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Scripture Reading: John 3:1-10, 14-16
John 3:1-10 and 14-16 say, “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher...Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into 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 anew. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, You are a teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things?...As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.”
The Bible is easy to touch and to read. It is the most precious thing in Christianity. The value and the power of the Bible are unparalleled by any publication among mankind, and it has a transcendent place in religion and in literature, even though it does not focus on literature. The Bible also has a place in science, even though it does not focus on science. From every perspective the Bible has a special place.
Regrettably, many people have a superficial and detached understanding of the Bible. They know that the Bible affects individuals, societies, countries, and human culture, but they know nothing concerning the content of the Bible or the center of the Bible.
There are sixty-six books in the Bible, but there is only one subject, one center. The Lord Jesus is the subject and center of the Bible. Without the Lord Jesus the Bible is merely an empty shell. The Bible has reality because it has the Lord Jesus. Therefore, in order to understand the content of the Bible, a person must know the Lord Jesus.
Beginning with this chapter, we will select several portions from the Bible that show who the Lord Jesus is and that explain His relationship with man.
Many people think that the Lord Jesus was merely the founder of a religion. Others think that He was a reformer. Still others think that He was a man who had profound thoughts and a noble morality. The different views that people have concerning the Lord Jesus are inaccurate. I hope that we would set these views aside and consider what the Bible says concerning the Lord Jesus.
Suppose there were a famous person who was far away from us both in time and in space. How can we know him? We cannot rely on rumors, for they are unreliable. If we want to know this famous person, we must read a reliable biography concerning him. There are four books in the Bible that concentrate on the life of the Lord Jesus. These books — the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John — can be considered the biography of the Lord Jesus. These four books describe the Lord Jesus.
Four books are needed to describe the Lord Jesus because the Lord Jesus is so wonderful that He cannot be described by just one book. The Lord Jesus has at least four aspects. These four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — each record a different aspect. The first three Gospels show the Lord Jesus as a perfect man who became our Savior. The Gospel of John, however, is greatly different from the first three Gospels. The Gospel of John says that the Lord Jesus, who is the best of men, is God. He is the God who was from the beginning and who created the heavens, the earth, and all things, including mankind. Before the heavens and the earth, before all things, and before mankind, He was. He was God in the beginning, that is, in eternity without beginning. One day He became flesh; He was found in fashion as a man and lived among men. He is God who was in the beginning, but at a certain point in time, He took on a physical human body and became a man so that He could be among men.
Outwardly, He was a man, but inwardly, He was God. Hence, the Lord Jesus is wonderful. If we look at Him from the outside, we will say that He is merely a man; but if we know Him from the inside, we will know that He is God. When He was on the earth, His disciples saw Him merely as a man. They knew who His mother was and where His home was. They saw Him rest when He was tired, eat when He was hungry, and drink when He was thirsty. The Lord Jesus had emotions; He expressed pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy. In all respects He was a man. However, He displayed extraordinary wisdom and authority when He spoke, and He had an extraordinary ability to do things. No man could invent the things that He said, and no one could do what He did. Therefore, upon hearing and seeing Him, His disciples often asked, “Who is He?”
The Gospel of John answers this question for us. It begins by telling us that this perfect man, Jesus Christ, is the God who was in the beginning; He is the God who created all things and through whom all things came into being (1:1-3). The Gospel of John then demonstrates that the Lord Jesus is omnipresent — He can see a person who was in another place, far away from Him (vv. 47-51); He is omnipotent — He can change water into wine, which is to make something out of nothing (2:1-11); and He is also omniscient — He knows what is in man (vv. 23-25). He is the eternal God coming to be a finite man. He became a man in order to be among men so that man may have God’s grace and see God’s truth; He became a man so that man may have God’s life and see God. This is the content of the Gospel of John.
In chapters 1 and 2 the Gospel of John demonstrates that the Lord Jesus is God. Then it immediately presents the kinds of people whom the Lord Jesus contacted when He was on the earth. The Lord Jesus contacted thousands of people, and it would take too much time and space to write an account concerning each person. Therefore, John selected some typical cases to represent man’s condition.
