“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19, ESV)
This last weekend, the 2024 Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony that has garnered much attention, mostly negative. I hesitated to write anything about it, because honestly, I didn’t really want to draw more attention to it. But since a couple people have brought it up to me, I felt prompted to reflect on how the gospel speaks directly to cultural moments like this.
I don’t need to get into the details of what was portrayed, but it involved a very gross, in-your-face amalgamation of paganism, drag queens, and disturbing mockery of The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting depicting Jesus with His twelve Apostles in their final meal together. The French Bishops’ Conference lamented that the act was a “mockery and derision of Christianity.” Bishop Robert Barron said the scene “mocked a very central moment in Christianity.” Apparently, there was debate about whether the scene was meant to evoke any connection to Christianity, but in the end the producers admitted “that it was in fact inspired by Da Vinci’s famous painting.”[1]
When Jesus walked the earth, He was both loved and hated. On the one hand, people who keenly sensed their spiritual emptiness were drawn to this miracle-working rabbi who proclaimed the kingdom of God’s arrival in and through His ministry. On the other hand, many despised Jesus because He is holy. Simply by being the Righteous One, Jesus exposed the paltry self-righteousness and hypocrisy of others.
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20, ESV)
Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12). By coming into this world, His power and character exposed the darkness of evil and self-indulgence. So when people love the darkness, they hate Jesus Christ. But in Jesus’s first coming, He didn’t come simply to condemn the world. He came to save all who would trust in Him from condemnation (John 3:17).
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18, ESV)
The Bible teaches that it’s not just the world “out there” that has rebelled against God. We have all turned aside and gone our own way (Isaiah 53:6). We have all fallen short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23). We all stand condemned until we look in saving faith on the One who was condemned in our place.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36, ESV)
Rather than merely accuse or abandon the human race to its deplorable state of moral degradation, Jesus came in pursuit of us. He loved His own to the very end, willingly laying His life down for us and bearing the penalty we justly deserved. In and through Jesus, God was reconciling the world to Himself. On that cross, Jesus was credited with every sin I ever committed (2 Corinthians 5:21). He hung there, stripped and bleeding, because of the sinful and foolish things I have said and done. Scripture is even willing to say that Jesus was made to “be sin” so that I might “become the righteousness of God” through faith in His perfect atonement.
Jesus came to rescue a world caught in the web of satanic lies that have been around since the Garden of Eden. He came to deliver those who have been enslaved to their own lusts. He came to heal those who have been wounded by the pain of a broken world. This is the gospel followers of Jesus must proclaim to a dying world.
What happened during the opening ceremony is a symptom of a world turned away from the light and toward the darkness. Paul wrote of those who “glory in their shame,” whose “end is destruction” (Philippians 3:19). Our message to this lost and confused world is: Look to Jesus—the real Jesus Christ of the Bible. See His spotless character. Watch Him take little children in His arms. See Him reach out and touch the “untouchable” leper. Look at how He takes notice of the man who has greedily lived for money, and He forgives the immoral woman who weeps at His feet. Look at Him hanging between two thieves, dying a criminal’s death for you. See Him gloriously raised to life!
Jesus was the only true Light in a sin-darkened world.
Don’t despise Jesus for coming in weakness and dying a shameful death outside the gate. Instead, “go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured” (Hebrews 13:13). Fall down and worship Him. Because He’s no longer dead! And one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How terrible will be the day of His return for the unrepentant who have mocked Him and derided His authority.
Those who truly love Jesus are willing to bear the scorn heaped on Him. He is the True North for those who have lost their way. And apart from Him our world has no hope and will have to suffer the consequences of moral rebellion.
Have thoughts on this post? I’d love to hear from you!
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:4).
Recently, I heard someone use a phrase I often hear: “I’ve always tried to be a good Christian man.” Hearing this statement got me thinking. What do most people mean when they claim to be a “good Christian” or even a “Christian”? Just because a phrase is used all the time doesn’t mean we are all meaning the same thing. In fact, when people don’t clearly explain what they mean by a certain term, that often means there are a lot of hidden assumptions.
For so many people today, they think that being a Christian is about doing all the good, Christian things we’re supposed to be doing. They think that as long as they are listening to Christian music, going to church, occasionally posting a Bible verse on Facebook or X, then they must be a Christian.
For many, “Jesus” is more of an idea than a person. He’s a flannel graph character with a beard and long hair who likes to cuddle lambs. Others consider Jesus their “homeboy” or “co-pilot,” according to their T-Shirt or bumper sticker. It’s as if Jesus is merely this invisible guy that exists for them.
Jefferson Bethke is an author and songwriter who grew up thinking he knew what being a Christian was all about. In his book Jesus is Greater Than Religion, he talks about when he first started attending a Christian university, he tried to fit in with everyone else.
Jefferson writes, “So I decided to copy what ‘being a Christian’ was all about by watching others. I took off my earrings, stopped wearing basketball jerseys, tried my hardest to memorize Hillsong United’s greatest hits, and listened to the Christian radio station. I thought that if I did enough Christian things, it would bring peace to my life. It didn’t work.”
Jefferson eventually realized that though he called himself a Christian, he wasn’t really following Jesus, but an Americanized religious subculture. He came to see that the real Jesus of the Bible is far more powerful and radical than the Sunday School version he’d been taught.
He finally recognized his religious works were nothing but foolish attempts to try to buy God off. He understood now that God is holy, just, and righteous. Furthermore, he was everything God was not. That’s why he needed the cross. On “Skull Rock,” Jesus lovingly gave up His life so that he could have life. Jesus bore the penalty that God’s justice demanded for his sins, and on the third day, He rose in triumph from the grave.
Jefferson came to the foot of the cross and surrendered to the real and living Jesus for the first time.
In view of cultural Christianity, he adds, “In our subculture Jesus would have never been crucified—he’s too nice… The Jesus of the Bible is a radical man with a radical message, changing people’s lives in a radical way. In the Scriptures, Jesus isn’t safe.”
That reminds me of the line from C. S. Lewis’s book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When Lucy asks if Aslan the lion (who represents Jesus) is safe, Mr. Beaver tells the Pevensie children: “‘Safe?… Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’”
The real Jesus is not tame and de-clawed. He’s more like a roaring lion in all His glory. He’s not just a “good feeling” to get you through the day. He’s not your “co-pilot.” In Him is life. We exist by Jesus and for Jesus. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end—not just the guy to help you get through the middle.
Listen to this description from Colossians 1:15-17:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
In Jesus everything holds together. Every atom in the universe is bound together and ordered by Jesus! He is the Lord over all creation! He is the reason for your existence. Your very life exists by His continuing power. Jesus is not just a religious figure from long ago. He’s not just the most influential person in history. He is the God-man! And you were created for His glory.
So what about you? Have you encountered the real Jesus? Spend some time in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and carefully consider what you find.
Do you know Him as the sovereign King that He is? Have you bowed the knee and entrusted your eternity to Him? Have you taken up your cross, and are you now following Him?
Are you a cultural Christian? Or, are you a committed Christ-follower?
Have thoughts on this post? I’d love to hear from you!
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
Jesus wants us to experience joy. The Bible is all about finding joy from the true Fountain of Joy. It’s not about faking a smile so that everyone thinks you’re okay. The Bible emphasizes the kind of joy that wells up from deep within, because we have found the reason for our existence.
God did not make us to live as bored and miserable creatures. Every one of us longs to experience a meaningful life. Deep down, we know that we were not made for a dreary, barren existence. We were made for a bigger joy than anything this world can give us. Our hearts are deeper than we know. Only God Himself is big enough to fill them with lasting joy.
C. S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”[1] Where you find joy says everything about you. In fact, I think it’s one of the clearest ways to know if you are a genuine follower of Jesus. Because if you are, then you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and the Holy Spirit changes everything He touches. He brings warmth and life to what is otherwise cold and dead. He is the Source of true joy. Just like a branch draws sap from the trunk, we receive life-giving joy from the Spirit who dwells inside us.
Just think about this. Does it make sense to have the Fountain of everlasting joy live inside you, yet always be gloomy and miserable? Certainly, Christians get sad, too. But the true Christian still has the wellspring of everlasting joy living within, and that will buoy them when nothing else can.
Running on Empty
Our society today demonstrates that material possessions and economic wealth cannot make us happy. In the United States, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world—not only today, but in all of history—and yet we are also one of the most anxious and depressed nations in the world. Advertisements today promise us happiness through purchasing a certain product, such as a car, or taking a vacation. And we have bought the lies that leave us empty.
