I Couldn t Have Done It Without You! Scripture Reading: John 3:1-21 NCV 1There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. 2 One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him. 3 Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God s kingdom. 4 Nicodemus said, But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time? 5 But Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God s kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. 7 Don t be surprised when I tell you, You must all be born again. 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit. 9Nicodemus asked, How can this happen? 10Jesus said, You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don t understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don t accept what we tell you. 12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him. 16 God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God s one and only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. 21 But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God. Scripture Texts: Romans 3:23 GW; Romans 6:23 NLT 23 Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God s glory. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Introduction How many here want to go to hell when they die? How many here want to go to heaven? I don t know about you, but I want to go to heaven. Not just because it is a beautiful place,
not just because streets are paved with gold, not just because it s grand and glorious, no... not for any of those reasons. There is a chorus we used to sing in Sunday school that goes like this: Heaven is a wonderful place, Filled with glory and grace; I wanna see my Savior's face - Heaven is a wonderful place. (Lambert, 1958) I want to go to heaven because that is where Jesus is. That is where God is present. Hell, on the other hand, is totally the opposite. God is not present, in fact, He is completely absent. There is nothing of the character of God His goodness, His love, His peace, His joy, His comfort, His rest... nothing, absolutely nothing of God would be found in hell. And such nothingness torments the soul for eternity. I want to go to heaven. Do you mind if I ask you a question? Well, I am going to anyway. It is a serious question. And how you answer at may have eternal consequences. Have you come to the place in your life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven? Some of you have an immediate answer, Absolutely! But some of you are not so sure how to answer that question. You may be saying, Well, I hope I m going to heaven... or I think so, but I m not sure. But there may be one or two who honestly say, No! Last week, in her introduction to this series Jesus and Me, Pastor Joyce talked about getting to know Jesus. And she asked the questions: Is Jesus your Friend? If so, how did you meet him? Where did you meet him? Who introduced you to him? What makes Jesus so special to you? Why do you like spending time with Jesus? And in establishing a relationship with Jesus, we discover that he knows us very well, perhaps better than we even know ourselves. He knows our name. He connects with us at points of familiarity.
He does not pass judgment on us. He comes to us at our point of need. I believe we have all met Jesus through those people in our lives who let His light shine through them. It may have been through the love and care and concern of a Christian pastor, or parent, or friend. It may have been through the kindness expressed to us by someone who let Jesus shine through them when we were at a low point in our lives, when no one else seemed to care that we were lonely, or hurting, or afraid. All of us are here today because, at one time or another, we had an encounter with Jesus. And so I remind you of that question again: Have you come to the place in your life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven? John, the gospel writer, in his letters to the early church wrote: I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 NLT There does not have to be any doubt about it, we can know absolutely, positively, with 100% assurance that eternal life is ours, that heaven is a sure thing. But before we get too smug that heaven is a sure thing regardless of our behavior or our attitudes, etc.; let me ask you this second question: Suppose that you were to die tonight and stand before God and He were to say to you, Why should I let you into my heaven? what would you say? Now that requires a little different answer, doesn t it? The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, wrote: Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God s glory. Romans 3:23 GW Let me try and illustrate it this way. SIN! That is a big problem in our lives. I try to be good. I think I am pretty good most of the time. In our Wednesday Bible studies these past 5 weeks, we have been looking at Theology 101 and some of the theological terms with which we may be unfamiliar. Sin was the first study. The primary cause of sin is human self-centeredness, which leads to broken relationships with God, our world, and one another. (Moore, 2012) Ever since the deliberate disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin has been part of the human condition. We cannot escape it. Sin has become inherent. `... all people have sinned... Romans 3:23 GW
We were born into sin. It is a part of who we are. But what is sin? [ the willful or deliberate act against the will of a holy God ] Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary (Funk & Wagnalls, 1973, p. 1172) defines sin as: 1) A lack of conformity to, or a transgression, especially when deliberate, of a law, precept, or principle regarded as having divine authority 2) The state or condition of having thus transgressed; wickedness Sin separates us from God! And there is nothing of our own ability that can get us into heaven. Good works doing all sorts of kind things to people, volunteering, visiting, serving in missions none of these can bridge the gap to get us into heaven. Piety being religious, working in the church, teaching a Sunday school class, pastoring, serving on the church board, keeping all the religious rules there are none of these things qualify us for heaven. Wealth having all the money in the world will not be able to buy your way into heaven. Moral Code having all of life s purest motives at heart will not make you heaven-bound. Social status having power and control in the boardroom, living in the elite part of town, going to all the major events, getting your name in the paper fame isn`t going to do it either. Nothing absolutely nothing that we can do will get us into heaven. The apostle Paul, in that same letter to the Romans, also wrote: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT Here we are separated from God by sin. WAGES! What are wages? [ payment for things/work we have done ] Again, Funk & Wagnalls (Funk & Wagnalls, 1973, p. 1412) tells us: 1) Payment for service rendered, especially for a certain amount of work 2) The remuneration received by labour When we do something work-wise, we expect to be paid for the labour involved. Let s continue. WAGES of SIN is DEATH! The payment, the wages we receive for our sin is death eternal death. Let s go to the dictionary once again: Death (Funk & Wagnalls, 1973, p. 330): 1) Cessation of physical life 2) The cessation, absence, or opposite of spiritual life; spiritual and eternal ruin
Death comes when we are disconnected from any source of life whether it is internal (heart or brain function) or external (rooted and grounded). And as I indicated before good works, piety, wealth, moral code, social status absolutely nothing absolves us from receiving a just payment for our sins. Sin places us under the sentence of death.... the wages of sin is death... Is there any hope at all for humanity? Are we lost for all eternity? But wait! Here come the rest of the story.... the wages of sin is death, but... When everything seems so desperate, here comes a ray of hope.... but... the free gift of God... Here is another word we talked about in our Bible study. GRACE! What is grace? [ the unearned, undeserved gift from God ] God freely gives his love, mercy, and compassion to undeserving humans. (Peterson, 2012) God s Word tells us: For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 GNT God s grace! God s gift! All through biblical history, God s grace was demonstrated toward His people again and again by showing them mercy as a sinful people; and again and again they received what they did not deserve His love, His forgiveness, His compassion, His blessing. And all though church history, God continues to demonstrate His amazing grace to us who do not deserve it. It is unwarranted. It is unmerited. It is unearned. Yet, it is free. How many like receiving gifts?
