Most Popular Bible Verse
John 3:16. Probably it is one of
the most popular Bible verses of all ages, and I assume that many of you recite
this verse by heart. Why don’t we recite (read) it together?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life.” (ESV)
John 3:16 is the entire gospel in a
nutshell. But we must remember this great verse is the part of the conversation
between Jesus and Nicodemus. John 3:16 is Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus’ following
question, “How can an old man like me be born again?”
Who Is Nicodemus?
So let’s start from the beginning. Who is Nicodemus? Nicodemus was a good
man. He was an honorable, respected and moral man. In fact, he was a leader of
the Jews and knowledgeable Bible teacher, Pharisee. He always studied and
taught about God. He tried hard to keep all 613 religious rules and traditions
faithfully for life. But for some reason he found no joy, no power, no life, no
freedom in his religious life. He felt empty. He felt something was missing. The
harder he tried, the more thirsty, the more empty he felt. But then, he saw
Jesus. He was something different. Jesus had something that he did not have.
One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what is it? I want to have what you have. What must I do to
be saved?” This is the most important question in life.
Jesus gets right to the point. He
says to Nicodemus, “You must be born again!” In Jesus’ time, for Jewish men
there were 4 ways to be born again. First, when a Jewish boy becomes bar mitzvah (coming-of-age ceremony) at
13, he is said to be “born again.” Second, when a Jewish man gets married, he
is said to be “born again.” Third, a person is ordained as a rabbi, he is said
to be “born again.” And the final way to be born again is to become the head of
a rabbinical school. In this respect, Nicodemus was already born again four
times! He got through bar mitzvah
when he was 13. Since he was a member of Sanhedrin, which required to be
married, he must have been married. He was a teacher, rabbi. Not only that, he
was a head of a rabbinical school (cf. 10).[1]
So Nicodemus was already born again at least four times.
But now Jesus says to him, “You
must be born again!” Nicodemus must be confused. So he says, “How can an old
man like me be born again? Teacher, I was already born again four times. You’ve
confused me!” Nicodemus thought if he stopped doing one or two bad things, and
took up two or three good others, then he would be born again. He thought if he
became a little bit better person by keeping the law, he would have eternal
life, more satisfying and abundant life. But it didn’t work! We think that to
be a Christian is just to be a little bit better than we are now. We say, “I am
born again because I grew up in the church (or in Christian family).” We say, “I
am born again because I am a long time church member, and I even hold a leadership
position in the church.” We say, “I am born again because I have been leading a
good moral life and doing good works for other.” But today Jesus says, “To be
born again doesn’t work that that. You must be born again – born from above,
born of the Spirit.” All of our efforts are no use unless we are born from
above, born of the Spirit. To be a better person is not enough. We must be a
new person in Christ. We must have a new nature, new spirit, new heart. But how? How can this be? Am I qualified? Am
I too late to start all over again? Have I gone too far? John 3:16 is the
answer to all those questions.
For God So Loved the “World”
It begins like this: “For God so
loved the world.” Here the word world
doesn’t simply mean planet earth; it means all
people of the world no matter who
they are and where they are in their life journey. God loves men and women,
boys and girls, young and old. God loves the healthy, and he loves the sick,
abandoned, and broken. God loves those from every people group, black, white
and yellow. God loves the self-disciplined, and he loves the addict. God loves the
married, the single, the divorced, the widowed. God love good people and evil
people. God loves Christians, atheists, skeptics, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.
God loves who take his name in vain. God loves those who don’t love him back.
God loves those who take him for granted, avoid him, ignore him, abandon him.
God loves religious hypocrites and irreligious people. God loves those who are
tired of religion, sin, emptiness and hopelessness. God loves Nicodemus. God
loves everyone. God loves the world. God loves you. He so loves you!
That He Gave His Only “Son”
But God doesn’t just love us in words
alone. He showed his radical love for you by this: He gave his one and only Son Jesus.
Now I want you to call to mind two particular
individuals. First, call to mind the person you love most – perhaps your child,
your spouse, your parent, your best friend. And now call to mind the person
whom you have the worst feelings. The person whom you just can’t stand, can’t
forgive. Suppose this person is in terrible need. He is now in the hospital in critical
condition, needing a heart transplant in order to survive. Would you be willing
to help that person in costly ways? Would you sacrifice the person you love
most to die, so that the person you dislike most could live? Would you do that?
That’s what God did for you and for
me. The Bible says, “But God showed his great love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.” (Romans 5:8) Here the timing is crucial. Christ didn’t die after we
committed ourselves to him. He died while we were still sinners. He died for us
while we didn’t know him, while we didn’t love him back, while we were still
pursuing our own ways. The Bible says, “He [Jesus] was pierced for our
rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten
so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have
strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on
him the sins of us all.” (Isa 53:5-6, NLT)
God loves the world. God loves you.
And he showed his great love by giving his only
Son.
Whoever “Believes”
Does that mean we can go on with
our life just as we are now and have eternal life? No! John 3:16 requires one
thing from us. We must respond to God’s love. We must say “Yes” to God’s invitation.
John 3:16 says, “… whoever believes in
him [Christ] should not perish but have eternal life.” We must believe in
Jesus Christ.
But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? The story of Charles
Blondin tells us what true faith is. Blondin was a famous tightrope walker. He
would walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He did it blindfolded! He did
it on stilts! Once he carried his manager across on his shoulders. After they
got safely to the other side, he turned to a man in the crowd and said, “Sir,
do you believe that I could do that
with you?” The man said, “Yes, I believe
that you could do it.” Blondin said, “Fine, hop on!” The man quickly replied,
“No way!”[2]
He “believed” intellectually, but
he wasn’t willing to commit his life to Blondin. In the same way, many say that
they believe in Jesus, but they don’t commit their lives to Jesus. To believe
in Jesus means to make him your life coach. It means to follow him. It means to
turn away from your way and turn to His way. To believe in Jesus is like you
say, “I do” in a wedding ceremony. It’s commitment. It’s life-long, covenantal relationship.
Are you born again? Have you found
the meaning, purpose of your life? Believe in Jesus, and you will be born from
above, born of the Spirit. Believe in Jesus, and you will have a new spirit,
new heart, new nature in Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will
not perish but have eternal life – rich and satisfying life – now and
forevermore! If you are willing, if you want to say “Yes” to God, please join
me in this prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner,
and I ask for Your forgiveness.
I believe You died for my sins
and rose from the dead.
Thank You for forgiving my sins
and giving me eternal life.
Now I turn from my sins
and invite You to come into my heart and
life.
Take control of the throne of my life.
And Make me the kind of person You want me
to be.
In Your Name. Amen.
[1]
“Born Again: John 3:3,” The Complete
Jewish Study Bible (Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, 2016), 1525.
[2]
Steven J. Cole, “Lesson 17: God’s Shocking Love” (John 3:16-18), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-17-god-s-shocking-love-john-316-18
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