Our Security for Eternity - the Gospel of John নমুনা

Week 2

Read: John 2:23–3:21

SOAP: John 3:16–17

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

Nicodemus was a smart and respected man. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council. The Pharisees were members of the most important and influential religious and political parties in Jerusalem and the surrounding area at the time. They were known for their strict adherence to Old Testament laws. Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among Jews.

While Nicodemus knew the Old Testament law, the religious practices, and the political climate of his day, what he did not know or understand was who Jesus was. But instead of viewing Jesus as a threat to his power and way of life, Nicodemus recognized that Jesus knew the way to eternal life. While Jesus explained that Nicodemus, or anyone wanting to gain eternal life, needed to be born of the Spirit, Nicodemus had a difficult time understanding, as do many of us.

We can only find new life in Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God and the only way to eternal life. Jesus is the only one who knows and understands the things of heaven. No human has ever gone to heaven and returned to earth to explain these things. Instead, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who resided in heaven, to descend to earth and show us the way to eternal life. God’s wisdom about Himself came to us through Himself; Jesus Christ. Jesus is God, and has come to us so that we might know Him.

Jesus came to earth so that those who believe in Him will have eternal life. Eternal life means more than just an unending life. It describes a life that is vastly different than we can imagine because it exists in the new kingdom of God with constant, unbroken fellowship with God. Jesus came to give us this life, not to condemn us. He came so we might have life when we believe in Him. He came to save us. When we believe in Him, we receive this unending, unbroken fellowship with God throughout eternity.

At this point in John’s Gospel, we aren’t told if Nicodemus chose to believe in Jesus that night. But through Nicodemus' question, all of John’s readers (including us) are faced with the same question: Do you believe Jesus is the way to eternal life? Instead of seeking darkness out of fear of exposure or shame, may we seek the light, where we find not judgment and condemnation, but eternal life!