In chapters 3 through 11 the Lord Jesus contacted eight kinds of people. The first kind of person whom the Lord Jesus contacted was a moral person in chapter 3. The second kind of person whom the Lord contacted was an immoral person in chapter 4. The third kind of person whom the Lord contacted was an impotent person in chapter 5. The fourth kind of person whom the Lord contacted was a hungry person, as shown in chapter 6. The fifth kind of person whom the Lord contacted was a thirsty person, like the people in chapter 7. The sixth kind of person whom the Lord contacted was a sinful person in chapter 8. The seventh kind of person whom the Lord contacted was a blind person in chapters 9 and 10. The eighth kind of person whom the Lord contacted was a dead person in chapter 11.
These eight kinds of people represent the different people who contacted the Lord Jesus when He was on the earth. These eight kinds of people represent the different kinds of people in the world. Hence, their conditions represent the conditions of all humanity, and their needs represent the needs of all humanity. The Lord Jesus could solve their problems; hence, He can solve the problems of all humanity. The Lord Jesus could meet their needs; hence, He can meet the needs of every person.
These eight kinds of people represent the different kinds of people on the earth and the condition of every person. Everyone wants to be moral but inevitably has an immoral and dishonorable living. Everyone has a desire to do good but lacks the ability to do good. Everyone is discontent with life and hungry. Worldly pleasures leave everyone empty and spiritually thirsty. Everyone lives in sin and is a slave to sin. Everyone is blind in the eyes of his heart and does not know God, himself, his source, his destination, or the meaning of human life. Everyone is dead in his spirit, having lost the sense of God; no one is able to sense God or know spiritual things.
These eight conditions are the condition of every person in the world. Only the Lord Jesus can solve these conditions. Moreover, only the Lord Jesus is sufficient to supply the needs that are generated by these conditions. Let us now consider the first kind of people whom the Lord contacted — the moral.
Society considers a moral person to be a person with high standing. Consequently, the Gospel of John considers people with high moral standing as the first kind of people.
In John 3 a man called Nicodemus is a representative of the first kind of people. Such people have at least five characteristics. Nicodemus was a Pharisee (v. 1). In Jewish society the Pharisees, like the Confucians during former times in China, preached morality and ethics. Nicodemus paid attention to morality because he was a Pharisee. Thus, he had the characteristic of noble morality.
Nicodemus was also a ruler of the Jews (v. 1). He was not a common or obscure civilian; he was a noble ruler. Thus, he had the characteristic of being in a high position with a high reputation.
Furthermore, Nicodemus was a teacher of the children of Israel (v. 10). He was an educator. Therefore, he had the characteristic of being learned and knowledgeable.
Nicodemus was also an elderly man (v. 4). He was advanced in age, not young and inexperienced. Therefore, he had the characteristic of being skilled in the ways of the world, having seen a great deal and having gained much experience.
Finally, Nicodemus was religious (vv. 1-2). He was not an atheist. He believed in God, and he came to see the Lord Jesus in order to inquire about matters concerning God. Therefore, he had the characteristic of being filled with religious thoughts.
Some people are moral, but they do not necessarily have a high position. Others have a position, but they are not necessarily educated. There are those who are educated but not experienced. There are also those who are moral, have a position, are educated, and have experience, but they do not have religious thoughts. However, Nicodemus was a moral man in a high position. He was educated and experienced, and he possessed religious thoughts. Undoubtedly, he was a rare and noble person. Therefore, it is fitting for him to represent the first kind of people.
Nicodemus represents people whose morality, position, education, experience, and religious inclinations cause them to be of high standing in society. His condition portrays their condition, and his lack speaks of their need.
Some people are cultivated and moral; they have a position and a reputation in society. They are also educated and knowledgeable. They may also be advanced in age and have religious thoughts. They may be similar to Nicodemus in their manner and heart. If they are not the same as Nicodemus in all aspects, at least they are like him in one aspect. Therefore, he represents them. His needs are their needs. His coming to see the Lord Jesus represents their coming to see the Lord Jesus. The words the Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus are also His words to this kind of people.
When Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus, he said, “Rabbi,...You have come from God as a teacher” (v. 2). These words show his concept and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He called the Lord Jesus, Rabbi. The Jews calling someone Rabbi can be compared to the Chinese calling Confucius a teacher. Nicodemus considered the Lord Jesus to be a teacher. Therefore, he said that the Lord Jesus had “come from God as a teacher.” Nicodemus had the concept that man needed to be taught and that man could be taught how to be good. He believed that man was bad because man had not been taught. Nicodemus’s concern was that man needed to be taught by a good teacher. He thought that the Lord Jesus was a teacher sent from God to teach man how to be good and how to do good. Nicodemus believed that man’s problem was related to teaching, that man only needed a good teacher.
Many people today have this concept. They believe that in order to be good, a person must receive a good education. They believe that man can be taught how to be good and that a well educated person will surely be good.
Many moral and thoughtful people are just like Nicodemus. They think that as long as people can be taught how to properly conduct and cultivate themselves, people will be good. The human concept is always focused on man’s self-cultivation in order to do good.
People do not realize that this human concept is wrong. Man cannot be good. Man’s need is not teaching. The Lord Jesus did not come to be a teacher. When Nicodemus called the Lord Jesus Rabbi, teacher, the Lord interrupted him and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). Nicodemus had the concept that man needs teaching in order to be good. But the Lord Jesus said that man does not need teaching; rather, man needs to be “born anew.” Teaching is a matter of behavior, but to be born anew is a matter of life. Nicodemus thought that man does not have proper conduct because man has not been taught. His concept was focused on how to change one’s conduct. He did not see that man’s fundamental problem is not with conduct but with the lack of life.
For example, let us consider a tree that bears sour fruit. Such a tree may be trimmed and fertilized, but it will still not bear good fruit. Trimming and fertilizing will not make the tree bear good fruit. On the contrary, the more the tree is trimmed and fertilized, the more bad fruit it will bear. Hence, it is not a matter of outward trimming and fertilizing but of changing the life within the tree. This does not mean that trimming and fertilizing are not needed but that trimming and fertilizing are secondary matters. The primary matter is that the tree needs a new life. The original life within the tree bears sour fruit. Trimming and fertilizing the tree do not change the nature of the tree’s life. Trimming and fertilizing improve the outward appearance of the fruit, but they do not change the taste of the fruit. The outward appearance will change but not the inward taste.
Similarly, education and self-cultivation can at best change someone’s outward conduct and living but not his inward life. Teaching and self-cultivation are not primary matters. The primary matter is that he needs a new life. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born anew” (v. 7). This means that Nicodemus needed to be regenerated.
The phrase born anew is very interesting. Born is related to childbearing, and anew means “again.” Therefore, to be born anew is to be born again.
What should we do if we want a tree to bear sweet rather than sour fruit? Tree cultivators know that they should first cut off the branches of the sour fruit tree. Then they cut off a branch from a sweet fruit tree and graft it into the trunk of the sour fruit tree. After some time, the tree will blossom and bear sweet fruit. Trimming and fertilizing will not cause a sour fruit tree to bear sweet fruit. This can be achieved only by changing the life within the tree.
Nicodemus was a man of self-cultivation, but he believed that he could be a better person. Hence, Nicodemus came to ask the Lord Jesus to teach him how to cultivate himself to become a better person. However, the Lord Jesus showed Nicodemus that what he needed was not outward teachings but an inward change in life. Nicodemus needed to be born again.
The focus of believing in Christ is not self-cultivation but regeneration. I have two friends who have told me that religion is good, that all religions exhort men to be good, and that all religions are the same. This thought may be applied to other religions, but it is incorrect when applied to Christianity. To believe in Christ is not a matter of being exhorted to be good. Rather, to believe in Christ is to acknowledge that man cannot be good. It is impossible for man to bear sweet fruit. Man has the desire to be good and the thought to be good, but the human life does not have the ability to be good.
It is right to be good. But man does not have the ability to be good. The human life is fallen; it is bad and cannot be good. In order to be good, man must have a change in life. He must be regenerated.
Many say that man needs to imitate Christ. But how can man imitate Christ without the life of Christ? In order to truly imitate Christ, man must first be regenerated; he must first have the life of Christ. Only those who have the life of Christ can truly imitate and follow Christ.
Suppose a flock of chicks and ducklings are brought to a small river. The ducklings will jump into the water and paddle, but the chicks will be scared and stay far away from the river. The chicks have a life that fears water. Even if they are pushed toward the water, they will not go in. The ducklings, however, have a life that loves water. They will jump into the water even if we try to prevent them. They are not taught to love water, nor were they taught how to swim. This is a characteristic of the duck life. Swimming in water is an innate ability of this life.