Sociologists tell us that suicidal ideation is at an all-time high today—even higher than during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the next hour, more than five Americans will take their own life. By the end of the day, that number will reach roughly 130 people. In the course of 2024, an estimated 47,000 people will have committed suicide. These numbers should astonish us, but it’s impossible to calculate the amount of pain caused by even a single suicide.
Many people today pay little attention to the Bible. Frankly, they don’t care what a bunch of Jews wrote two thousand years ago. And yet, this book claims to offer the joy that our world is desperately craving.
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
The same Holy Spirit that indwelled Jesus and indwelled the Apostles indwells His followers today. The Holy Spirit closes the gap so that everything in our Bibles is relevant to us today, because the deep truths they talked about 2,000 years ago remain true for us today. Jesus is just as relevant.
People were sinners in need of a Savior back then, and people are sinners in need of a Savior today. People were hurting, miserable, and lacking joy back then, and people today are hurting, miserable, and lost.
Why Do People Commit Suicide?
Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a medical doctor who saw countless patients in the emergency room who had attempted to take their own life. Dr. Sleeth is now a follower of Jesus, but for most of his medical career, he was an atheist. During that time, he observed the protective effect of belief in a personal God when it comes to suicide.
In his book Hope Always, Dr. Sleeth notes how suicide doesn’t really fit with the theory of evolution, a theory that teaches all of life owes its existence to the principle of survival of the fittest. In fact, in study after study, it’s been shown that suicide is unknown in the animal kingdom. So, the question is: Why do we commit suicide?
Dr. Sleeth writes:
“…for most of my medical career, I was an atheist. Nonetheless, in the course of seeing some thirty thousand patients, I couldn’t help but notice the positive role faith played in my patients’ ability to cope and recover from both mental and physical illness. In fact, faith seemed to be the crucial factor in most of those who successfully recovered from long-term addictions.”[2]
If we were made for God and joy really is the serious business of Heaven, then it makes sense that a wholesale rejection of God—as we are seeing in our culture today—will lead to tragic increases in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
He adds, “God helps when it comes to suicide. It’s a fact. Yet the current sixty-one-page report published by the CDC on suicide expunges God and faith from the discussion of suicide and depression.”[3]
Jesus alone can give you the joy your soul is craving.
His joy can be in you today, in 2024, because Jesus is alive today. That’s what the story of Easter is all about. He defeated all our enemies—sin, death, and the devil—so that we can be restored to union with Him that we were made for.
In other words, you can’t be united to Jesus by faith and not have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). That doesn’t mean every day is easy and filled with laughter for the follower of Christ. But it does mean that from the bottom of your soul, you can know that friendship with Jesus is the only way to true joy. And it means you can have the confidence that Jesus is greater and more satisfying than anything this world has to offer.
No career will give you this kind of joy. No house or car will give you this joy. No relationship or marriage—no matter how amazing it might be—can possibly give you what Jesus can give you. That’s because He offers a supernatural joy. Again, this was Jesus’ promise for His disciples, and that includes us today:
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
The Extraordinary Life of Following Jesus
As our friend, Jesus is giving us another motivation to follow Him. The life of discipleship is the context for the above statement. He is saying we’ll know deep joy if we abide (or make our home) in Him. This is not how the world thinks. The world thinks that if we turn from what the Bible calls “sin” and start following Christ, then our life will seem so dull and restrictive. But the truth is the very opposite: Living as Christ’s disciple is liberating and invigorating. I get to walk hand-in-hand with the Creator of the stars! He wants to talk with me from His Word, guide me by His ever-present Spirit, and hear from me. He treasures me more than the birds of the sky or the flowers of the field. And I am His. What could possibly be better than this?
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.” (Psalm 30:11, ESV)
Living in sin might be pleasurable for a season, but it will actually choke out all sense of joy. In the end, sin is always a joy-killer, not a joy-giver. Because sin always disrupts good and right fellowship with our Lord. And He is the One that can fill us with joy.
I can say I used to think like the world about this. When I was in high school, I simply thought of obeying Jesus as “the right thing to do” and there were even times I resented the fact that, as a Christian, I didn’t get to have all the so-called “fun” that other teenagers were having. And though I wouldn’t have said it, I sometimes even felt a little deprived. But today I see things far better. I recognize how nothing can compete with the joy of knowing Jesus.
It’s not what you’d expect, but there is deep and profound joy in surrendering every part of your life to Christ.
Because when you consciously give yourself to Jesus, you experience more of His love, His goodness. There’s freedom in knowing your sins are forgiven, and you can gladly say, “Not my will, but Your will be done in my life.”
And what’s the alternative? Do you really want to look to yourself to be the one manufacturing all your joy? Do you really want to carry every burden in life on your own shoulders? How much better to let Jesus lift all your burdens and listen to Him. Because His Word has greater wisdom than this world can offer.
The Joy of Your Salvation
For a time, King David thought he could find joy outside of God. He looked for it in the arms of a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. But though he had pleasure for a night, that adultery led to the sin of lying, which led to the sin of murder. And then even more deception. And as his heart hardened into concrete, all the joy was sapped out of him. In Psalm 51, he talks about how he was a tormented soul; his own guilt was crushing him.
It took a prophet of God to confront him, just like the Word of God confronts us today. And then David, broken as he was, poured out his heart to God:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.” (Psalm 51:1-2, ESV)
God responded to his repentance by lifting his weight of guilt. And then David could pray:
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:12, ESV)
Forgiveness was no longer an abstract idea for David. He had experienced it on a level he never knew possible. He was washed completely clean, and then he once again knew the sheer joy of being loved and known and cherished by God. What a gift! He didn’t deserve it. But God is abundantly merciful and loves to extend forgiveness to all who cry out to Him just like David did.
It took a humble surrender on David’s part before he experienced the “joy of salvation.” Such is always the case.
You want to know what can steal your joy? Thinking too highly of yourself (see Romans 12:3). Thinking everyone owes you. That you’re always in the right and that everyone else is in the wrong.
Some of the most miserable people in this world are those who have either forgotten or maybe never known how precious it is to walk in true humility. True humility means having no sense of entitlement, no sense of God owing you, but instead having an overwhelming sense of gratitude that God has given you so many extraordinary gifts you simply don’t deserve. True humility comes from learning to delight in God Himself.
Think often of how gracious God has been to you. God has loved you while knowing everything about you. And He loves you more than anyone else ever could or would.
Abiding in Jesus comes from humbly recognizing just how much we need Him in every part of our lives. It’s admitting that if we are in the driver’s seat of our lives, the car always ends up in the ditch. Life is far better when the true King and Captain of your soul is behind the wheel. Because He can give you fullness of joy.
If you have any questions or thoughts about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
[1] C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 93.
Throughout my life, I can think of several dates when the plans for my day were totally upended. The death of a relative. An unexpected phone call. 9/11. A co-worker tragedy. In most of these examples, when the plan for the day was totally canceled, someone died. Death has a way of intruding into our life, changing plans, and unexpectedly causing shock and grief.
In ancient Israel—as is true for many Jewish people today—the first thing the faithful do is recite the Shema, the confession found in the Torah: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, ESV). The one exception that put all prayers on hold is when your parent died. In that case, burying your father or mother takes precedence over everything, out of reverence for the one who raised you.
This helps us understand a passage in the Gospel of Matthew when a man pledges to follow Jesus after he first buries his father. We expect Jesus to say, “Of course, you must first give your father a proper burial. But then come follow Me!” Instead, Jesus gives this jarring response: “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury the dead.”[1]
For those who have derived their image of Jesus from the culture, this statement is always puzzling. They picture Jesus as a nice guy who walks around with a lamb on His shoulders and a nice smile, hugging everyone He meets simply because He is so full of niceness (trust me, that’s a word).
Now, don’t get me wrong. Jesus was and is the most loving person to ever grace the planet. But quite often Jesus showed tough love—which is the kind of love that says things we don’t think we need to hear, but desperately do. In the words of 1 Corinthians 13:6, it’s a love that “rejoices in the truth.”
Jesus didn’t always say what sounds “nice” and affirming, but He did always tell us what we need to hear. And in this instance, He was teaching about the danger of delayed discipleship. His point was that no matter what else we may think is urgent and essential, nothing can take priority over following Him. In light of the Bible’s strong emphasis on caring for one’s family, Jesus’ statement here is all the more surprising.
