Year of the Bible: Part Nine of TwelveSample

The Loving Plan

Nicodemus was a religious man familiar with the prophecies about the Messiah, so Jesus’ recent ministry and miracles made Nicodemus curious. He approached Jesus, and Jesus shared the plan for salvation. Jesus said one must be born again to be part of God’s eternal kingdom. This didn’t make sense to Nicodemus because he lacked spiritual perspective. Notice that Jesus’ miracles and purpose weren’t enough to give Nicodemus a spiritual perspective. When one is “born again,” they will receive a new spiritual perspective through faith in Jesus.

The word born means “to have life,” and being born again means “a new life in Christ.” This new life comes by faith, and by faith, we gain a new spiritual perspective. We don’t have to worry about trying to be “born again” by figuring out what perspectives are spiritual. Our reverence of Jesus is motivated by our love for Him because we understand His love for us.

God’s incredible plan was simple and straightforward because He loved us so much. In the context of God’s character and with a spiritual perspective, we understand that Jesus did not come to condemn people and that God’s salvation plan was not arrogant. Jesus said, “everyone who believes,” which means whoever has faith. It’s that easy: whoever has faith in Jesus will have eternal life in the glory of God.

Question: How does the famous verse John 3:16 influence your spiritual perspective?

Prayer: Confess your faith in Jesus Christ all over again, if not for the first time. Ask the Lord to reveal the spiritual perspective He desires you to have.

Go Deeper: Several religious leaders and teachers followed John the Baptist. These followers lacked spiritual perspective, and when more people began flocking to Jesus for baptism, the religious leaders asked John, “why is this Jesus stealing your thunder?” John’s presumptuous followers were confused and overlooked that John himself recognized Jesus as the Messiah. John explained that the Messiah must be more of a priority than anything John did. That’s what he meant by, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30 NIV) Such a statement proves how humble John was, yet his followers couldn’t recognize the humility because of their lack of spiritual perspective.