Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
August 20, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: A rejection of divine special revelation will leave the rejector trapped in his/her misguided understanding of the original revelation of creation (
Psalm 19:1 and following) and will prevent the critical "again birth".
Introduction: In our last study we saw that Nicodemus had entirely missed understanding the original "birth of the nation in a day" as it was expelled from Egypt. This was the "first birth" of that nation; but it did not include the prerequisite of a "heart" to understand. Thus, the nation floundered for centuries in its identity as the people of God. But, by special revelation, God made known the fact that there would come a day when the nation would be "born again" by the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon it. Since the nation, itself, had required both a material world birth and a relational world birth, we should not marvel that Jesus declared that we also have to be "born again" in order to be able to participate in the ultimate reality of God's Kingdom.
This morning we are going to look into how Jesus handled the problems Nicodemus had.
- I. Jesus' Continuing Response To Nicodemus' Rejection Of The Necessity Of Starting Over.
- A. Nicodemus' rejection of the statement "you must be born again" was rooted in his lack of "material world" evidence (at the individual level) and his lack of "relational world experience" (at the national level).
- 1. This "rejection" is not rooted in blatant contradiction, but in "lack of evidence".
- 2. Nicodemus, having missed the concept of a "second birth" as it related to the nation, has no point of reference for understanding Jesus.
- B. Jesus' Response.
- 1. First, the "wind" (in the material world) and the "Spirit" (in the relational world) have four similarities.
- a. Both are presented by the same word: pneuma .
- 1) They both have links to "the breath of God".
- a) In Genesis 2:7, Adam became a living soul after God "breathed" into his nostrils the "breath of life".
- b) In Acts 2:2, the Church "received the Holy Spirit (Wind) from God" (Acts 1:5) as was promised, to provide the "power" (Acts 1:8) to do the work of its task of bearing witness to Jesus.
- 2) They reveal both a "birth" in the sense of created existence: Adam, in respect to his initial creation/life in the material world, and the Church, in its beginning of the second birth for all those "born again" and having entered into the active relational world of God and those who possess His life by the Spirit.
- b. Both have an unknown origin in their respective "worlds".
- c. Both have an unknown destination in their respective "worlds".
- d. Both have an inescapable impact in their respective "worlds" so that those who are "born again" make their reality known in their former "world".
- 2. Second, those "born of the Spirit" are "knowable and known" -- people who operate by the Truth and Love of God -- but they have an indiscernible origin and an unknown destination when it comes to misdirected people like Nicodemus.
- a. Everyone can see the difference between the lives of people who live by faith and those who do not.
- b. This is somewhat confusing because there are many who claim to be directed and empowered by faith, but they lie and their lives have both a discernible source and destination.
- c. But the Love of God, when expressed, and the Truth of God, when believed, make a discernible difference that men can "see" even if they refuse to admit it.
- C. Nicodemus' subsequent question: How are these things empowered to make this discernible difference?
- D. Jesus' response to this "How?" question.
- 1. First, He exposes Nicodemus' massive failure.
- a. He is "the teacher of the Israel": his is the responsibility to explain to men how they are to "relate" to God.
- b. He "is not knowing" these things: there is no "teaching" more necessary and fundamental.
- c. This failure must be acknowledged in order for God's provision to be extended.
- 2. Second, He pronounces another "Verily, verily" statement.
- a. First, we "have known" the meaning of our vocal sounds (the noise we make).
- b. Second, we "have seen" the things to which we "are bearing witness".
- 3. Third, He accuses Nicodemus of "rejecting" our witness.
- E. He declares that He has explained a sufficient number of "earthly" ("material world") things to lay a foundation for "believing", but that Nicodemus and his ilk have not "believed".
- F. He questions how Nicodemus can think to understand His explanations of the "heavenly things" ("relational world realties") if he refuses to move from his "locked in" material perspective to God's "revealed" relational perspective.
