Monday, May 10, 2010

316

John 3:16-19: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Nicodemus, a Pharisees, came to Jesus one night. This teacher of the Law had been listening to Jesus speak; He heard the debates among his colleagues about this teacher Jesus. He was fond of Him and knew He was a man of God, but under the cloak of darkness came and inquired of Jesus about the things that Jesus spoke. Jesus used plain language as He spoke to Nicodemus and told him that in order to be able to see the kingdom of God, he must be born again. This statement confused Nicodemus. Jesus explained that his spirit must be born again, reborn from God. Jesus goes on to tell him in a very basic way that one gets his spirit reborn from believing on the one God sent to redeem the world, the only begotten Son, Jesus.

Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus that the only way one would see the Kingdom is through believing on Him whom the Lord sent. Jesus was saying there is a sin that will keep you from heaven; it is the sin of unbelief. Unbelief will cause you to condemn your self. It is a form of self-punishment that will make it so that you will be eternally separated from anything good; from God, your family, and your friends. It is a punishment that was not intended for you, but one that you choose for yourself. You can avoid that condemnation by simply believing that Jesus is what He claims He is. Jesus was telling Nicodemus, that it is so easy to get right with God, Just acknowledge the awesome gift that God gave this world.

A truly victorious life is one that is marked by faith. If you know your sinful condition and you have accepted God’s gift, through faith, then you are “born again”. As you journey through this life, each time when you encounter darkness you can overcome that by the light that you have inside of you. The light is the life to all people is Jesus. That light is not of us, but of Him. We can have this victorious Christian life if we only would continue in the faith that helped us believe on Jesus for the very first time. This “believing” on Jesus is not just a one-time thing; it is a daily process. After I become “Born Again” I start this wonderful journey of faith, where I walk in faith day after day. Have you made that decision to believe the claims of Jesus? If you have not, why not make that decision today? If you have, are you living a victorious Christian life? If not perhaps you need to believe that Jesus can handle the affairs of your life better then you can.

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: 11 Kings 1-3 New Testament John 3:22-36

No comments:

Post a Comment