Regeneration IV: Look Up and See God Stoop to Remove our Sins

Regeneration IV
Look Up and See God Stoop to Remove Our Sins
John 3:9-16

Introduction: Explain Context (Read 3:9-16)

So Jesus has just shed light on the unconditional necessity for spiritual regeneration as the condition for access into the Kingdom of Heaven: “Unless a man is born anew by means of a miraculous act of God's Spirit blowing on his spiritually dead soul, he cannot see nor can he enter into the Kingdom of God.”

Twice, Nichodemus responded, “How can these things be?” The first time, in verse 4, he appears to ask it with some condescension adding his crass interpretation of Jesus' mishnah.

But the second ‘how can these things be?’ comes more in a tone of despair and dejection, as though Nichodemus were coming to terms with what Jesus was saying. And yet he still is unable to comprehend the idea that righteousness can and must be supernaturally imputed to a believer for him or her to become a citizen of the God’s Kingdom.

Two things make this objectionable to Nichodemus: its exclusivity and its universality.

1. The Exclusivity:
First, it is more exclusive then Nichodemus would have hoped: simply being a Jew and a member of God's chosen people counts for nothing. Nor can any amount of religion and good works can be sufficient to gain access; even the most pious Jew could have no more assurance of salvation then a common sinner.
2. The Universality:
Second, (and this is the real good news for the rest of us) access to the kingdom has been broadened so that it is no longer the exclusive privilege of Israel alone. The repercussion of the fact that ‘the wind blows where it wills’ is that anybody could be touched by him- Jew and Gentile alike. Paul would even one-day write in sacred scripture that there is no longer Jew nor Greek, but all are one in Christ.

In fact, he even declared the true descendants of Abraham- the true Jews are those who live by faith. He described the church as spiritual Israel in Galatians. Perhaps Nichodemus could smell these implications in the changing direction of the wind. “How can these things be?”

From this point, Nichodemus fades into the background, the light once again dims around him and Jesus takes center stage as he turns to the audience to pronounce in verse 16 the most consequential earth shaking statement that has ever been expressed: “For God so loved the world that he gave His Son, the only begotten, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.”

That's how these things can be. That's how a man who is dead in sins and living in darkness, blind to the things of God can be born anew from heaven by the wind of the Spirit who blows where it wills to impute righteousness, to justify anyone he pleases: Jew or Greek; slave or freeman, man or woman, pious or impious.

But Nichodemus, this teacher of Israel, does not understand. In verse 10, Jesus questions his credentials; “you are a teacher, not just any teacher, but one of the top teachers of Israel? You should be teaching these things to my people, but instead you have need for me to teach you.”

“You think you understand the sign Nichodemus so you come to flatter me; you think you know what the Jars of wine mean, but I have just given you the interpretation and you don't get it.”

“If you can't understand these basic teachings related to earthly things Nichodemus, then how will you ever understand what I am about to tell you regarding the heavenly things- the plan of redemption formed before the foundations of the earth in a covenant between the father and the Son; the things regarding my atoning death?”

How odd that Nichodemus wouldn’t accept Jesus' testimony considering he came to Jesus to affirm his teachings. How does Jesus discern Nichodemus' disbelief? 2:25 Jesus knew what was in a man.

Paul asked the question in Romans 10: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” God has sent a preacher to preach to us the most beautiful news. And we are sent to preach this same message to all the Nichodemi of the world.”

In verse 10, Jesus uses Nichodemus' words against him saying- “you said yourself that my teaching comes from heaven because you saw the signs. Well, my teachings can’t be from heaven unless I had been there myself, and no one has descended from heaven except the one whose origin is heaven. Only God has His origin in heaven. And I have been sent by my Father to preach good news of freedom for the captives.” God has stooped for man and come down to walk among us.



How can regeneration be? Jesus is about to tell us. And it’s really good! But first he is going to use an earthly model to point us to the heavenly thing: in v. 14 Jesus says“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man, the one who has descended and sent by heaven, must be lifted up by sinners.”

1. So here's the earthly thing: Turn to Numbers 21...
William Hendrickson explains that Numbers 21 is the key to the interpretation of the fourth book of the Law (Hendrickson, John; p. 137). Let me explain briefly here: The theme of numbers is Israel’s Journey from Sinai to Moab- it is a lesson concerning Sin and Grace.
● Chapters 1 through 9 are all about Israel's preparation to leave Sinai.
● Chapters 10 through 21 is all about the journey from Sinai to the plains of Moab and it is a story of repeated sin, rebellion and failure as well as a story of God's longsuffering and grace which leads up to the occasion we are about to look at.
● Chapters 22 through 36 are a picture of blessing and victory in the plains of Moab all of which hinges on what happens in chapter 22:4-9.

Jesus meant this event to be an allegory for what I am about to teach. (Not that the events are not real historical events, but that they are also a type for a greater event or anti-type- the crucifixion). (Read vv. 4-9)

So this is not the first time in the exodus that the people of Israel have rebelled against God and Moses. It is astonishing to read how these people could be so obstinate and inclined to return to their bondage considering all the miraculous events that they have personally witnessed as a demonstration of God's power- and yet they rebelled.