Imagine that you wanted to give someone very special, that distinctive and extraordinary something because they mean so much to you. It is a special occasion an anniversary, a birthday, Valentine s Day, Christmas, or simply a day you chose that would be very, very special. Imagine that you look all over the place for just the right present. And finally you find just the perfect gift. You wrap it up so perfectly. And at just the right moment you hand over this very special gift. That special person takes the gift, gently unwraps it and looks at it with admiration. But... then they hand it back to you. I can t accept this right now, I don t deserve it. That s okay, I just want to give it to you. Then you hold on to it for a while, and when I get enough money, I ll buy it from you. No, you don t understand I just want to give this to you. Well, if I can t buy it, how be I work for you for about a year, and then I can accept this gift. No, no, no I just want to give this gift to you no strings attached... I want you to have it because you are special to me. I-I-I just can t! How would that make you feel? We may deserve the punishment of death for sin, that is our judgment. But God has another plan in mind.... the wages of sin is death, but... the free gift of God is eternal life... LIFE... not death. Eternal life! A reprieve from the penalty of sin. Pardon for the guilty. For all eternity. So,... how is this possible? For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT There seems to be a problem between God s justice and God s mercy. But God solve this problem in the most amazing way by entering this world and the person of Jesus Christ. God s Word tells us: In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father s one and only Son. John 1:1-2, 14 NLT Remember back in the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus? There is that very familiar verse the gospel in a nutshell. 16 God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. John 3:16 NCV And Jesus stepped into our place and received the penalty for our sins. The Bible states: All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the LORD made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. Isaiah 53:6 GNT The eternal life promised us by God is ours if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. It is only by faith in him, it is only by trusting in him, it is only by acknowledging our sins, confessing it to God, asking him to forgive us and accepting God s free gift that we are able to change our destiny from hell to heaven. It is only through Christ that we are able to make this happen. We cannot do it without him. I know that many of you have already made this personal commitment, that you have a full assurance that you can stand before God and say to him, I have accepted your Son, Jesus Christ, into my heart and life. But there may be some who are not sure that, if you were to die today, you would go to heaven. I want to give you that opportunity, before you leave this place, that you will know for sure that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. We are going to close this service with a song of invitation. And as we sing it and you want to know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, I invite you to come and kneel at this altar. Either I or Pastor Joyce will pray with you. Bibliography The Holy Bible, New Century Version (NCV). (1987, 1988, 1991). Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc. Funk & Wagnalls. (1973). Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language International Edition Vol. 1. New York, New York: Funk & Wagnalls Publishing Company, Inc. Funk & Wagnalls. (1973). Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language International Edition Vol. 2. New York, New York: Funk & Wagnalls Publishing Company, Inc. GNT. (1992). Good News Translation (GNT) (Today s English Version, Second Edition). New York: American Bible Society. God's Word to the Nations. (1995). GOD'S WORD Translation (GW). Cleveland, Ohio: God's Word to the Nations: Baker Publishing Group. Lambert, O. A. ( 1958). Heaven Is a Wonderful Place. C.C.L.I. Song # 20649: Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.). Moore, F. (2012). Sin Unit 2: Theology 101. Retrieved May 31, 2013, from SundayTeacher.com: http://www.sundayteacher.com/nphweb/media/content/2417/2417913.htm Peterson, B. (2012). GRACE Unit 2: Theology 101. Retrieved May 31, 2013, from SundayTeacher.com: http://www.sundayteacher.com/nphweb/media/content/2417/2417914.htm
Tyndale House Publishers. (2005). Holy Bible, The New Living Translation (NLT). Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale house Publishers, Inc.