Jesus knows that sometimes people will look for excuses for why they can’t follow Him today. Sometimes, people will use family as an excuse.
To such people, Jesus says:
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”[2]
Stop and consider for a moment how insanely self-centered this would sound on the lips of anyone else. Do you still think Jesus was merely a good teacher of moral ideals?
Offensive? Maybe. But necessary for each of us to hear.
At another time, Jesus gave a parable (which is a story meant to illustrate the kingdom of God) about a man who decided to host a great banquet at his house. He sent out invitations to all his close family and friends. “But they all alike began to make excuses.”[3]
Some claimed they were too busy. They had purchased fields or oxen that demanded their care and attention. Another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”[4] Each person seemed to have a good and reasonable excuse. It’s not as though they were all at home playing video games or binge watching Netflix. But they were excuses nonetheless.
Jesus said the master of the house became angry when people rejected his generous offer. After all, he was providing a sumptuous feast, free of charge. Because those who were supposedly closest to him rejected his offer, the master sent his servant to go and “bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”[5] After all, those who had less in life would recognize the generosity of this invitation.
After his dining hall is filled with everyone from “the highways and hedges” far and wide, the great banquet can finally begin. Then, somewhat disdainfully, the master of the house says of those who turned down his invitation, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”[6]
The message is pretty clear. Those who put off Jesus and His invitation into life in the kingdom of God are missing out on the joy He is offering.
To say it again: Nothing is more urgent or important in your life right now than discipleship to Jesus.
We might imagine that while we can’t follow Jesus today, we will certainly square things up with Him later. We might even think it’s better to live for ourselves today so that we will better appreciate grace later. But here’s where people need to take care. Sin has a way of hardening the heart that puts Jesus off. How do you know you aren’t hardening your heart against Jesus today? If you don’t have time for Jesus today, what makes you think you will suddenly have time later in life?
The spiritual sage J. C. Ryle offered this warning:
“Habits of good or evil are daily strengthening in your heart. Every day you are either getting nearer to God, or further off. Every year that you continue unrepentant, the wall of division between you and heaven becomes higher and thicker, and the gulf to be crossed deeper and broader. Oh, dread the hardening effect of constant lingering sin! Now is the accepted time. See that your decision not be put off until the winter of your days.”[7]
In reality, no matter what excuse we might come up with for why we are delaying discipleship to Jesus, that very excuse might be the roadblock that keeps us from ever coming to the party. Beware of excuses in your own heart. Take warning from Jesus’ parable. What a tragedy it would be to miss out on the very thing that gives our lives meaning not only for this life, but for all eternity.
In the words of Jesus, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”[8]
If you have any questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
David Wilkerson was an evangelist who followed God’s call to preach the gospel to the inner-city gangs of New York City. When Wilkerson first arrived, he was troubled by what he saw. These gang members—most of them still practically youths—were immersed in drug addiction, orgies, and hate-filled violence. When he first began to preach the gospel, many rejected his message. He told them that what they were seeking in drugs and sex could only be found ultimately in Jesus Christ.
He would preach “Jesus loves you” from John 3:16 and many would sneer at him. There were others, however, who said “You’re coming through, Preach,” which meant his words were starting to pierce their hearts. He was getting through to them.
But Nicky Cruz, the notorious Puerto Rican leader of the Mau Maus (one of the gangs Wilkerson evangelized), got fed up with Wilkerson’s preaching. When Wilkerson urged Cruz to receive Jesus, he pulled out his switchblade and yelled, “You come near me and I’ll kill you!” Wilkerson replied, “Yeah, you could do that. You could cut me up into a thousand pieces and lay them in the street, and every piece will still love you.”[1]
Later, Nicky Cruz went forward at one of Wilkerson’s altar calls and surrendered his life to Jesus. Cruz would eventually become an evangelist alongside Wilkerson and later the director of Teen Challenge.
A Pharisee Sits Down with Jesus
What can explain the change in Cruz? According to the Bible, the answer is the new birth. The new birth can also be called regeneration; it speaks to the inward renewal of the spirit caused by the Spirit of God when someone comes to saving faith in Jesus. Regeneration is not something that only “varsity Christians” experience; it is the experience by which we become Christians. In other words, the commonly used phrase “born again Christian” is as redundant as “unmarried bachelor” or “unexpected surprise.”
The Apostle Peter tells his fellow believers, “[Y]ou have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23, ESV). The Spirit of God takes the message about Jesus and His salvation and uses that to bring forth new life.
One night, a religious ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus came to see Jesus. He came at night because he didn’t really want his colleagues to know he was seeking an audience with Jesus. After all, what could the religious elite possibly learn from this upstart rabbi out of Nazareth? Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, born of nobility, and a sage among his people.[2] Nevertheless, he recognized there is something unique about this Jesus.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2, ESV)
Nicodemus was accustomed to being the man with all the answers. He went to seminary and law school. He was a “ruler of the Jews,” not a follower. He was a sitting member of the Sanhedrin, the governing body who ruled over Israel with the consent of the higher authority, Rome. Thus, Nicodemus wasn’t used to seeking wisdom from someone who lacked all the requisite credentials.
Seeing the Kingdom
Nicodemus says, “We know who you are Jesus. Your miracles indicate God’s blessing on your ministry. But we’ve got you figured out. You’re a teacher come from God.” Like many today, Nicodemus was happy to say Jesus was a great man or prophet, but not a Savior.
Nicodemus thought he had Jesus figured out, but it was actually Jesus that knew everything about Nicodemus. He knew what was in this Pharisee’s heart (2:25). He knew about the deep void within. And despite Nicodemus’s devout life, Jesus knew he still struggled to know if he could ever truly please God. He had no assurance of eternal life.
That explains why Jesus cuts right to the chase.
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, ESV)
From the first day of His public ministry, Jesus had been announcing the arrival of God’s kingdom, and He made it clear that the people must respond with repentance and faith.
Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, ESV)
But what did Jesus mean by saying “unless one is born again” he cannot even see the kingdom of God? Jesus was not talking about physical vision, but spiritual vision. Jesus was teaching that unless one experiences the new birth (regeneration), you will remain blinded by sin and trapped in spiritual darkness. Very often in Scripture, sight and blindness are ways of speaking about the condition of one’s heart.
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, ESV)
Here, unbelievers are described as blind to “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The gospel is like a bright lantern carried into a darkened room. To see the kingdom is to see the King as the all-glorious One that He is. Writing to many who never saw Jesus on earth, John wrote, “No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him” (1 John 3:6). This is the sight of faith that sees the glory of Jesus as the all-sufficient Savior that He is.
To Nicodemus’s ears, this all sounds impossible. He had lived a moral life, honored his parents, paid his taxes, and taught others the Law of God. What more could God ask of him? To be born again sounds like starting over, as if all his life had not moved him one inch closer to God.
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:4-6, ESV)
One cannot see nor enter the kingdom of God unless one is first “born of water and the Spirit.” The new birth is essential to entering the kingdom. This is language about conversion. It is about those who were once dead in sins being made alive to the glory of God (Ephesians 2:1-5). It’s about being delivered “from the domain of darkness and transferred… to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV).
You Must Be Born Again
But what does Jesus mean by “born of water and the Spirit”? Some have seen this as a reference to baptism. However, there are a few reasons why this cannot be.
First, baptism is nowhere mentioned in this passage. It would be odd to insert a statement about the need for baptism with the phrase “born of water,” a description never used to describe baptism elsewhere.
Second, when Nicodemus later asks how these things could be, Jesus rebukes him as a teacher who ought to know this. He can say that because the Old Testament compares the Spirit’s regenerating work to water that cleanses us (Ezekiel 36:25-27). So, Nicodemus really should know what “born of water and the Spirit” means as a teacher of God’s Word.
Third, Jesus is speaking about the supernatural work of God. That’s why He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In other words, flesh cannot accomplish the new birth. It is a work of the Spirit alone. Human effort, self-improvement, and works-based religion cannot do the work of the Spirit. Jesus compares the Spirit’s work to the wind.[3] The wind is something you cannot harness or control, but it clearly changes whatever it touches (3:8).
What Jesus says to Nicodemus, He says to all of us: “You must be born again” (v. 7).