Parents tell their children not to lie, and teachers also tell children not to lie. However, children still tell lies. Children are not taught to lie, but lying is a characteristic of the human life. It is an innate ability of the human life.
People are capable of committing many sins, but no one goes to “sin school.” Who learned how to sin only after attending “sin school”? Man does not need to attend “sin elementary school” in order to know how to sin, nor does he need to attend “sin college.” Sinning is a characteristic of the human life. Sinning is an innate ability of the human life.
When someone turns twenty, his parents may tell him to preserve his standing and not be reckless. But what is the outcome of such exhortation? After wasting his time, the young person may go to a dance hall and meet bad companions. Scandalous behavior is an indication of the type of human life we have. If human life were good, there would not be bad conduct. Man would not bear “sour fruit.”
Is your history good or bad? Every honest person will bow his head and say that his history is bad. If we consider our history and our living, we will agree that our human life is bad. Some may say that a schoolmate or colleague corrupted them, but we should not blame others. If our human life were good, no one would be able to corrupt us from the outside. The problem is not with the outward conduct but with the life within. Our need is not a change in outward conduct but a change in life. We need to be regenerated; we need to be born again.
Each kind of life can understand only the things that are in its realm. Monkeys cannot understand the things of men, because monkeys do not have the human life. A child can learn what is taught in kindergarten and then learn what is taught in elementary school. After elementary school he can continue to take classes in junior high school, high school, and college. However, a young monkey is not able to learn what is taught in kindergarten. A monkey cannot take lessons even in elementary school, not to mention college. A monkey cannot understand the things that a man can understand, and a monkey cannot be taught to understand the things in the human realm. In order for a monkey to understand the things of man, it must first have the human life.
Likewise, human beings cannot understand the things related to God’s kingdom. A person who does not have God’s life cannot be taught to understand the things of God’s kingdom. No matter how educated or knowledgeable someone may be, without God’s life he cannot understand the things of God’s kingdom. Only God’s life can understand the things of His kingdom. A person must have God’s life through regeneration in order to understand the things of God’s kingdom. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3).
The Lord Jesus did not come to the world in order to teach man but to give man His life. The Lord Jesus came to the world not to be man’s teacher but to be man’s life. Teaching is useful only after man has the divine life. Therefore, teaching is not man’s primary need; life is man’s primary need. Man must first have the divine life. Man must be regenerated.
Many moral and educated men think that moral and educated people do not need to be regenerated. Such people do not know that moral people need to be regenerated just as immoral people need to be regenerated. Educated people need to be regenerated just as uneducated people need to be regenerated. The immoral do not have the divine life and cannot live out God’s image, and the moral also do not have the divine life and cannot live out God’s image. Uneducated people do not have God’s life and cannot understand the things of God, and educated people also do not have God’s life and cannot understand the things of God. Therefore, both the educated and the uneducated need God’s life, and both the moral and the immoral need to be regenerated.
Nicodemus might have understood the literal definition of the words born and anew, but he did not understand the meaning of being born anew. He thought that to be born anew is to be born again, that is, to enter a second time into his mother’s womb in order to be born. He did not know that to be born anew means to be born again with another life. This is not to enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born. A person who enters a second time into his mother’s womb and is born a second time would still be born of the human life.
Perhaps Nicodemus thought that an old and corrupt person could be rejuvenated and be like a newborn by entering a second time into his mother’s womb and being born. He did not know that even if he could enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, he would still be flesh. The corrupted human life would still be in him, and he would be no different than before.
Regeneration is not a matter of entering a second time into one’s mother’s womb to be born of the human life but to be “born of the Spirit”: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6). Therefore, to be regenerated is to receive the life of God, to have the divine life in addition to one’s own life. Regeneration is the Spirit entering into man and giving man the life of God. This life is spiritual; it is invisible and intangible, yet it is still perceptible to man. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said that the life that is born of the Spirit is like the wind (v. 8).
After Nicodemus found out that to be born anew is to be born of the Spirit, he asked the Lord Jesus, “How can these things be?” (v. 9). In other words, “How can one be born anew? How can one have God’s life?”
