John 3.19-21 - The Judgment

Last time: God sent His Son into the world to save it.  To save people.  You and me.  Christ our Savior.  We all needed a Savior, someone to rescue us - from judgment.  Because all people have already been judged, found guilty.  But whoever believes IN Jesus receives a full divine pardon.  Forgiven.  They are no longer under the sentence of death - because they have believed in the One Who took the judgment on Himself.  He paid the penalty of death in their place.  Whoever does NOT believe in Christ - they continue under this judgment.  They are guilty already.  But what are they really guilty of? 

[19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.]  Yes, there are lots of crises in our world [financial, energy, health, environmental] - but nope, THIS is THE [krisis](which is the Greek word for 'judgment'): Light has come into the world, but people love darkness.  What Light is this?  John has already told us: the True Light that is shining in the darkness, enlightening every person [1.5,9].  This Light is God Himself, and the truth He declares - about Who He is, Who we are in relation to Him.  John has also told us that the darkness did not lay hold of the Light.  Did not eagerly take it, did not receive it.  Why? Because people LOVE darkness.  We love the darkness rather than the Light.  Rather than the truth about God.  Our fallen minds prefer darkness.  Darkness is what?  The [absence of light].  In other words, spiritually speaking, people tend to prefer places - any place - that is deprived of light.  Where there IS NO light.  Where it is NOT PRESENT.   People are bent on finding AND CREATING spaces where God is not present.  God-less.  God-free.  

So much of our freedom seems to be found in what is NOT present, isn’t it?  We create these products - and spaces - which leave out things that we perceive as unhealthy or harmful to our well-being.  Things we don’t want.  Things we want to avoid.  Gluten-free.  Caffeine-free.  Sugar-free.  Fragrance-free.  Tax-free.  Duty-free.  covid-free.  Smog-free.  [Smoke free]  And so Jesus here is describing a contrived “[God-free zone]” [Rom 1.21].  People - many people - want a place, a space where there is no God.  BECAUSE we want to be able to do what WE want.  “Freedom = Do/Have whatever I want”.  And God says, you want no part of Me?  If you insist… [Rom 1.28]

Their deeds were evil, Jesus says.  That sounds a bit harsh to modern ears, doesn’t it?  The world insists that man is basically good.  Or, that every person has good and bad in them and what matters is that they choose the good [i.e. ideas of yin yang/the force].  And maybe in the end, we just need our good deeds to outweigh our bad deeds?  [weighed on a scale perhaps - by how much does our good need to outwiegh the bad? 51%? Nope - God's standard, the threshold for heaven, is 100%]  But still, a blanket statement like, their deeds were evil?  When we look around at our neighbors, it can be hard to really layer this statement on top of a lot of what we see, isn’t it?  Sure, we see people doing really bad stuff in the news, but aren’t those the exceptions?  Aren’t most people just trying to do the best they can?  Like the old song - [Lord, I was born a ramblin' man, Tryin’ to make a livin' and doin' the best I can].  I mean, is Jesus saying that all people only always do evil things?  For their deeds were evil.  How are we to understand what Jesus is saying here?

John has already mentioned that Jesus knew/knows what is in us, in our hearts [2.24]. [Rom 7.18-19 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.]  In the heart of every person is: 1) an awareness of what is right, of what God is like [Rom 1.19][the Light IS shining], AND 2) the bent, the inclination to live apart from God and what He wants [Rom 1.25].  In fact, this is unavoidable.  Yes, we can see some vestiges of the goodness of God in most all of His image bearers, but in every one of us there is this place of darkness with a sign that says, God-free zone.  We all want to be in charge.  We all want [the remote] to our lives.  And that is what the darkness is all about.  Darkness only exists where there is no light.  Darkness is that place where the Light of God’s presence is not welcome.  Rejected.  And the deeds of darkness, the fruit that naturally comes out of the hearts of those who are living apart from God, is [Gal 5.19-21].  The outcome of this life lived apart from God is death [Rom 1.32].  That, according to Jesus, is the Judgment.