But are we Christians any different from them? They weren’t even born again, we who are Christians are! When I indict mutinous Israel I am reminded of the scripture in Romans which says, “And do you think this O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same thing that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” (Rom 2:4-5).

Aren’t you glad that God judges by His standard and not ours? Otherwise there would be no hope for anyone, especially we who know better.

[If it is only the goodness of God that leads me to repent, how can I ever abhor much less indict those who practice the same thing? That is the hypocrisy of those who claim to be Christian yet are unable to show grace and mercy to other sinners.] It's only for His namesake that God did not utterly destroy Israel in the desert and it is that same immoveable disposition that preserves me today. Instead He chastises His people in order to save them.

Unregenerate Israel wandering in the desert is a picture of Nichodemus and the Nichodemi, those who attempt to come to God by their own goodness oblivious of their darkness and rebellion. So the unregenerate wander in the desert of rebellion never entering the Kingdom of God even though it is within their very grasp.

The snakes represent the curse of sin, the darkness of human depravity that leads to death. The death that those Israelites faced as a result of the fiery serpents was only a physical death, but there is a worse death that the unregenerate face because of sin; it is a conscious perpetual spiritual death in hell.


Israel’s crying out to God signifies their repentance and so God mercifully provides for them the means for that repentance to be effectual: the very instrument of their judgment- death, has become sign of their salvation. “Make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it shall live.”

That's the earthly thing that not even the teachers of Israel could grasp

2. Now here's the Heavenly thing (or an analogy of it): likewise… similarly… in like manner shall he who has descended from heaven, the Son of Man, be lifted up so that whoever is born again resulting in belief shall look upon him and be saved because his death will be the sufficient sacrifice for the propitiation of your sins. His death will cause your life- your regeneration (Jn 3:14b-15).

That is the 'how' that “these things can be” because the spiritual birth, the birth that comes from heaven by means of a sovereign act of the Holy Spirit blowing where it wills can only be possible if Jesus the incarnated God is willing to submit to the will of the Father and become the object of God's wrath in order to make salvation possible to the objects of his love- humanity.

When the Holy Spirit indwells us and causes us to be born again He deposits within us the satisfaction that God the Father has for the Son. When Jesus cried out “Tetelestai” it is finished, as he hung on the cross, the Father responded, “I am satisfied- paid in full.”

He seals us with eternal life and imputes our sin to Jesus so that when we look up at the cross we see our sin and from the cross God looks at us and heals us from our stripes. We must look up to see him lifted up upon the cross stooping an infinite and glorious stoop to impart to us the life that only he deserves.

“For God so loved the world that he gave His son the only begotten that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This is the jewel of God’s revelation, the glory of His activity in history, the revelation of a plan that originated in eternity past for us to take hold of and to carry us into eternity to come.

1. In this verse we see the extent of God’s loves: “for God so…” so is an adverb to expound the extent of the love of God. His love was so great. So- a two letter word that even if it were a million syllables long fails to convey the idea it is intended to carry. This is indicative of the limitations of language to measure the extent of God’s love.

‘So’ only tells us that the love was so great that it cannot be quantified in human terms.

2. That it was love for the world which compelled Him and not some external condition or obligation tells us of how deeply intrinsic his sacrifice is that it is built in to the very nature of God’s being. God is love and this act is the definitive expression of love- a perfect love that no human could ever express because all human love, even the most sacrificial, is at least tainted by some degree of selfish motivation.

3. And the object of his love was expansive- it included the whole world. It does not mean that His inestimable love-motivated sacrifice for the whole world is a sacrifice that embraces everything that is contained in the world- as if Jesus died to save trees and fish and bugs. The object of His love is nothing less then the beings who were created in his image.

Nor is it meant to include every single human- “Jacob I have hated, Esau I have loved” God once said. There are some who are not the object of this love, for if God intended it for them they would surely not be able to thwart His will. Judas is another example- he was chosen for another purpose.
The ‘world’ implies Nichodemus’s worst fear: people from every tribe and nation and tongue.

4. “That He gave” indicates the utter necessity of the gift. For if humanity had even the slightest possibility of extricating himself from his abyss of sin on his own, the incarnation would have been unnecessary. Our sin was infinite because it was against and infinite God and required an infinite substitute.

5. “He gave his only Begotten Son.” What greater thing could God have given then himself? The necessity of the immeasurable enormity of the gift shows us the extent of the need and how horrible our sin is to God that only God could atone for it. The fact that Jesus is God gives us the assurance that the sacrifice is able to extend to all who would believe.

Even if every single person on the face of the earth since the first century, including the worst sinners such as Stalin, and Hitler would believe the gospel and if Christ did not return for a million years the power of the cross would in no wise be exhausted not even in the most minute degree because the victim was God himself and there is no end to Him or His ability.

6. “That whoever believes in him would have eternal life.” That is how we see the Kingdom; by being regenerated- born again as a result of the act of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and believing it so that we are born again sealed with the promise of eternal life which we possess now and can never lose.

That is the gospel- it is available to anyone who believes.