During Jesus’ time on Earth, He had many run-ins with Jewish religious leaders. But one late night He had an encounter with a leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and teacher of God’s Old Testament laws. Nicodemus had been watching Jesus heal people of all kinds of sicknesses, and seen Jesus set free those tormented by Satan. He had spent time listening to Jesus’ teaching about God, Jesus Heavenly Father, and about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus went around telling people that He had come to give us a different kind of life. Eternal life with God in Heaven. When Jesus met with Nicodemus, He said that He came to reconcile sinful men and women to His Father, through Jesus’ own death.
As a teacher of the law, Nicodemus thought the way to God’s Kingdom was by keeping the law of Moses. Here is part of their conversation, done in secret, as Nicodemus feared for his Pharisee reputation, but He wanted to know Jesus and understand what He was teaching…
“2 Sir,” he (Nicodemus) said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.”
3 Jesus replied, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.”
4 “Born again!” exclaimed Nicodemus. “What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water (physical birth) and the Spirit (spiritual birth), he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:2-5 TLB)
As one with The Father, Jesus knew all about God and Heaven
“13 For only I, the Messiah, have come to earth and will return to heaven again.
14 And as Moses in the wilderness lifted up the bronze image of a serpent on a pole, even so I must be lifted up upon a pole (Jesus knew He had to die on a cross a punishment for mankind’s sins),
15 so that anyone who believes in me will have eternal life.
16 For God loved the world so much that He (God the Father) gave his only Son (Jesus) so that anyone who believes in him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” (John 3:13-17 TLB)
Jesus taught Nicodemus about eternal life
Jesus’ words threw Nicodemus into an “identity crisis.” All his life he had believed that being Jewish and following Jewish laws was the way to get to Heaven. Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus meant when He said a person needs to be “born again” to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus was telling him that entry into God’s Kingdom has nothing to do with ethnicity, as Nicodemus wrongly assumed. That means anyone and everyone can be saved by trusting in Jesus, no matter the race, culture or country of origin, not just the Jewish people.
Jesus also told Nicodemus that we can’t do anything to earn our salvation. Jesus gives His life to us as a gift. We should accept His gift of eternal life with open hands and grateful hearts.
We all need new life through Jesus
Jesus came to show us a new way to live. God is our Creator. Jesus taught that true life is found in relationship with God through Jesus Himself. Only when we give our lives to Jesus, will we find the abundant life that God intends for us.
My friends, Jesus came to bless the whole world with the gift of eternal life. It is not something reserved for only a special few. Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay for the sins of the entire world. Through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we are offered eternal life. He provides each of us a place in God’s Kingdom, where we will experience abundant life forever with God. Hilda is enjoying her eternal life right now! YAY GOD!!
How do we know that God loves us? Because He gave us Jesus to forgive the sins of the world. Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross and rose from the dead to save us. Jesus is now in Heaven, praying for you and waiting for you. That was God’s great plan to rescue us from sin and bring us into His eternal Kingdom.
I believe Nicodemus eventually accepted Jesus as His Saviour. The Bible shares that on one occasion, Nicodemus was accused of following Jesus when he defended Jesus to the High Priest and leaders who wanted Jesus killed. After Jesus died on the cross, Nicodemus purchased a large amount of burial spices and helped with Jesus burial in a tomb of another follower, Joseph of Arimathea. “The Chosen” series portrays Nicodemus in a very believable way, during His meeting with Jesus. Jesus invites Nicodemus to follow Him as one of His disciples, “the Chosen.” In the series, Nicodemus is torn at this point and returns to His life as a Pharisee and Teacher, leaving some money behind for Jesus and His followers. I’m looking forward to meeting Nicodemus in Heaven someday.
While God’s Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, if you have never received Jesus as your Saviour, you can do so today. Just tell Jesus you repent of your sins, and ask Him to forgive your sins. God will forgive your sins, and make you a new person. He will give you the Holy Spirit to live in your heart today. God loves you, and His plans for you in this life and for eternity in Heaven are much better than any plans you have for your own life.
Your friend,
Harold