The Lord Jesus answered and said to him, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life” (vv. 14-15). The Lord Jesus’ reply shows that in order for man to be regenerated, there must be two things.
First, the Lord Jesus had to be lifted up, to be crucified. The bronze serpent was lifted up in the wilderness and judged by God on behalf of the children of Israel so that the dying children of Israel might live (Num. 21:4-9). In the same way the Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross and judged by God on behalf of sinners so that fallen man might be regenerated and have God’s life.
Second, man must believe in the Lord Jesus, who was lifted up, who bore man’s sins, and who was judged on the cross on behalf of man. We must confess that we are sinful, that we have offended God, and that we stand condemned before God. We must then believe that the Lord Jesus was crucified in order to bear our sins and that He received God’s righteous judgment on our behalf. Then we can receive the forgiveness of sins and be regenerated.
If you confess that you are unable to change and if you are subdued before God to confess your sins and to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, the Spirit will enter into your human spirit and give you God’s life. As soon as you open your heart to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, the Spirit will immediately enter into you so that you may have the life of God.
Let me demonstrate. A lamp may not be shining. However, as soon as I turn on the switch, electricity enters into the lamp, and it shines. Similarly, as soon as we open the door of our heart, the Holy Spirit enters into us so that we can have the life of God.
Some may say that it is vague to say that the life of God will enter into us. Others may say that we are superstitious. However, this is real and true. Two hundred years ago people would say that it is nonsense and superstition to think that people in China could hear someone speaking in America, but today we know that this is real. As long as we have a radio receiver and turn on the radio, the radio waves in the air will enter into the radio, and we will hear what is being transmitted.
When someone repents in his heart, calls on the Lord Jesus from his heart, opens the door of his heart, and receives the Lord Jesus as his Savior, the Holy Spirit will enter into him, and he will receive the life of the Lord Jesus, which is the life of God. This is the same as a radio receiving radio waves.
In order to contact anything, we must use the right organ and method. If we use the wrong organ or the wrong method, we will have no way to contact that thing. Let us use sound as an example. We must use our ears as the organ and contact sound by hearing. Concerning smell, we must use our nose as the organ and contact fragrances by smelling. Concerning the air, we must use our windpipe as the organ and contact the air by breathing. If we do not use the right organ, it will seem as if sound, fragrances, and the air do not exist.
Similarly, in order for you to contact God and have His life, you must use the right organ and the right method. God is Spirit. If you use your brain as the organ and thinking as the method, you will never contact God or have His life. Perhaps the more you think, the more you will decide that there is no God. The more you think, the more you will decide that the life of God is vague. God is Spirit, and His life is spiritual; hence, in order for you to contact Him and to have His life, you must use the organ of your spirit and the method of believing and calling. God and His life are invisible and intangible, but the human spirit can contact and perceive God and His life. If you confess your sins to God and call on the Lord Jesus, you will receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you will contact God in your spirit, and you will have the life of God. When God’s life enters into you, you will be regenerated.
There are at least four results of a person being regenerated with God’s life. The first result is that there will be a change in life. The human life is corrupt, but God’s life is incorruptible. When God’s life enters into man, it brings about transformation, a change within man. When God’s sweet life is grafted into our sour life, there is a sweet change within us, and we bear sweet fruit.
Second, a regenerated person is able to understand spiritual things. This understanding is not based on knowledge but on life, it is not in the mind but in the spirit, and it is not a knowing in the mind but a sensing in the spirit. A regenerated person often may not understand a certain matter concerning God in his mind, but he will have a sense concerning the matter in his spirit.
Third, a regenerated person has a share in God’s kingdom. Only those who are regenerated can know the things of God’s kingdom. Therefore, only those who are regenerated can enter into the kingdom of God. Those who are regenerated are in God’s kingdom today because their spirit is God’s kingdom, and eventually their whole being will express God’s kingdom.
Fourth, a regenerated person will never perish, because he has the life of God. God’s life is eternal. Hence, a person who has God’s eternal life will never perish.
A moral person needs to be regenerated, which is to have God’s life. If you have not yet been regenerated, that is, if you have not yet received God’s life, you should believe in your heart and pray from your heart in order to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
