MY PRAYER LIST

Dare 2 Share Cause Circle Strategy

PRAYER: Asking God to prepare my friend’s heart to hear the good news of Jesus.

CARE: Asking God to help me love my friend by listening to them and caring for them.

SHARE: Asking God to help me lovingly share the gospel message clearly and confidently with my friend.

What is the writer saying?

How can I apply this to my life?

Praise the Lord for the faithful believers who have had the greatest positive impact on your life.

Christ’s fourth encounter in chapter 2 was no low-key event. On His first trip to Jerusalem, He marches into the temple and runs out the moneychangers, instantly gaining the attention of the rulers of the Jews. The temple was to be a place of worship, not merchandise. In chapter 3, we meet one of these rulers, as Jesus has His fifth encounter with a ruler named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Jew and he came to Christ with intellectual needs. In the religious circles Nicodemus traveled in, he was a recognized authority (v. 10), yet he was spiritually blind. He was a Pharisee, a teacher (3:10), and part of the Sanhedrin. Jesus introduced Nicodemus to his need for rebirth. He initially understood this to be a physical rebirth, which would be impossible. Jesus helped him to understand that He spoke of a second birth into spiritual life (v. 6). Jesus uses the wind (v. 8) to illustrate the ministry of God’s Spirit to Nicodemus. Just like the wind, God’s Spirit moves according to His will and His effect is unmistakable upon the hearts of mankind. Nicodemus is only mentioned in the Gospel of John and only three times. In the three passages, it seems that John focuses on the progression of his spiritual life. Nicodemus appears first in chapter 3, but leaves with no apparent change. Then in John 7:50-51 we find him defending Jesus against charges made by the Sanhedrin. Last, we find him at the Crucifixion (John 19:38-39), with Joseph boldly and publicly standing as a disciple of Christ.

Many who are brilliant and highly intellectual have a hard time grasping the simple truths of God’s Word. Have you been born twice? To be alive is to have experienced physical birth. To be born again is to receive eternal life through placing your faith in Jesus Christ. You must be born again!

What is the writer saying?

How can I apply this to my life?

Pray for those that work with the youth of your church to have love, wisdom, and perseverance.

Nicodemus was not a novice. However, when Jesus taught using a simple earthly comparison between physical birth and spiritual birth, this great teacher could not grasp the simple truth. How would he ever understand heavenly things, which no one had seen (3:12-13)?

Jesus was trying to relate to Nicodemus in terms he could grasp. He uses the account from Numbers 21, which tells of a time in the history of Israel when they complained against Moses and God sent serpents among the people. Many were dying and God instructed Moses to make a bronze likeness of a serpent and raise it on a pole. Those who were bitten were to look upon the serpent and they would live. This required them to believe and look in faith. In the same way, at the cross, Jesus Christ would be raised up, and those who placed their faith in God’s substitutionary sacrifice would be saved. Nicodemus eventually appeared to understand this (John 19:39). Verse 16 shows the breadth (world); length (gave); depth (not perish) and height (everlasting life) of God’s love. Christ has paid the price for the sin of all men of all time – past, present, and future (1 John 2:2). That means that the only issue left is whether men will believe and receive what has already been provided for them. This means that men go to hell, not because of their sins (plural), but because of the sin (singular) of unbelief. Once in hell, they then pay for their own sins (plural) having rejected Christ’s gift of eternal life. Again, John picks up the theme of light and darkness. Jesus came to bring light to those in darkness. Those who desire to know God are attracted to the light. Those whose deeds are evil reject the light and flee from it, not wanting to be exposed by it.

Are you attracted to the things of God or do you avoid them? Those who are of the light love the light and want to be near it.