In John 3:3 Jesus declares "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
At birth we are physically alive but in reality we are spiritually dead. All of us need someone else to give us this spiritual birth and that someone is God. We all share in common that we need God to open our eyes and hearts to his word. God's grace and love cannot be earned by good behaviors. Just because we do everything we think is morally right does not mean we will be blessed with the right to enter the kingdom of heaven. Instead we need a Savior! We need to be rescued from religion by Jesus who was sent down from heaven by God for us.
Luke 19: 1-10 is the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. After spending one afternoon with Jesus he received a new spiritual life. Jesus rescued him from rebellion. We are all children of God and we deserve to be rescued from our sins and be born with a new spiritual life. Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
God offers us warmth and grace and friendship even when we are rebellious. All of creation was created with the purpose of glorifying God. Tim Keller says, "The trinity is forever, eternally existing as a dance, mutually respecting and trying to show each other off, forever glorifying each other."
In John 3 Nicodemus would come only before Jesus at night. In John 19 we see that as he becomes a follower of Christ he is no longer afraid to be seen talking to Jesus in the daylight. We are all lights for God and as followers of Christ we must help rescue people from centering their life around anything other than Jesus. Jesus sacrificed his own life so that we may not suffer for our sins so how can our life be centered around anything but him?
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16
What is your life centered on?
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