Lesson 1825

(Lesson 1825)(10-16-16) John 3:7-15

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

In today's lesson, Jesus explained to Nicodemus how a spiritual rebirth was not something that could be seen by human eyes, but rather, spiritual rebirth is an act of faith that is unseen except by the lost soul who experiences that rebirth.

In the latter part of today's quote, Jesus gave an example of how salvation by faith would work by simply relying on His supreme sacrifice. He accomplished that when He presented the like example of Moses raising the serpent as a preventative measure against the bite of the deadly snake, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 21:8-9)

Just as simply looking at the brass snake elevated by Moses prevented the bite of the venomous snake from killing the ancient Jews, consciously accepting the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the ONLY means by which ones sins can be remitted, protects us from an eternity in hell.~