Many imagine that Christianity is about cleaning ourselves up so that God will accept us, but nothing could be farther from the truth of the gospel. We could never scrub away our guilt before a holy God, but “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, ESV). Our message is: “You must be made a new creation in Christ!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). At its heart, Christianity is not about turning over a new leaf; it’s about receiving new life. It’s not about forming new habits; it’s about receiving a new heart.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV)
What gave David Wilkerson the Spirit-filled boldness to go preach the gospel to a bunch of thugs, runaways, and prostitutes was his firm conviction that when people truly encounter Jesus Christ, they are changed. Without that belief, he would have given up on guys like Nicky Cruz when he pulled a knife on him.
Have you been born again? While only the Holy Spirit can regenerate our spirits and make us new, we are called to repent and receive Jesus into our life. Yield to Him and ask the Lord to make you new on the inside. Once you do, you will not stay the same.
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9, ESV)
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] This story is recounted in David Wilkerson’s book The Cross and the Switchblade.
[2]Nicodemus is a Greek name, not Aramaic. If you were born to an upper class Jewish family, it wasn’t uncommon for your parents to give you two names: a Jewish name and a Greek name. In such a family, you were well-educated in the Greek language and literature. Furthermore, the first century Jewish historian, Josephus, mentions one of his friends who was the son of a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who quite possibly was the one we are reading about here. And Josephus says that he came from a long line of Jewish nobility. So, very likely, this Nicodemus was a well-educated, cultured, and wealthy man.
[3] The same word for “Spirit” (pneuma) is used for “wind.”
In his book, Christian Living in the Home, Christian psychologist Jay Adams describes a time a marriage counselor sat down with a couple. Throughout their discussion, the counselor noticed how the husband shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The wife, on the other hand, sat with arms crossed in defiance. She slapped down a sheet of paper on the counselor’s desk. “There is why I’m getting an ulcer.”
Listed on the sheet was every wrong the husband had committed in the last 13 years, complete with supporting details. The counselor was taken aback, and the husband seemed to shrink in his seat. The counselor’s eyes rose to meet the woman’s. “It’s been a long time,” he said, “since I have met anyone as resentful as you.” The wife was speechless, and the husband sat up a little.
The counselor continued, “This is not only a record of what your husband has done to you [incidentally, subsequent sessions showed that it was a very accurate record], it is also a record of what you have done about it. This is a record of your sin against him, your sin against God, and your sin against your own body.”
This woman was directly opposing what we read in 1 Corinthians 13:
“Love… keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5, NIV)
Every relationship requires good communication to remain healthy, but in many cases, a husband and wife can’t communicate well because an icy wall of resentment has been built up between them. Until they deal with harbored resentment, the relationship will continue to suffer.
Every time you recount the wrongs of another, you are violating the principle of love.
We do this in various ways. We may not vocalize all the ways we’ve been wronged, but whenever a certain person pops into our mind, we silently rehearse all the ways they’ve let us down. We are experts at nursing grudges. We remind ourselves why we have the moral high ground and why certain people don’t deserve our kindness or affection.
God tells us to “not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26), because He knows about the destructive tendency of being dominated by anger and resentment. And, yes, it can even cause ulcers when we allow rage to seethe beneath the surface.
Greeting with a Holy Kiss
Many have wondered about the contemporary significance of Paul’s plea to the churches to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Corinthians 16:20). In the first century context, it was a perfectly normal practice to plant a kiss on the cheek of a family member or close friend. Because the church is truly a family,[1] it only made sense for Christians to greet each other in this warm and accepting way. Many cultures still practice this today.
In my American context, a handshake or warm embrace conveys the same message: “You are welcome here.” If this was a normal practice, why did Paul have to urge the churches to do this? Because he knew how hostility can grow even between followers of Jesus, and he saw how out of place this was.
When you are holding a grudge against someone, it’s very hard to want to go up and hug them. The wall between two bitter people might be invisible, but you can sense the tension through their body language, physical distance, and avoidance of eye contact. The rift in the relationship makes physical contact—especially a warm embrace—seem impossible.
So, to urge believers to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” was a reminder to lay aside differences, forgive those who have wronged you, and reconcile when possible.
I have sometimes thought about the first time the letter to the Philippians was read aloud as the whole church gathered. In that letter, Paul suddenly calls out two women by name: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2, NIV). This may have been a church of around 100 people where everyone knows each other. These two women apparently had a disagreement, and it was such a disagreement that even Paul heard about it while in jail over 600 miles away. I imagine them sheepishly looking up at each other as their names are mentioned.
Frankly, it’s a little comforting to know that Christians had disputes and disagreements even in Paul’s day. I don’t know if Euodia and Syntyche’s disagreement was over the color of the carpet or the size of the baptistry or the type of music that was sung. Who knows? Christians can get caught up in disagreements about all kinds of things! Paul, like a gentle father, reminds them both to work for the unity they share in the gospel.
Paul is not belittling them by calling them out here. More likely, these are a couple of very prominent women in the church who hold a lot of influence, and he wants them—in fact, he’s pleading with them—to not let their argument get blown out of proportion. He also mentions they are counted among those “whose names are in the book of life” (v. 3). He’s saying, “Remember, ladies, you are daughters of the King, and your names are written with permanent ink in the Book of Life.”
According to Revelation 21:7, the Book of Life is the massive book that will be opened for all to see on the Day of Judgment listing the names of everyone who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Seeing disagreements through the lens of eternity helps to put things in perspective. Never forget that the very Christian you are now resenting will be with you in Heaven, too.
Complacent about Conflict?
Have you ever been part of an argument that seemed to take on a life of its own? By the end of the debate, both you and whoever you were sparring with are left huffing and puffing and neither of you can remember why you were fighting in the first place. Sadly, many marriages end or are damaged over pointless arguments that get out of hand. God calls husbands and wives to reconcile when there is a difference. Again, Scripture says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph. 4:26) because Satan will try to use any and every dispute to split Christians apart. And he especially comes after marriage because it’s the most intimate human relationship. Perhaps you’ve heard this old poem:
To live above with the saints we love, Oh, that will be glory, But to live below with the saints we know, Well, that’s another story.
We should not be complacent when we have conflict with other Christians. It’s not something to just “be okay” with or just ignore. Relational conflicts are like a slow leak in a dam that can drain the life out of you if you try to ignore them. God wants us to be honest with one another, and to reconcile and forgive when we have differences. I’ve spoken with some people who had a conflict with someone in a church, and because of that single conflict they’ve been bitterly holding a grudge for years. That’s not healthy for anyone—not for the church and not for yourself.
But the most important reason we must seek reconciliation is that it glorifies God. Bitterness should have no place among believers, because when we hold a grudge, our actions preach an anti-gospel. How can a church proclaim a message of reconciliation that would attract the world, if such a church is marred by bitterness, hostility, and division?
If you have a conflict with someone, don’t let it fester. Make every effort to reconcile with that person.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18, ESV)
Paul knows that many times, we find ourselves in pointless arguments and disputes when we are under stress. If we are fretting and anxious about the future or things that aren’t going well, it doesn’t take much for us to snap. Even the branches of a mighty oak will snap under enough pressure.
So, Paul says what we need to do: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Now, we’ve got to remember where Paul was writing this . He wasn’t sitting in a Roman bath or sipping on an espresso at Café Roma. He was writing by candlelight in a dark jail cell in Rome. He was not writing this as someone unfamiliar with stressful and difficult situations. The best way to deal with relational conflict is to remember how Jesus dealt with our record of wrongs.
What Jesus Did with Our Record
For the follower of Christ, the gospel informs every relationship. We can’t understand love without considering how Jesus has loved us. We won’t be motivated to reconcile with others until we recognize that the gospel is a message of reconciliation. We can’t begin to forgive those who have wronged us until we remember how much we have been forgiven.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14, NIV)
Every single one of us has wronged Jesus more times than we could possibly remember. As God, our sin is first and foremost against Him. But did Jesus hold our sin over us? Did He stand afar with arms crossed, or did He draw near with arms extended? Relish these words:
“He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 3:13-14, NIV)
Jesus held that record of wrongs and, instead of hitting us over the head with it, He lovingly allowed the nails to be driven through that record and into His hands. Let’s remember how much we have been forgiven. And then go and do likewise. Reconciliation between believers should be priority number one, because love keeps no record of wrongs.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] God is our Father, and we are called brothers and sisters.
A cartoon depicts Moses standing on top of God’s mountain, holding the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. With a big grin spread across his face, he says, “Hey, these are great! From now on, nobody will have trouble distinguishing right from wrong.”
What makes the cartoon funny is that we obviously do still struggle distinguishing right from wrong. In many ways, this is the problem of our age. It isn’t just a problem today; it’s the perennial problem of the human race. We were created to be good, but we’re not.
