge,

not just in terms of faith.

And one of the best examples

of that is science.

Because science

is constantly

trying to find certainty,

but it is

full of mystery.

And just,

if you want to confirm that,

if you want to confirm

that science

is full of mystery,

just go and ask a genius.

Go and ask someone

at the very top

of their game

in high energy physics

or whatever other area

of science

it might be.

I had a conversation

with somebody

from that world,

somebody who has a PhD

and lasting,

you know,

excellent career

in all of that world.

And we were chatting

all about this

and they said to me,

mathematically,

a positron

is an electron

traveling backwards

in time.

And just smiled at me.

And James Clark Maxwell,

amazing business

from the 19th century,

Scottish,

Scottish,

all the best guys

are Scottish.

He didn't know

everything that

Einstein discovered

and yet he was the guy

that Einstein had a picture

of on his wall

because Einstein said,

well, I would never

have discovered

what I would have

if it wasn't for

James Clark Maxwell.

And I am 100% sure

that neither of them

would stand up here today

and say,

there's no mystery

in physics.

There's still so much

to discover.

Does that mean,

though,

that we doubt

everything that

James Clark Maxwell

and Einstein discovered?

No.

We can have certainty

about so much

of what they discovered.

They've taught us

more and more and more

about the amazing world

that God has made.

Mystery is unavoidable

in every area of knowledge,

even in relationships.

Why does Una love me?

You might be saying,

well, that is a mystery.

But it is

because love is a mystery.

Physics is a mystery.

DNA is a mystery.

But in all those mysteries,

we can still have certainty.

And that is absolutely true

when it comes to faith.

There's always going to be

mysteries about God.

There has to be.

But that doesn't mean

that we cannot have certainty.

So how do we get it?

How do we get certainty?

Well,

the answer is that

we listen to what God reveals.

And that's exactly

what Jesus speaks about

in verses 11 to 13.

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

we speak of what we know,

we bear witness

to what we've seen,

but you do not receive

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

except he who descended

from heaven,

the Son of Man.

Now, just as a wee note,

it's really interesting

when it says,

truly, I say to you,

that you is plural.

So he's speaking

to more than just Nicodemus.

Jesus is wanting

all of us to hear

and listen to this.

And what Jesus is saying

is this,

he's saying nobody

is qualified

to give answers about,

nobody can give answers

about God

unless he's qualified

to give those answers.

And again,

that's true in physics,

maths,

geology,

history,

everything else.

You can only give answers

if you're qualified

to do so.

But the person qualified

to give answers about God

is not a religious genius

like Nicodemus.

The person qualified

to reveal God

is God

and no one else.

So nobody can ascend

to heaven

and tell God,

this is what you're like

and then come back

and explain it to us.

No, it has to be

the other way around.

God has to descend

and reveal himself.

And that's exactly

what he's doing

in Jesus.

He is God the Son

descended

to reveal

who God is.

And the message

that he reveals

is a message

of salvation.

And that's why

he goes on

to talk about,

oh, I've gone too far there,

sorry.

Oh, I didn't put it

on the screen.

Anyway, you can look it up

if it's before you.

It's on the bulletin.

That's why he talks about

the snake

in the wilderness.

Because back in the Old Testament,

there was a shadow

of that salvation.

It's in Numbers 21.

There was a plague of snakes

among the Israelites

and God told Moses

to make a bronze snake,

put the snake

on a pole.

Everybody who had been bitten

could look at the snake

and they would be healed.

They would be saved.

And that,

like everything else

in the Old Testament,

was a shadow

pointing towards

God's great

and ultimate plan

of salvation

where Jesus,

God the Son,

would be lifted up

on the cross

so that all who look on him

might be saved.

Now, that work of salvation

contains mystery.

But that mystery

does not mean

that you cannot

have certainty.

Jesus' message

is actually crystal clear.

Whoever believes in me

will be saved.

But there's one thing

I want you to notice

and this is part

of what makes the gospel

so, so good.

We've been saying

that in regard

to regeneration,

going from life to death,

death to life,

death,

there's mystery

about how that happens.

And there's also mystery

about precisely

when it happens.

Not many people

can pinpoint

the exact moment

when they were regenerated

and they were born again.

There's mystery

about how

and there is mystery

about when.

But there is

no mystery

about why.

There is no mystery

about why it happens.

We know

exactly

why

this happens.

It happens

because of how much

God loves you.

And ultimately,

that

is the certainty

that the gospel

offers you.

Not certainty

about every detail

of all the massive questions

that we have

about God

and humanity

and time

and eternity

and life

and reality.

We're not big enough

to know everything

about everything

and we do not need

to know everything

about everything.

In other words,

we don't need

to be geniuses

because before God,

no one is a genius.

But what we do

need to know

is what God

wants us to know.

And the certainty

that the gospel

gives you

is the certainty

that God

loves you.

That he sent

his son

to save you

and whoever

believes in him

will not perish

!

But have eternal life.

So let's finish

with our questions.

Do you want necessity?

Do you want mystery?

Do you want certainty?

Maybe it's clearer

if we put those questions

the other way around.

Do you want

to build your life

on stuff

that isn't

really necessary?

Do you want

a worldview

or a universe

or a God

with no mystery?

And do you want

a life

with no certainty?

Or do you want

the gospel?

Because the gospel

will tell you

what the most

urgent necessity

in your life is.

The gospel

will point you

to the God

who is magnificent

but in whom

there is an eternity

of mystery

to discover

and the gospel

will give you

certainty.

Certainty about

the magnitude

of God's love

for you.

certainty about

the fact that

he sent his son

to die for you.

Certainty about

the fact that

all you have to do

is trust him.

And certainty

that if you do

you will have

eternal life

with him forever.

You do not

need to be a genius

to understand

all of that.

And you do not

need to be a genius

to have

all of that.

But if you

don't want that

and if you

think

this isn't

for me

I don't

think you're

clever

I think

you're crazy.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Lord Jesus

thank you so

so much

for coming

to reveal

the truth

of how much

we need you

the truth

of how small

we are

before you

and the truth

of how

amazing

your love

for us

has always

been

and always

will be.

Help us

to see

and understand

all of these

things more

and help us

to look to you

to trust you

and to follow you

today

this week

and for the rest

of our lives.

Amen.