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LIVE LIFE’S GREATEST STORY WEEK 1: BELIEVE IN GOD JOHN 3:1-21 DISCUSSION GUIDE DISCUSSION MAIN POINT Jesus calls us out of head knowledge and into heart knowledge—into an experiential, personal relationship with Him. INTRODUCTION In the Fall 2016 issue of Bible Studies for Life, we were challenged to hear and believe the unvarnished truth of the gospel, and then to go and tell that truth to others who need the hope of Christ. Through this six- week companion series, we will be challenged to put the truths of life’s greatest story into action in our every day lives, beginning with belief in Jesus Himself. In what ways do people demonstrate they have a relationship with someone? How do sports fans show their pride in the teams they follow? How is knowing someone personally different than knowing facts about that person? Married people wear rings. Couples who are in love hold hands. A sports fan buys a jersey like the ones his/ her favorite team wears. In these and other ways, people show they have a relationship with someone (or something) else. These are outward, visible signs that a relationship exists. But knowing something about a person isn’t the same as knowing the person. You may be able to cite all kinds of sports statistics about a player, but you really don’t know the person—you only know a few facts about him. In the Bible passage for this study, we’ll meet a man who knew things about Jesus, yet did not know him personally. Nor did the man know Jesus in a saving way. He could cite a few factoids about Jesus (and he was right), but his knowledge about Jesus wouldn’t be enough to save him. UNDERSTANDING > READ JOHN 3:1-2. From what religious party did Nicodemus come? What do you know about them? Why might Nicodemus have met Jesus at night? What facts about Jesus did Nicodemus get right? WEEK 1 1 LIVE LIFE’S GREATEST STORY MISSISSIPPI BAPTISTS DISCUSSION GUIDE DISCUSSION Why do you think it is significant that Nicodemus came to Jesus? Nicodemus was an important person in Jewish life. He belonged to the religious party of the Pharisees, and was a ruler. No doubt he had paid careful attention to the things Jesus said, and to the things said about Jesus. Nicodemus was well-informed about Jesus the rabbi (teacher). But because Nicodemus didn’t actually know Jesus personally, he got a few things wrong, too. How do some of the things Nicodemus said demonstrate an incomplete knowledge of Jesus? > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ JOHN 3:3-10. Why was Jesus so direct with Nicodemus? What point is Jesus making by comparing spiritual birth to the wind? Put yourself in the place of Nicodemus. What emotions might you be feeling as you try to understand Jesus’ words (see vv. 9-10)? When Jesus said that we must all be born again, He meant that we must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Paul describes this as being brought from death to life. Paul wrote, “When you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses” (Colossians 2:13; see also Ephesians 2:1-5). Nicodemus could only understand Jesus’ words as a natural analogy because his heart was not attuned to spiritual matters. Everyone comes into the world “dead in trespasses” as Paul said. The only way we can become “spirit” in the sense that Jesus means it is if the Holy Spirit makes us new. As Nicodemus should have known, we all need a new heart in the place of our hearts of stone. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ JOHN 3:11-15. What does Jesus claim about Himself in verses 13-15? According to Jesus’ words in verse 15, who is able to attain eternal life? How does Jesus’ statement in verse 15 answer our culture’s objection that Christianity is “exclusive,” with salvation only being found in Jesus? In these verses, Jesus spoke with the authority of someone who had been with God in heaven, drawing attention to His deity. He also referred to Himself as the Son of Man, the title He gave Himself most often in the Gospels. The two emphases highlight Jesus’ oneness with God the Father and the fullness of His humanity. Both aspects of His identity are necessary for Him to be the one in whom we find salvation. Through Jesus alone can we find the means to eternal life in the presence of God. WEEK 1 2 LIVE LIFE’S GREATEST STORY MISSISSIPPI BAPTISTS DISCUSSION GUIDE DISCUSSION > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ JOHN 3:16-21. From verses 16 to 18, what stands out to you about God? About what He wants to do? About how a person is condemned? How does belief show itself according to verses 15-21? How would you define the phrase “born again” in your own words? To be “born again” means to experience a birth from above. Jesus was talking about salvation. Salvation is the term for the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of an individual to bring a person into the family of God. This happens when a person expresses belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection and accepts His role as Savior and Lord. Only those who believe in Jesus can be saved from sin (all the ways we disobey God) and enjoy eternal life with Him. APPLICATION Where are you in the “being born again” process of spiritual life? When did you first realize that God was not condemning you, but wanted to save you? Do you know for certain you have been “born again” and are now a part of God’s “forever family”? Can you describe the moment you experienced that new birth into God’s spiritual family? If you are a believer, who can you tell this week about being born again into God’s heavenly family? PRAY Thank Jesus for coming to this earth to save you. If you have not yet received His forgiveness and redemption, do so now. WEEK 1 3 LIVE LIFE’S GREATEST STORY MISSISSIPPI BAPTISTS DISCUSSION GUIDE DISCUSSION COMMENTARY JOHN 3:1-21 3:1-2. Nicodemus shows up only in John’s Gospel. The text does not tell us Nicodemus’s motive for coming to Jesus. When Nicodemus called Jesus “Rabbi,” he (a member of the Jewish ruling council) placed himself in the role of student. The conversation that unfolded led him to eternal life with God. 3:3-4. If we view these first fifteen verses of chapter 3 as a series of questions and answers, the first question might look like this: “Are you here to bring in the kingdom?” And Jesus’ first answer is, “You will never see the kingdom without being born again.” The “kingdom” refers to God’s family and rule, both on earth today and eternally in heaven. Jesus got right to the heart of the problem. He told the teacher he must be “born again,” a word which appears again in verses 7 and 31. Unless God changes our hearts His way, from the inside out, any discussion of the kingdom is useless. Now the second question surfaces: “How can a man be born when he is old?” The physical world is often unexplainable just like the spiritual world, and Jesus later used the wind as an example to make that point. A person cannot respond to spiritual truth in natural ways. 3:5-7. The second answer must have hit Nicodemus right between the eyes: “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Verse 3 deals with the way of the new birth, and verse 5 talks about the process. Being “born of the Spirit” means the change provided at the time of faith in Christ. 3:8. In this fascinating conversation, Jesus moves from the metaphor of birth to that of a breeze. Human effort can only produce human results (John 1:13), but the “pneuma”—the Spirit—is a different story. This is a spiritual mystery known only to God and difficult to explain in terms humans can grasp. God brings the breeze when and where He chooses. Life change comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit. 3:1.0 Jesus may here be “returning the compliment”, though He chastised Nicodemus for his lack of understanding. 3:13. Jesus’ statement may allude to Pr 30:4. Only Jesus descended from heaven and returned there (Lk 24:51; Ac 1:9). 3:14. The reference to the Son of Man being lifted up is the first of three “lifted up” sayings in John (John 8:28; 12:32). All three speak of the future “lifting up” of the Son of Man in double meaning (possibly inspired by the language of Isa 52:13). The reference in this verse invokes Moses’ lifting up of a serpent in the wilderness so that everyone who had been bitten by a poisonous snake and looked at the serpent in faith was healed (Num 21:8-9). The third and final “lifted up” saying (Jn 12:32) emphasizes that the lifting up of the Son of Man refers to Jesus’ crucifixion (cp. 12:33 and the similar reference to Peter’s martyrdom in 21:19). 3:16. Eternal life comes not because of anything we do. Salvation comes as a free gift when we believe what God has said. “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Four times in three verses (vv.
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