Despite having the actual tablets the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God, the nation of Israel still struggled with moral degeneracy and idolatry.
The Ten Commandments tell us in very plain and straightforward language moral truths that should be painfully obvious already. Don’t we already know it’s wrong to lie? Isn’t it obvious that it’s wrong to commit adultery?
But because of sin, we all have a tendency toward self-deception. Yes, we know certain things are right and wrong, but sin has a way of muddling what should be crystal clear. The simple fact is that, as fallen people, we don’t like the idea of a God telling us what to do.
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” (Romans 8:7, NIV)
We’d much rather have our own ideas about right and wrong. That’s what sin is—rebellion against the kingly authority of God. So, we desperately need a word from God. We need God to put His moral law in bold, clear writing because so often we try to avoid what should be obvious.
The Law Expresses God’s Righteous Character
Modern people might scoff at the Ten Commandments, but God knows better. Paul wrote:
“So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12, ESV)
The philosopher Plato once posed the problem called Euthyphro’s Dilemma. The question he asked was “Is something good simply because God commands it, or does God command it because it’s already good?” But what Plato missed is Option C. When God commands something, He is not just giving us some standard outside of Himself. No, He is expressing His own goodness. God is perfectly good in every way. His moral character is matchless. So, His Law simply expresses what He is like.
That the law of God is a reflection of God’s character has tremendous implications. For example, as you study the Ten Commandments, you are glimpsing the glory and holiness of God. Telling lies is wrong, but it’s ultimately wrong because God is the God of truth. God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18). Adultery is wrong first and foremost because God is the faithful one who keeps covenant with His own (Deuteronomy 7:9).
So, when we talk about keeping the Ten Commandments, we’re really talking about living like Jesus. He kept them perfectly.
Knowledge of right and wrong is inescapable. The Bible even says that the moral law is written on our heart, even before we read the Ten Commandments.
“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” (Romans 2:14-15, ESV)
The Ten Commandments make explicit the moral truths God has wired into our hearts. And this self-evident knowledge that some things are really and truly right (showing kindness to a loved one) and some things are really and truly wrong (torturing children for fun) is powerful evidence for a Creator.
Why? Because if there is a moral law that I, an American, am obligated to keep and Pharaoh, an ancient Egyptian, is obligated to keep and everyone from all times is obligated to keep, then it must come from a transcendent Source above all of us.
Unlawful Use of the Law
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully…” (1 Timothy 1:8, ESV)
When Paul says that the law is a good thing so long as “one uses it lawfully,” the clear implication is that there is an unlawful use of the law. What is a wrong way to use the law? In context, Paul was addressing false teachers who misused the law by misapplying it to Christians. Very likely, he was describing legalistic Judaizers, a sect with whom Paul frequently clashed. These Judaizers taught that Christians were still under the law in the sense of being legally bound to the Old Covenant.[1]
Elsewhere, Paul tells the Romans, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14, BSB). When we live as if we are still under the condemnation and covenantal obligations of the law, sin will inevitably master us. It’s only when we experience the free grace of God and the removal of condemnation through the cross of Christ that we can present our bodies to God “as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).
The Judaizers told new believers that they couldn’t eat any of the foods that were off limits in the laws given to Israel (1 Timothy 4:3). The laws of the Old Testament are wrapped up in God’s covenant He made with Israel, “the Old Covenant.” So, the laws that you find in Exodus and Leviticus, for instance, are all part of the Old Covenant that God established with the nation of Israel. It’s essential to understand that the Old Covenant was never intended to last forever. God planned on replacing it with a new covenant from the beginning.
“In speaking of a new covenant, he [God] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:13, ESV)
This is an important issue, because a lot of Christians today still treat the Old Covenant laws as if the Old Covenant was still in force today. But the Book of Hebrews teaches that the whole system of laws was fulfilled by Christ. What does that mean? It means we—as followers of Jesus—are no longer bound to the Old Covenant, but to the New Covenant. In this sense, we are not under law, but under the grace and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Christ fulfilled the law for us, and our identity is in Him.
“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6, ESV)
We can’t afford to be wrong on this. You as a Christian are no longer bound to the Old Covenant. The laws of sacrificing animals each year in Leviticus are now “obsolete.” You can put the knives away! You are no longer bound to that. The food laws—like not eating pig—are no longer a covenantal obligation for God’s people, whether you are Jew or Gentile. That’s why Paul can say to Timothy (a half-Jew) that those who forbid the eating of certain foods are following the “doctrine of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). Paul says such people “require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:3-5, ESV).
Thus, Christians are permitted to eat bacon! Of course, the issue is much bigger than that.
The system of animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant given to Israel never truly took away sin. Such sacrifices were always meant to be temporary, reminding the people that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Ever since Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly and died the death that the law required in our place, the Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant. The cross was the great turning point. Jesus said in the upper room, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). His death established the New Covenant as a new way for God to relate to His people.
We, as the Church, are the New Covenant people.
The New Covenant and the Law
It’s important to note that even though the Old Covenant has been superseded by the New Covenant, the moral principles found in the Old Covenant carry forward to the New. In other words, we should not “unhitch” from the Old Testament, as one popular pastor recommended. How do we know that? Because there are numerous examples where New Testament authors reach back to the moral principles of the law to ground their argument. Here are two examples:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” (Ephesians 6:1-3, ESV)
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? (1 Corinthians 9:8-9, ESV)
Paul even tells us that the moral prohibitions still represent sound doctrine:
“We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.” (1 Timothy 1:9-10, NIV)
Because the law was always an expression of God’s righteous character, the principles of the law have abiding relevance for New Covenant Christians, but this is not the primary purpose of the law.
The Law Is a Mirror
The law is like a mirror to show us our true moral condition. This is what theologians have often called the “first use of the law.” In other words, it is the primary purpose of the law.
Paul says the law is for the lawless (1 Timothy 1:9). It’s for sinners. It’s for those living in rebellion against God. Okay, but hang on a second. Aren’t we all sinners? Doesn’t Paul elsewhere say: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)? So, what does Paul mean here: “the law is for the sinful” (1 Timothy 1:9)? Is the law for us or not for us?
Well, right before saying we’ve all sinned in Romans, Paul says this about the law:
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20, ESV)
So what’s the primary purpose of the law? To show us our sin. To show that we are accountable to God. When we look at God’s moral law, where God says, “Honor your Mother and Father,” “You shall not lie,” and “You shall not steal,” we are looking both at who God is and who we are. The law shows us what God requires and prompts us to ask, “How do I measure up?”
Even a child can look at just those three commandments and recognize he’s broken God’s Law and is therefore a little lawbreaker. But although the law can show us that we’re in big trouble, what it cannot do is offer us the hope of forgiveness. That is where the gospel comes in.
The law rightfully condemns us. Most people tend to think, “I’m a pretty good person. If there is a Heaven, I’m sure I’m headed there.” But the law humbles us and shows us that we are actually not good. “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).
I heard a chaplain talk about a time he was sharing the gospel with a group of college football players. They were hanging on his every word until he got to the “sin part.” Those listening were big, tough athletes. Some were popular, admired, and surrounded by girls. They had so many things going for them, and not all of them appreciated this talk about sin. One of the star players came up to the chaplain afterwards and said, “Hey, I don’t like you calling us sinners!” He stormed off without waiting for a reply.
The football player was right about one thing: the Bible’s message about our condition is not flattering. If you haven’t been offended by the Bible’s portrait of sin, then maybe you haven’t looked closely enough (see Ezekiel 16; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:18-3:20). If you’ve spent your whole life falling more and more in love with yourself, this message of sin is going to burst your bubble.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul warns:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.” (2 Timothy 3:1-2, NIV)
Baby Boomers have been called the “Me Generation,” but in reality, this could be said of every generation. An article in the Smithsonian said:
“Although selfies flood the current visual landscape, this social media phenomenon did not invent obsession with the self. In fact, a spotlight on the personality of the self is a defining element of American culture. Every generation is guilty of putting the “Me” in its ME-dia, and with each generation of media technology, the “Me” gets bigger.”[2]
We all have this innate tendency to be self-centered and self-involved. So, hearing that we are sinners is offensive because we are telling people that the self cannot be at the center; it must be crucified (Matthew 16:24). The question shouldn’t be, “Is this a flattering picture of me?” but “Is this an accurate picture of me?”