Now some ask, well, what about those who “haven’t heard”?  Is there some kind of exemption for those who - as far as I know - haven’t heard the Good News that Jesus came to save?  A few thoughts:

1. We CANNOT know what any person has or hasn’t heard.  God speaks through His Word and through His people, yes.  And He speaks through dreams and visions, and through angels, and through His creation.  He spoke at least once through a donkey.  It is fatally flawed thinking to build a straw man of unbelief based on speculation as to what a person has or has not heard.
2. God’s Word is very clear that in fact every person in their heart has this general knowledge of God.  The Light IS shining. [cf Rom 1.19-20]
3. Also clear: God Who is Righteous and Fair will judge every person righteously and fairly.  And here again is the judgment:

[19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.] Light has come into the world.  Jesus is saying, that this light - and the failure to receive it - are universal realities.  Everyone has the Light, and no one lives in light of the Light perfectly.  In fact, every person at some point chooses darkness.  We’re born into it.  It is unavoidable.

Men - people agapéd the darkness.  Give themselves to it unconditionally.  And this is past tense.  Cuz the Light - this is not a new thing - Light has already come into the world. [Rom 1.20].  But people love to live in spiritual darkness.  We love to be able to do what WE want to do.  Light: THIS is the Way, THIS is the Truth - walk in it.  And people say, nope.  Not gonna do it. 

[20 “For everyone who does [foul-things] hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.][our bad deeds in fact are foul spiritual aromas]  Exposed here means to be reproved.  It is saying, that’s wrong.  And who wants to hear that?  You’re wrong.  What you did is wrong.  Nobody likes to hear that.  And that’s why people hate the Light, cuz the Light shows up and shows off what is true and right - AND what is wrong [imperfections].  God, and His Word, the truth about Him, show us what is right AND what is not right.  The Light is shining.

But we like to hide imperfections, don’t we?  A little concealer on our blemishes?  Our world prefers to cover it up, or maybe blame someone/anyone else, or maybe just deny it altogether, tries to tell us that there IS NO God, and there IS NO Truth.  ["There is no absolute truth."  Or, "truth is relative."]  But you must depend on the existence of absolute truth to even try to say that there is absolutely no truth.

[21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his works may be manifested as having been worked in God.”]  There is a small, densely-populated pocket of the universe where there is NO light.  Only darkness.  And death.  No Truth, no Love, no forgiveness.  What happens when we come to the Light?  When we embrace the truth that there is a God Who made us and loves us?  When I admit that I am wrong?   For eyes accustomed to darkness, the Light can feel harsh.  But we were made for Light.  Light is the default condition for life.  Before God created living things He created [light].  We come to the Light, to Jesus, to receive His love, His rescue, His forgiveness, we enter into life as it is meant to be lived.  Full and overflowing.  [No fear 1Jn 4.18].  And if/when we do come, we find that God is behind it all.  He does the heavy lifting [Phil 2.13].  May the God of Light give us grace to come to and to walk in His Light today and every day...

Relevant verses

Rom. 1:28  Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking

John 3.24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Rom. 1:18   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness

Rom 1.19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Rom 1.25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Gal 5.19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Rom. 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Is. 9:2  ^1aThe people who walk in darkness 

Will see a great light; 

Those who live in a dark land, 

The light will shine on them.

Phil. 2:13 for it is ^aGod who is at work in you, both to will and to work ^bfor His good pleasure.

1John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but ^aperfect love casts out fear, because fear ¹involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^bperfected in love.

John 3.11-18 - First Hand Knowledge…

[11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and witness of what we have seen, and you all do not receive our witness.]  

Jesus is talking to Nicodemus - who snuck out at night to meet w this radical rabbi.  We know what We’re talking about, Jesus says.  What We’re telling you, We’ve seen it.  So We have FIRST-HAND knowledge - OF THE TRUTH.  Of course, Jesus is using the royal "we" - He is in fact referring to Himself.  Jesus’ words are true - all of them.  AND you (pl) don’t believe Us, He says.  You all don’t receive Our witness.  He doesn’t say, BUT you don’t receive it.  As if it were more like a surprise.  He says, We’re giving you this true, first-hand knowledge AND you are not receiving it.  

