Jesus Christ Loves All God's Children

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As God's child, the Creator of everything is your Heavenly Father.
His Son, Jesus Christ, is your loving Big Brother and Very Best Friend.
His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is your All Powerful Helper and Faithful Guide.

L.G. Parkhurst, Jr.

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DAY 3

RECEIVING THE POWER OF GOD’S CHILDREN

JOHN 3:3

Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Easy Print .PDF Version of Day 3. See Also: How to Enter the Kingdom of God. International Bible Study Commentary on John 3:1-10. International Bible Study Commentaries on John.

In the Gospel of John, we learn the name of a religious leader who became a follower of Jesus Christ. Perhaps we know the name of Nicodemus because of what he did after he became a child of God. God gave him the courage and power to defend Jesus as other priests plotted His death. God also gave him the courage and power to help with the burial of Jesus after Jesus suffered and died on His cross, when Nicodemus knew he could be killed for showing such loyalty to Jesus.

Nicodemus did not remain the only priest to follow Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead and after Jesus filled His followers with the power of the Holy Spirit, the continuing work of the Holy Spirit and His followers powerful testimony about Jesus gave many priests the power to become God’s children. In Acts 6:7, we read, “The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

We know these priests became God’s children because others in the family of God recognized their obedience to the faith. In John 14:15, we read these words of Jesus. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Others in the Church saw how these priests loved and obeyed Jesus just as they did. Even in this world, they had seen the Kingdom of God in the Church, and they had seen the difference living from a Kingdom of God perspective made in their lives. Within this world, they lived in the Kingdom of God and served Jesus as their King and the King of the universe. Their King lived within them, and they knew that Jesus was their Way into the Heavenly Kingdom, where they would live with Jesus and with all who loved Jesus forever.

But how can this be? What does this mean to us? All of God’s children begin in the same needy place where Nicodemus began. The early Christians recognized their need of a new life, though this may have taken many different forms. They knew they were broken in many places and they lived in a broken world. By coming to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gave them (and will give us) the power to become God’s children, and they became (and so can we) new people. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the truths they learned about Jesus, they were born again, became God’s children, and began a new way of living.

 People come to trust in Jesus in a variety of ways, but let’s consider how Nicodemus learned the truth about Jesus and received the power of the Holy Spirit and became one of God’s children.

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. We can come to Jesus any time of day or night. Nicodemus may have wanted to make informed decisions about Jesus before showing others he was beginning to believe in Jesus. Nicodemus may not have had pure motives before seeking to talk to Jesus, but no one has pure motives before they seek Jesus. Only a child of God can have pure motives; but unhappily, in this world they do not always maintain pure motives, but they do remain God’s children.

Nicodemus told Jesus what he knew about Jesus up to that point in time. As we read in John 3:2, Nicodemus told Jesus honestly, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Nicodemus wanted to learn more about Jesus, because he knew that Jesus had come from God, but was Jesus more than a teacher? Was He also the Messiah everyone expected God to send them? Was He also the Son of God as He claimed to be and as His signs of compassion showed Him to be?

When Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to become a child of God, Nicodemus humbly told Jesus that he did not know how to be born again. Then Jesus assured him that the Holy Spirit would give him the new birth he needed, but Nicodemus would not know how the Holy Spirit worked. The Holy Spirit would do all that Nicodemus needed done, and Nicodemus needed to believe in Jesus. The same is true for all of us who have become God’s children or want to become a child of God. The Holy Spirit works in us and we believe in Jesus as the Bible teaches.

We will never know all the workings of God, but we can know what Jesus tells us to do. We can read the Bible. We can pray. We can learn about Jesus and believe in Jesus and learn more from Jesus and be born anew by the Holy Spirit — just as Nicodemus and others have done before us.

In John 3:16, Jesus has given us one of the best reasons for us to become a child of God, for us to believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, for us to receive the power of the Holy Spirit to become a child of God, and for us tell others about Him, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Read John 3:1-10

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. (John 3:1)

He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” (John 3:2)

Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (John 3:3)

Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4)

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (John 3:5)

What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)

Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ (John 3:7)

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9)

Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? (John 3:10)

Ideal for Personal Study, Home and Mid-week Bible Groups, and Sunday Schools!
Proceed at YOUR Own Pace Week-by-Week!