The Law Points Us to Christ
The law of God shows us our true condition because it reflects the righteousness of the God to whom we are accountable. And we can only see our desperate situation as we come into contact with the righteousness of God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones made this profound point:
“You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good terms with ourselves, and we can always put up a good case for ourselves. Even if we try to make ourselves feel that we are sinners, we will never do it. There is only one way to know that we are sinners, and that is to have some dim, glimmering conception of God.”[3]
The Book of James likewise says the law is like a mirror showing us what we are really like (1:23-25). But the law can never save. We can’t redeem ourselves through law-keeping. That is why Paul tells Timothy the law must be used lawfully. There is a right way and a wrong way to use the law. If the law is used to show you that you are accountable to God, that’s the right way. But if you try to keep the law to save yourself, it will only leave you worse off than before.
By showing us we are unrighteous, the law gives us a hunger for the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Jesus. As we are united to Christ by faith, we are clothed in His righteousness and justified based on Christ’s sinless life and death in our place.
At the end of the day, you can either be under the law or under grace. Under condemnation or under Christ.
So, thank God for His law today. The law is there to show us our need and point us to Christ. Ultimately, that’s what God was always aiming for by giving Israel the law. They needed it to see their need for a coming Messiah (Galatians 3:24).
Just like a mirror only shows you your appearance but cannot improve your appearance, so it is with the law. It shows us our moral condition so that we will turn to the Savior. And there is no greater and lasting happiness than the joy of knowing you are totally forgiven.
“Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.” (Psalm 32:1, GNT)
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] Biblically, a covenant is an agreement that God established for how He promised to relate to His people.
[2] Amy Henderson, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com, October 15, 2014.
[3] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms (Wheaton: Crossway, 2005), 34.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18, ESV)
Every major company in the world today has a mission statement. Mission statements tell us the company’s purpose, the reason they exist in the world, and what they seek to accomplish. For example, Amazon’s mission statement is “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
When the Lord Jesus gave those first disciples the Great Commission, He was giving them a mission statement for the church. That mission is to multiply: to go and make disciples.
Just like every corporation has a CEO at the top calling the shots, King Jesus gets to call the shots for the church. He purchased her with His own precious blood. He is not just a shareholder; He has every right and authority over every aspect of the church’s life and mission.
And lest we forget the obvious: Jesus is alive! He’s not merely the founder from ages past. He is the alive and active Owner, Lord, and King of His church. You didn’t get to decide what the church’s mission is when you became a Christian, and neither did I. We receive our marching orders from our Lord. He tells us what the church is to be about. But the first thing we must recognize is that Jesus is reigning at the right hand of the Father and actively leading His church, even as you read this sentence.
Let’s consider the full context of Christ’s Great Commission.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV)
It’s essential for us to understand that this is the mission He gave to His whole church throughout history, not just a select few in the first century. We can know this because the mission is comprehensive. The command was to make disciples of “all nations” or people groups,[1] not just those in the Mediterranean world. This is the mission that every disciple of Jesus is called to and has been called to for the last 2,000 years.
This last week, I had the privilege of getting to know a missionary couple with three kids serving in Africa. It was encouraging to hear about their passion for reaching those who don’t yet know Christ, particularly among the Muslim population where they live. It is right for us to praise God for the miraculous work He is doing through them. At the same time, they reminded us that we are all called to this mission.
This calling will take different shapes and forms and require a variety of gifts, but the mission remains the same. As a follower of Jesus Christ, your mission is to go and make more followers of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Risen Lord of the Universe
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18, ESV)
The resurrection gives Jesus the authority to make every demand of us that He wishes.[2] If You have just conquered death itself, then it’s only right that people sit up and listen to you. And here Jesus is speaking not only as the risen Messiah, but as the eternal Son of God. And God the Father has bestowed on Him all authority. Look at how comprehensive this claim is: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
Who talks like that? Think of this from the perspective of someone who is investigating the claims of Christ for the first time. Wouldn’t this sound like the most egocentric claim you can possibly make? “All authority in the entire universe belongs to Me! I rule the entire cosmos! I am the resurrected King of all reality!” Wow. If you were one of the disciples, wouldn’t you be trembling before Him at this point? Wouldn’t you be in awe of Him? The only other option is to wholesale reject Him.
This is why C. S. Lewis made the case that no one intellectually honest can really conclude that the biblical Christ is just a good moral teacher. Why? Because “good moral teachers” don’t make claims like this. Socrates didn’t make a claim like this. Buddha never made a claim like this. Jesus says everything belongs to Him. We can either utterly reject Him and His claim, or we can fall on our faces and worship Him. Those are the only options for us.
This is the same Jesus who said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). The great irony with Jesus is that He makes claims that are so audacious that if uttered by anyone else would sound ridiculous. “All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Me.” Have you ever heard your boss talk like that? What about a United States president? No, because in anyone else’s mouth, it sounds ridiculous. If Napoleon or Genghis Khan had said “All authority in the universe has been given to me,” we would immediately know they have a bloated sense of self-importance.
Yet, with Jesus, when He makes these claims, somehow we believe Him. Scripture says that’s because the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to the truth that we would otherwise think ridiculous.[3] The great paradox with Jesus is that while His claims were immeasurably lofty, His character was equally humble and compassionate. This is what makes the truth that God has become a man so powerful.
One day every politician, religious leader, CEO, dictator, and citizen will have to give an account of their lives to Jesus. He will be their judge, and they will bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11). As the risen Lord, Jesus has been given all authority to judge the world (John 5:22; Acts 17:31)
The Mission is to Make Disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a, ESV)
Now that we know who is giving the mission, we come to the mission itself. Jesus says that this is what His church is to be about. This is the purpose for our existence, and this is how we bring glory to God the Father. It’s all about disciples making disciples. It’s about Spirit-empowered multiplication.
The original Greek can be translated, “Disciple as you go.” In other words, as you are going where God calls you—school, family, workplace, another country, etc.—disciple those you meet. But it’s implied that we will be going into the world, not hiding from it. It’s easy for us to want people to come to us. I sometimes think of how nice it would be if that person I’ve been wanting to share the gospel with came up to me and said, “Hey, can you tell me how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ?” Wouldn’t that be great if it worked that way? But here’s the thing. It usually doesn’t work like that. We must be willing to go.
The moment we surrender our lives to Him, Jesus recruits us for this Great Commission to reach the world for His name. We start where we are, but we’re always to be looking beyond where we are. This is a global mission that includes “all nations.”
Elsewhere Jesus tells His disciples, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
Jesus is saying something like this: “This good news of great joy that I’ve been telling you about… this news that there is forgiveness of sins in My name… you are going to proclaim this to the whole world, you and believers who come after you. Together, we are going to reach every dark corner of the world with the brilliant light of hope. Before I come back and bring a final end to Satan’s rule, I’m going to see to it that this good news of a Savior reaches every nation.”
This is how Christ’s kingdom will advance. Not by mighty armies that leave a trail of blood, but by mighty, Spirit-empowered proclaimers that leave a trail of love. Jesus said that the Kingdom would grow, not like a tank that levels everything in its path, but like a little mustard seed eventually blossoming into a beautiful and vibrant tree. It’s a kingdom that will grow out of love, sacrifice, and hope. And it’s a kingdom that will eventually outgrow every kingdom and empire that came before it.
Jesus said we are commissioned for a worldwide discipleship program. Again, we are to start where we are, but we are always to be looking beyond our tiny sphere, because God is up to something much bigger in the world than just what He’s doing in your hometown.
What Is a Disciple of Jesus Christ?
Jesus said to go and make disciples, but just what is a disciple of Jesus Christ? It’s a very Christian word, and by that I mean it’s not often used in other contexts outside of Christian circles. But it’s an important word, used over 260 times in the New Testament. The basic definition of the Greek term disciple (mathetes) is “learner.” A disciple is one who learns, but not just for the sake of learning but to follow in the steps of the master they are learning from.
And we can see this when Jesus says things like, “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” (Matt. 10:25a).
So, the idea is that a disciple of Jesus is one who both learns from and follows after Jesus with the goal of becoming like Jesus. Therefore, when we talk about growing in discipleship, we’re talking about growing more and more like Jesus in your character, attitudes, and actions. And that’s the goal of the Christian life: to be molded and shaped by the Holy Spirit at work within you to become more and more like Jesus. To love like Him. To think like Him. To be pure like Him. To care about the things that Jesus cares about. This is all contained in that idea of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And Jesus says we disciples are to go and make disciples. We don’t just sit on our hands and wait for God to bring people to our doorstep. We are to go. Remember, Jesus didn’t stay in the comfort of heaven and wait for us to climb up to Him. He came down to us. And His going down to us set a pattern for us. We are to go out and engage with the lost world around us. We aren’t to shut them out, ignore them, and pretend they aren’t there. We aren’t called to be a holy huddle cloistered off from the big bad world. Jesus tells us we are to go and make disciples.