Jesus is not at all surprised that people do not receive His words.  Jesus knows all men, as we’ve already seen [2.25][1.11].  Why was Nic (and others?) not receiving?  [consider the false values/priorities that people have in the physical realm as opposed to spiritual truth]

MATERIALISM:  Truth <——> Matter (Physical)

EMPIRICISM:     Truth <——> Experience (5 senses)

RATIONALISM: Truth <——> Reason (Logic)

i.e. How many people roll is that, if I can’t see it or touch it or prove it, I refuse to believe it’s true.  But there’s more…

[12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?]  WHAT's He saying?  Remember, Nic is so focused on the external that he’s stuck in not accepting/trusting something he can’t fully explain or understand [which is why Jesus will mention the wind].  Some truths we can’t fully explain; we can’t prove them scientifically [i.e. my dad loves me can't be proven scientifically].  One commentator: [“Revelation, not discovery, is the basis for faith.”]  The deep profound truths of eternity, of Almighty God and the Word Who Was - are way beyond the ability of our fallen minds to comprehend. [Rom. 11:33-34  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?][1Cor. 2:13-14 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.] Truth is grounded in revelation.  This needs to be our prayer: [Ps. 119:18  Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.] The beginning of understanding the truths of God, and then any progress we might make in ascending to greater heights of understanding heavenly truth, is a work of God.  It is a spiritual journey, one which begins with a spiritual birth (or before?).  Regeneration.  First light.  It begins w a knowledge of Him [Prov 9.10]. [but visibility or lack thereof does in no way make the spiritual realm true][Mt 6.25-33]

[13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.] 

In other words, it’s not like any human has ever been able to just go up to heaven and acquire heavenly knowledge themselves.  The Great Exception to this, of course, is Jesus.  He has first-hand knowledge of heaven, of eternal truth, because He’s actually from there.  He came to us from there.  If you want to learn about a distant place [like Wuhan, or Iran, or Timbuktu], and you can’t go there in person, your best bet is to learn from someone who comes from there.  First-hand knowledge.  And Jesus has the first-hand knowledge we need about spiritual truth, about heaven and eternal life.  So He clearly is the best and in fact ONLY One to look to if you want to learn and understand these eternal truths.  He’s the Key.  He’s the Door.  He’s the Way.  We gotta go thru Him.  That’s what He says next:

[14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.] 

We go thru Jesus not only to gain understanding - we go thru Him for eternal life, period.  Whoever believes IN Him, He says. [John Paton, missionary to New Hebrides, searched the local language to find a satisfactory word for believe IN.  One day after a hunt he fell exhausted into a lawn chair outside his tent. One of the natives observed, “It’s good to stretch yourself out and rest when you’re tired.” Immediately Payton seized on the words “stretch out and rest” and translated the New Testament word for “believe in” in that way.  Whoever stretches out and rests in Jesus will have eternal life.]  

Jesus references an historical event here [Moses/serpent - Num 21.8-9]  God thru Moses gave His people a picture of trust.  Just like the Israelites needed to “stretch out and rest” in that bronze serpent for physical healing, now all people will see the Son of Man lifted up on a pole, and whoever stretches out and rests in Him, in Jesus, in His death on that pole to pay the penalty for our sin, will have eternal life.  ***[Life then becomes all about lifting up Jesus…][Paton*]

[John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.]  Jesus is not saying that God loved the world [SO MUCH] that He gave His Son (altho that is certainly a true picture).  The word for “so” here is “thus”.  “In this way”.  He’s saying “thus”, this is HOW God loved the world.  The whole world - not just the Jews.  Not just religious people, or smart people, or pretty people, or wealthy people.  Everybody.  Whoever.  You know how God loved you?  By giving His only Son - to die FOR YOU.  Lifted up on a [pole].  And killed, executed, to pay the penalty for your sin.  Arms stretched out, yes saying this IS how much I love you.  God gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes IN Him, every person who stretches out and rests in Him, will not perish, but may have eternal life. [Nobody else would do that for the world.  I certainly wouldn't give my son for a bunch of strangers or enemies]

