| 03.20.11 With Jesus after Dark |
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Ashes to Fire With Jesus after Dark John 3:1-17 Sermon #2 in series
“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
In the case of Nicodemus, as with most of us, his biggest spiritual issue was not a lack of understanding, but a lack of obedience.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
“As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”
In the New Testament the words “faith” and “believe” come from the same word. They conveyed the meaning of believing something to the extent of acting upon it.
Our English word “believe” comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word “be” which means “by”, and the word “lief” which means life. What one lives by is actually his belief or his by-life.
To be “born again” does not mean we add Christ to our lives, but rather it means he takes us into his kingdom. It is not a matter of our acquiring spirituality, but rather the Holy Spirit acquiring us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17 NLT
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