To become a follower of Jesus Christ is a spiritual transformation. It can only happen as one puts his faith in Jesus, asking Him to forgive him of all his sin. It’s at that point of conversion—or radical inward renewal—that one first becomes a disciple. From that point a life is transformed, but it’s not automatic. That’s just the beginning point.
“…baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19)
Baptism is meant to be a public declaration that you have begun a life of following Jesus. You’re saying to the world, “I’m His. I belong to Him, and my new aim in life is to live for my Lord and Savior.”
Does baptism save? Going into the water is not what gives spiritual life, since there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. Salvation is all by God’s grace through faith—not good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). It’s a gift we receive, not a reward we earn. But baptism is often used as a synecdoche—a term for our union with Christ and the public confession that accompanies faith. At a wedding, the bride may say, “With this ring, I thee wed,” but everyone understands the ring to be a symbol of the commitment to love “till death do us part.” If the ring slips off later that day, the marriage is not thereby annulled because the ring was always a symbol of the marriage itself.
Baptism is that first act of obedience where you affirm on the outside what has already taken place on the inside.
When an athlete is first signed by a team, it’s official when the contract is signed. He’s a member of the team from that point on, but to celebrate that, the athlete puts on the jersey and announces to the world, “I’m with this team now.” That’s what baptism is. What God has done with you in the private of your own heart, you are taking public. You’re telling the world what has already happened, “I’m with Jesus now.”
And we are baptized in the name of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—because all three persons of the one God had a part in our salvation. The Father elects and draws you. The Son redeems you with His blood. And the Holy Spirit gives you new life in Christ, sealing you as one of His own.
“…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:20)
Since a disciple is a learner, the follower of Jesus needs to be taught. They need hear the words of God from Scripture. They need to be in the Word regularly so that they are encountering God on a consistent basis, knowing what God envisions them to be.
A follower of Jesus Christ is not a lone ranger. The best way to grow is by becoming a part of a community that lives together under the authority of the risen Lord. When Christ is confessed as the Head, the church functions as His body. That’s why it’s so important for Christians to read Scripture together, study it together, sing its truths together, and be shaped by Scripture in personal devotions. We need the Word of God to cleanse our mind of wrong thinking. We need God to speak into our situation and give us direction. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Mission is Accomplished through the Power of Christ
This is such an important point. We need to see that the risen and reigning Lord of the universe has called us to be world changers. He has called us to make a difference in the lives around us. He wants us to engage the lost, love the unlovable, and be about a higher purpose than our own self-centered desires.
Jesus wants us to have a kingdom mindset, where we look at the world as something that needs to come under Christ’s reign and authority. To be merely concerned with our own personal welfare is to live in disobedience. But—and this is essential—all of this can only be accomplished through the power of Christ.
We can only accomplish the mission that God has given us as disciples of Jesus Christ if we are living in dependence on the Holy Spirit. That’s why I love the way Jesus ends the Gospel of Matthew. He says, “And behold [i.e., nowdon’t forget this] I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v. 20).
Let’s be honest. We need this reminder that Jesus is with us. We can’t see Him today. We don’t have Him physically on earth. He’s in Heaven right now. But at the same time, He is truly with us. In fact, He’s closer to us now than He ever was with those twelve disciples on earth.
Jesus told His disciples in the upper room, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).
If I’m one of those disciples, I’d be thinking, “What? Jesus, how can it possibly be better that You go away? We want You here. We want You to stay with us. Don’t leave us.” Have you ever wondered why Jesus ascended into Heaven? Didn’t it seem kind of strange that just as His church was just about to really take off, Jesus, quite literally, takes off?
I can’t explain it all, but Scripture teaches us that in God’s plan, the Holy Spirit could only indwell us if Jesus first ascends to Heaven from where He could send Him. So how is Jesus with us to the end of the age? He’s with us through the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes inside, Jesus comes inside through Him. He’s present by the power of the Spirit. That’s why to depend on the Holy Spirit is to depend on Jesus. The two work in tandem.
As long as we are left on earth, our mission is to multiply. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ, and we can only do this through the power of the Spirit at work in us. That’s why we need to plead with Him to do a mighty work in us and through us. We need to plead for God to send out harvesters into the fields. So who is God calling you to pour into today? What part do you have to play in God’s global and local mission?
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] The Greek term is best translated as “ethnicities” or “people groups,” but also generally means “Gentiles” (non-Jewish peoples).
[2] In the book of Acts, Peter says, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:38).
[3] See 1 Corinthians 12:3 and 2 Corinthians 4:4-6.
Micah Wilder is a former Mormon missionary who was powerfully transformed by Christ during his two-year mission trip in Florida. While a Mormon missionary, he was passionate to see everyone he met come to what he deemed “the one true church of Jesus Christ.” His great ambition was to convert a Baptist minister. Ironically, God used the love and patience of a Baptist minister to turn Micah’s world upside down.[1]
As Micah explains, “Much like Saul of Tarsus, I had a zeal for God, but that zeal was misplaced. I was ignorant of the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and I was seeking to establish my own righteousness by my works.”[2]
Micah thought of himself as a righteous young man, a deeply devout Elder in the LDS church. And yet, it was shortly after an encounter with a Baptist pastor named Alan Benson that his life began to radically shift. Pastor Alan lovingly challenged Micah to “read the New Testament like a child” and see that salvation is entirely the work of Christ. Determined to prove the minister wrong, Micah accepted the challenge and began reading the New Testament every day.
As Micah will tell you, it is the power of the Word of God itself that transformed his thinking, something every Christian ought to expect. Scripture claims to be God-breathed text and thus able to supernaturally work in hearts and lives.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13, ESV)
The Word of God has the power to cut right through to the heart, exposing our innermost thoughts and intentions. Micah has said, “In Christianity, it can be all too easy for us at times to focus so much on history, apologetics, and the intellectual side of the gospel that we forget the greatest tool we have: the Word of God.”[3]
Christians should never be ashamed of Scripture or think it is ineffective when sharing our faith. Many Christian apologists will encourage their fellow believers to set aside the Bible when interacting with unbelievers because they don’t accept it as divinely authoritative.[4]But the question is: Do you see the Bible as divinely authoritative? Do you believe it has the power to transform hearts that are hardened to the gospel?
A Rock-Breaking Hammer
Consider how Scripture speaks of itself:
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7, ESV)
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29, NIV)
While we cannot force people to believe through clever persuasion, the Word of God has the power to break through the hardest of hearts and humble the greatest sinners so that they see their need for Christ.
This doesn’t mean that sharing your faith should be reduced to quoting Bible verses. However, it’s important that you make clear from the beginning that your authority is the Word of God. It’s crucial that Christians challenge their unbelieving friends to get into the Word itself.
Martin Luther, the courageous Protestant Reformer, said this about Scripture:
“I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26-29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”[5]
This is classic Luther, making profound theological statements colored with wit and earthy humor. But Luther’s point is simple: he was not responsible for the Reformation. It was the Word of God itself that exposed the corruption in the papacy and transformed people with the truth. That is the power of the Bible; it is sufficient to regenerate souls and renovate hearts.
God’s Word never comes back void, and it always accomplishes what God intends (Isaiah 55:10-11). Not only is it like a hammer, but it is also like a well-watered seed that germinates and grows. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).
God’s Law as a Mirror
In his classic passage on evangelism, Paul begins by saying how he prays for his fellow Jews, “that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1). Like the former Paul, his fellow Jews are passionately religious, but are “ignorant of the righteousness of God” and so they are trying to earn a right standing with God through their own righteousness (Romans 10:3). Such efforts are always fruitless, because while we may think of ourselves as “pretty good,” Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).
When we are confronted with the Law of God, we see our paltry righteousness next to the perfect and righteous standard of God. The Spirit of God uses His Law like a mirror to show us who we truly are—desperate sinners under the just wrath of a holy God (John 3:36; Romans 1:18). That’s exactly what Jesus did for the young man who asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus took this young man through the Ten Commandments:
“You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” (Mark 10:19, ESV)
The Law of God shows us our brokenness. Take the ninth commandment, for example. Have you ever lied? We all have, and yet we all know it is wrong. That’s why we like to call our lies “white lies” and try to justify why we lied when we are caught telling one. It’s for this same reason, that people are easily offended for being accused of sin—a word that speaks to how we have each violated God’s Law. We are rebels, but we are rebels in denial.
But after people have heard and understood the Law’s diagnosis, the remedy in Christ must be presented.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17, ESV)
“Thy Word Is Truth”
The Bible says we are truth suppressors, because we know we aren’t everything we should be or even everything we would like to be.[6] These are all indications that something has gone terribly wrong with us. That is what the Word of God does. It shows us the error of our ways. Like a surgical scalpel, it wounds so that it can heal. And that healing can only come through the cross of Christ, where Jesus bore our sin in His body and endured the wrath of God in our place (Isaiah 53:4-6, 10; Romans 5:8-11).
Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth” (John 17:17, KJV). He said that what will mark His followers is that they have been set apart by the Word of God.
I have spoken with atheists who refuse to even touch a Bible, but isn’t their strong allergy to Scripture just one more indicator of its inherent power? Is there any other book they so vehemently hold at arm’s length? Some are so hostile, they are not ready for such a challenge. But for those who are open, you can always challenge them to read the Bible “as a child” to see if it doesn’t prove itself to be the very Word of the living God.
Although the Old Testament is equally God’s Word, I usually encourage people to start with one of the Gospels in the New Testament – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. If someone just wants a full explanation of the Christian message, I sometimes direct them to the Book of Romans. But wherever you point them, have confidence that the Word of God has the power to break through the thickest barriers of the heart.
God’s Word is powerful because it alone is His perfect self-revelation. It is the Rock on which Christ’s followers can stand.
“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!”[7]
This proved true for Micah Wilder. In the Bible, Micah found that our only hope of being justified (declared in the right) before God is through faith in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished through the cross and resurrection. When people ask what’s different about him now, since the LDS church claims to follow Christ too, Micah explains it this way:
“When I was a Mormon, I would have claimed that I believed in, trusted, and followed Jesus Christ. In reality, He was only a portion of what I believed I needed in order to be reconciled to God. As a Mormon, Jesus was just one of many pillars of my testimony. Now He is the Rock and the foundation of my faith. He’s not just part of my testimony, He is my testimony! I know that my good standing with God is independent of any religious system, denomination, man, work, ordinance, or anything of my own merit. It is, however, completely dependent on Jesus Christ. There is salvation outside of Mormonism, but there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ.”[8]
To see the full testimony of Micah Wilder and other members of the band Adam’s Road, check out Unveiling Grace: The Film, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl0c5nl6u48.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] See Micah’s full story in his excellent book Passport to Heaven (Harvest House Publishers: Eugene, OR, 2021).
[2] Micah Wilder, quoted in Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell, Sharing the Good News with Mormons, 111.
[4] I had a seminary professor who said if you use the Bible in evangelism, you’ll only turn people away. Micah’s story is but one example—there are countless!—of why that is simply untrue.
At the end of Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch recognizes that despite taking all the presents of Whoville, he hadn’t truly stopped Christmas from coming. The film is a ridiculous comedy, but I’m always touched as it slowly dawns on old Grinchy: “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.”
As I read the New Testament, I might add my own line: “Maybe Christmas isn’t just myth and lore. Maybe Jesus came for the spiritually poor.”
“God with Us”
To grasp the true meaning of Christmas, we cannot miss the uniqueness of that baby in the manger. All our wonderful Christmas traditions are for naught if we fail to see that Jesus Christ really is God come in the flesh.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel. What a necessary word for every age, including ours. Immanuel means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). We’ll never outgrow our need to hear this word and peer deeper into its meaning. It captures the heart of Christmas.
The gods of the pagans would sometimes meddle in the affairs of men, but they were always up and out there, aloof and distant from the cares of this world. The New Testament sharply differs from every other faith and tradition by boldly declaring that the transcendent God has become one of us in Jesus Christ. Every other human being who has walked the planet emerged from history, but Jesus is totally unique. Jesus entered into history.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9, ESV)
Not only so, but the Incarnation was permanent. Jesus chose to forever become one of us—to literally be “God with us.” This theme of Immanuel bookends Matthew’s Gospel. After His final commission to His disciples, Jesus says, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is how loving God is: He looked at the human race and saw what a mess we had made of things in our rebellion against Him. And what did He do? Did He decide to move on to something bigger and better—like humanity 2.0? No! In fact, before the foundation of the world Christ had already decided to go down into this sin-stained world and be subject to all the human frailties and struggles that we experience each day (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20). No longer did God merely send prophets to herald His message—He Himself has entered the very world He created.
How can we fathom the profound depths of Immanuel? In terms of magnitude, this could be compared to you stooping so low as to become a grasshopper (see Isaiah 40:22). We are talking about the God who created every last one of the trillions of stars and galaxies. Nothing happens outside His sovereign power! And yet, this same God willingly subjected Himself to all the limitations that we humans face. He got tired, hungry, and thirsty. Jesus wasn’t like Clark Kent, invincible superhero only pretending to be mortal man. Nor was He born with a halo around His head, like we might see on Christmas cards. No, He came out as a crying baby that needed to be fed and changed and nurtured just like every one of us.
Peering Deeper Still
If we really understood the heights of glory from which Jesus came, we would not be unmoved by Christmas. Jesus chose to identify with us, the very ones who have sinned against Him.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15, NLT)
“Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” (Hebrews 2:18, NLT)
Do you see what this means? Jesus knows firsthand what it’s like to suffer as we do, physically, emotionally, and mentally. He knows what it means to be lonely, rejected, and even despised by others (Isaiah 53:3).
Agnostic Bart Ehrman writes, “I came to think that there is not a God who is actively involved with this world of pain and misery—if he is, why doesn’t he do something about it?”[1] But what if God did do something about it? What if God got so involved with this world of pain and misery that He Himself experienced suffering and death in order to one day bring about full redemption of His people and His world?
I’m with John Stott:
“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our suffering becomes more manageable in light of his.”[2]
In becoming a man, Jesus linked arms with us who have descended from Adam and said, “I’m with them. I know they’re sinners. I know they’ve rebelled against Me. I know they’ve spat in My face. But I choose to identify with them!” God chose to send Jesus not to destroy the human race, but to redeem all who would ever trust in His sacrifice on Calvary.
Some things lose their hold on me after I have given them enough thought. But the more I ponder the Incarnation, the more it blows my mind. But even then I realize that I’m so finite and God is so infinite that I simply cannot hold the wonder of it all in my mind. All I can do is stand back in awe and be thankful that God did not abandon us. He chose to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). He chose to become one of us. To be “God with us.”
High and Holy, with the Lowly
Consider what God said of Himself in Isaiah 57:15: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
Do you see what God is saying here? In His nature, He is completely unlike us! He is majestic, glorious, and holy. We are finite, small, and sinful. There is a Grand Canyon of difference between God and us. And yet, God is saying that though He is holy and far above us, in His grace, He chooses to dwell with those who are humble, contrite, and lowly. This is the incredible grace of God that we find in the gospel. We don’t work our way up to God. What could be more impossible? Instead, He comes down to dwell with us and rescue us from our sin.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, NIV).
A while back, I heard a pastor sharing about a time when he was talking with a Hindu leader, and they were trying to understand one another’s beliefs. Finally, the Christian pastor said, “Let me see if I understand what you believe. You believe something like this: God is on the top of a vast and tall mountain. And all the religions of the world are climbing this mountain, and their journey is different because they are climbing different faces of the mountain, but they all end up in the same place.”
The Hindu priest’s eyes widened and he said, “Finally, you understand what we believe.” Then the Christian pastor said, “Well, this is where our beliefs are fundamentally different. As a Christian, I believe that though men have tried to scale this mountain to God, none can ever do it. Because we are all carrying too great a weight—that’s our sin. But see, in the Gospel, we learn that this God atop this mountain has descended to us. He didn’t wait for us to try and struggle to come to Him. He knew we would never make it. Instead, He came down to us in order to take our great burden upon Himself on the cross at Calvary.”
This is the wonder of Immanuel. Jesus came not only to suffer with us, but to suffer for us, in our place. May we never stop peering at the meaning of Christmas.
He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, HCSB)
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] Bart Ehrman, God’s Problem (New York: HarperOne, 2009), 128.
[2] John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), 335-36.
Lamp and Light 