"Having eternal life" in the Greek is present subjunctive.  Meaning, it’s possible, but not certain for everyone.  You Might have eternal life.  Or you might not.  It’s conditional - IF you believe.  So, do you?  But "perishing" is aorist subjunctive.  It is far more certain.  The word for “perish” here means to be destroyed.  In other words, destruction is certain for every person.  If you don’t believe, you will perish.  Jesus now explains:

[17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.]  That’s the point.  This is what God is doing in His Son, the God•send.  Jesus did NOT come to judge.  He came to save.  This is a mind-blowing truth - no pagan deities or idols EVER make a personal sacrifice on behalf of a human.  But God sacrificed His Son - to rescue every person from judgment.  Because every person is already judged.  The verdict is already in.  We are guilty.  Guilty of sin.  Guilty of choosing what we want over what God wants.  Putting something else in God’s rightful place in our hearts.  And the only way to avoid the certain penalty for this is by believing in the Name of God’s only Son.  Jesus.  He came to save us.  To rescue us from this condemnation.  We no longer have to pay the death penalty for our sin.

Judgment is a hard truth for our culture to accept.  “Judge not”, people insist, right?  But… it’s too late.  Judgment is real.  What Jesus is saying is, the world was already judged long before He came.  The world was already under the sentence of death.  Condemned [Rom 5.16-18].  Which is precisely why Jesus came - to make a way OUT from under that judgment.  NO MORE condemnation.

And so the possibility of rescue is a matter of belief.  WILL you believe?  Will you (& I ) trust in the truth about Jesus, this One Who has first-hand knowledge.  Will we stretch out and rest in Him?  It’s not my job to make anyone else believe.  I can share the truth with them, of course, but every person has to decide for themselves.  Jesus says, in no uncertain terms, if you believe IN Me, stretch out and rest IN ME, then you are fully pardoned.  No judgment.  No condemnation any longer [Rom 8.1]   Not because of anything you’ve done - only because of what He did.  That’s the Good News!  Eternal life - by believing in Jesus.  The One God gave for us.  The God•send.

Referenced verses:

Rom. 5:16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand ^athe judgment arose from one transgression ¹resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions ²resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned ^athrough the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will ^breign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18   So then as through ^aone transgression ¹there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one ^bact of righteousness ²there resulted ^cjustification of life to all men.

Prov. 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Among many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, "The cannibals! you will be eaten by cannibals!" At last I replied, "Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms." -John Paton 

John 3.3-11 - First Teaching: Second Birth

Nicodemus, one of the leaders of the Jews, has come to see Jesus.  VIP Nic has worked a backstage pass to grab some exclusive access to celebrity.  To the One Who’s doing all these signs.  That’s one thing that VIP’s do, don't they - they get exclusive access.  And VIP Nic is so enamored with the signs (like everyone else).  Signs you can see, with your physical eyes.  All the neon lights.  Focused on the external.  Oh, these signs, Rabbi you are clearly from God, cuz you’re doing these signs.  And Jesus is like, no, no, no.  You’ve got it all wrong.  You’re looking at it wrong, Nic.  Message over miracles.

Today we come to Jesus’ first substantial section of teaching.  He is going to lay out the Message in no uncertain terms.  Truly, truly.  3x!!!  Jesus drops a triple helping of doubly truly’s in the span of nine verses.  Truly, truly.  Let’s take a look…

[3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”] Nic - you’re seeing these signs, and you think, surely the Kingdom of God is showing up in front of you.  But this is not about the signs.  The external.  Nic, you’ve got the cart in front of the horse.  Not that signs aren’t a part of God’s Kingdom, but that’s not what’s most important.  Truly truly - I really mean what I’m about to say - IF you REALLY want to see and experience the Kingdom of God first hand, you MUST be born from above.  You think you’re beginning to see the Kingdom in these signs - but the Kingdom of God actually begins with a SECOND birth.  

Interestingly, the Greek word for ‘birth’ is “genesis”.  It refers to lineage [Genealogy].  The Hebrew word for birth is ‘yalad’.  Whereas the Hebrew word for the first book of the Bible is the first Hebrew word IN the Bible: bereshit, meaning “in the beginning”.  The Greek word for beginning is arche.  Archaelogy.  But so in mentioning birth Jesus is referring to a beginning of LIFE, about lineage.  Our ancestry.  And He is saying that while people are born with a human/physical lineage, what we need if we want to see the kingdom of God, if we want to enter in to eternal life, is a spiritual lineage.  We need this OTHER spiritual birth.  A second beginning of life.  Born from above.

