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Turn On the Light in Your Life
To a man like Nicodemus, who seemed to have it all, Jesus’s words were groundbreaking: “You must be born again” (John 3:8). Aren’t they the same to us today? Our words, our actions, our past, our mistakes, and our social status all define us. When we hear the gospel, it’s almost too much to comprehend; it seems too good to be true. But what if it is true?
When we come face-to-face with the blinding light of grace, it’s almost as inconceivable as crawling back into our mother’s womb and being born a second time. Yet it’s what Jesus offered Nicodemus, and it’s the same gift Jesus offers us today.
The light is better than the night. Only Jesus can turn the light on for us to see. We don’t know for certain when Nicodemus fully put his faith in Jesus. But we know he encountered Jesus under the cloak of night, and it changed everything for him. How can we tell?
Nicodemus comes up two more times in the Gospel of John. First, when the Sanhedrin is calling for Jesus’s arrest, Nicodemus tells them to listen to Jesus before condemning Him. Now openly defending Jesus, he wants his colleagues to get the same opportunity to hear Jesus that Nicodemus had received (John 7:51).
The last time we see Nicodemus is just after Jesus’s crucifixion, when he purchases expensive burial spices and helps to prepare His body for burial. What a bold contrast to the man who slipped out to meet Jesus in the middle of the night! With seventy-five-plus pounds of myrrh and aloes to help wrap the body for the tomb, he was now blatantly, boldly identifying himself, in broad daylight, as one of Jesus’s followers (John 19:38–42). That is the definition of being reborn. His night was turned into light.
By no coincidence, immediately after Jesus’s encounter with Nicodemus comes arguably the most famous verse in the Bible. And it offers the answer to every reason that could ever hold you back from being reborn. “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).
With a saving knowledge of Christ comes the assurance of His promises: “. . . that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:15). So reach out to Jesus. He won’t turn you away. Jesus isn’t afraid of your darkness. He already defeated it.
What were the promises of God to Nicodemus? What are the promises of God to you?
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About this Plan
Our self-help, DIY culture naturally loves the idea of improvement, but it’s never-quite-enough. That's because we don’t need a renovation; we need a rebirth—an upending of our lives—and that’s something we can’t do ourselves. If you're tired of going through religious motions in your own power and long to experience the heart and life change Jesus promised, it's time to encounter Jesus. It's time to be reborn.
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