----------------------------------------------------------- INVITATION TO A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM Reflections on John 3:1-21 by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson August 17, 1997 ----------------------------------------------------------- This passage we've studied this past week tells us some very basic things about the Kingdom of God. FIRST, IT IS A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. Natural men need not apply. The very finest religious person doesn't have a clue what the real Kingdom of God is about unless he has been born by the Spirit of God. Nicodemus is the perfect foil with which to teach this truth. He is sincere, respected, respectful, moral -- and spiritually blind. I've always heard the phrase, "When you're older you'll understand." But why can't I understand now? Because you don't have a grasp of some of the essential assumptions and truths. The knowledge would mean nothing to you without those. It wouldn't make any sense. It may not seem fair, but I don't think fairness has much to do with it. The air around us can be alive with radio, television, and microwave messages of all sorts, but unless we have a proper receiver -- and have it tuned in to the proper stations -- we are clueless. Nicodemus was like that. Sincere, but clueless. SECOND, HEART BELIEF IN JESUS IS THE KEY TO THIS SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. Nicodemus offered intellectual respect, but he did not embrace Jesus' teaching, only inquired of it respectfully. How we respond to God's own Son will decide whether the light comes on for us or we remain in the dark. A few weeks ago we studied the passage on why Jesus taught in parables (Matthew 13:13-15), which teaches the same message in a different way. Callused hearts, closed eyes, ears suffering from terminal wax build-up keep people from seeing and perceiving. Parables kept them from saying quite so glibly, "Oh, I know that, tell me something new." Jesus describes this spiritual coming-alive as a new birth. Man doesn't reveal these truths, but the Father by means of the Spirit reveals them to hearts that are open (John 6:44; Matthew 16:17). This still remains a mystery to me after nearly 30 years in ministry. You can share the same truth, the same message, and there are some who receive it and like lightbulbs "turn on". There are others who leave unenlightened, but respectfully say, "Nice sermon, Pastor," on their way out the door. Sometimes we confuse this new birth with a radical conversion experience. Very often it is, but sometimes it is gradual. Sometimes we confuse the new birth with saying the "sinner's prayer." That's the entry door for many, but many have prayed that prayer from unprepared hearts and come away with hearts still unlit by the Spirit. It comes back to our attitude towards Jesus. Do we "believe in him"? ... God's mysterious dealings with the human heart. THIRD, THIS PASSAGE CLEARLY TEACHES THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE LOST AND NEED RESCUING. This truth cuts very clearly across a culture that desperately resists absolute truth, absolute right and wrong, and vocally attacks any kind of judgment on its lifestyle. "Man is basically good, and just needs a little moral direction." No. Jesus teaches here that man is basically blind, and lost, and perishing. The incarnation is essentially a rescue mission to a doomed planet. Our beloved John 3:16 says it well: 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. What's this about perishing? It has to do with living under a sentence of condemnation, "condemned already." I suppose that the doctrines of Original Sin and Total Depravity come in here, which teach that we are "fallen" from being created "good," that we have a "bent to sinning" as Wesley called it. That while the good creation of God shines through our flawed characters, sometimes with wonderful brilliance, yet it is still flawed. Total depravity need not mean fully depraved, only that in every aspect we are somewhat depraved. It's God's fault! We can't help our character, so it's not our fault! We're only being human, we shout. Genesis 3 tells the story, of man and woman, created good, walking in fellowship with God, and then being seduced by visions of independence and power and knowledge and forbidden fruit. Created "good," Adam and Eve still are capable of exerting their will against God's will for them -- and do. And as "good" as we may see ourselves, we in fact *do* exert our wills against our Sovereign's will for our lives. And sin. And live in mindless, thoughtless, uncaring rebellion against the King. "None is righteous, no, not one." We need saving -- rescue. Like Nicodemus, we measure our righteousness in an outward manner, while real rightness is proper relation to the King. So God sends the King into the world to rescue those who can recognize Him and seek Him. Those who can tell God when they see Him. And those who do are infused with the Spirit of God. The lights come on, the heart begins to melt, and life changes. Two weeks ago we read about how the King stood in the midst of a cluster of Pharisees and they asked how and when the Kingdom would come. Blind. The Kingdom is IN YOUR MIDST, Jesus says, and they look blithely at him and wonder why he said such a thing. Nicodemus came seeking truth from this populist teacher and got more than he bargained for. We have no record of a conversion that night, or the next. But on reckoning day, Nicodemus with Joseph of Arimethea buried the King as best they could. Out of the fog of Nicodemus' understanding, the shape of Jesus began to emerge, and then sharpen in focus, and then he came to believe in him so much that when prudent leaders should distance themselves from an executed heretic, Nicodemus instead cradled him in his arms, washed his body, and tenderly anointed and wrapped it for burial. Did he believe in the end. O yes, he believed. Thank you, God, for your patience with us. So often we have been too busy to listen, too self-absorbed to recognize you. Thank you for coming to rescue us from our blindness. For taking us by the hand, and teaching us, and opening our eyes, and flooding us with your Spirit. Thank you, King Jesus.