[4 Nicodemus says to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”] And Nic says, wait.  How is that possible?  How is a second birth even possible for someone who is already living?  And you can see, he is totally focused on the physical, on what he can see.  The external.  I’ve never seen one of these ‘births from above’.  How is that even possible?  A second birth is not physically possible.  It’s not [“scientific”]… Nic makes this declarative truth statement, but in doing so he shows how narrow his thinking is [blinders][there is a whole other spiritual realm in play].

[5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.] Being born of water is the [earthly human birth] you’re familiar with.  But Nic, you MUST be born from above if you want to see and experience the Kingdom of God.  This second birth is not something physical - it’s spiritual.  It originates in the spiritual heavenly realm.  It is caused not by some human parents or some biological process, but by the Spirit of God [6].  This actually is NOT something external.  This is about what God is doing in human hearts.  A deep radical rebirth and transformation on the inside.

The problem, Nic, is people’s hearts - the spiritual part of them - are dead from birth.  From the moment you were born physically - actually, the instant you were [conceived], that miraculous moment when the seed and the egg came together and your physical life began in your mother’s womb, your spirit was in a state of spiritual death, separation from God, due to the Fall.  The disobedience of the First Parents: when they chose what they wanted over what God wanted, they died spiritually (even as their bodies began to die physically) - and all their offspring on down to you, Nic (and each one of us) are conceived and born with a spirit that is dead.  Separated from God.  Truly, truly.  What needs to happen is a SPIRITUAL birth.  A “second” birth.  Jesus says, Nic, IF you truly want to see the kingdom of God, you need this second birth.  You (and we all) need to be born again, born from above.  By the Spirit.

[7-8 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”]  I know this sounds amazing, hard to believe.  But don’t be so focused on trying to fully explain everything in terms of what you can see [btw, wind=spirit in Greek, same word].  

[9  Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”]  Nic is still stuck on the physical.  How is any of this even possible?  And he’s refusing to accept/trust something he can’t fully understand or explain.

[10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?]  Is Jesus surprised here?  Of course not.  But Jesus says, this is Israel 101.  Basic instruction for God’s people.  To which, do we find teaching about a spiritual rebirth of the Spirit in the OT?  Yes we do.

[Is. 44:3  ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants;][Ezek. 36:25-26 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.] [Jer. 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.]  These are God’s people.  They need a change of heart on the inside, and this would be a work of His Spirit.  But Israel was just so focused on the externals.  On the do’s & don’ts of that First Covenant.  Do this, don’t do that.  And on circumcision.  Get that little surgery & you’re good to go.  But they & we need a different kind of surgery.  Heavenly heart surgery.  Israel is totally missing the truth that no one can ever make themselves clean enough to enter into God’s kingdom through the externals, through our own efforts.  Their teachers, the Pharisees, are missing this big time.  So focused on making the outside clean.  Even Nicodemus.  Jesus is saying, truly, truly - this is a work that only My Spirit can do, on the inside, in your heart.  Only He can fire up this eternal life in your heart.

[11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and witness of what we have seen, and you all do not accept our witness.”]  Jesus uses plural in just verse.  Is Jesus including JTW?  The word ‘witness’ was used 7 times in ch 1 for what JTW was doing.  Witnessing, testifying.  And the Pharisees came to him too, questioning him - are you the One?  The One who is going to usher in God’s Kingdom?  I.e. a [physical] political change of power?  Totally focused on the the temporal.  But what did John testify?  Same thing - you all need a change of heart.  It’s about what’s going on on the inside.  And remember what John said: I’ve seen the One Who is going to make this happen [1.34].

And so here Jesus is saying, John and I both are speaking about what we’ve seen, we are both telling you what we know to be true, and you all are not receiving/trusting our Message.  Message over miracles.  And you are not believing.  Altho, for those who insist on a sign, how about a resurrection…? [2.19][Mt 16.4]  That's all the sign anyone should need in order to believe...

Matt. 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah."